Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Cade's warning hadn't finished leaving his mouth before the beam gave way with a crash.
It came down straight at Mara's head.
Cade threw himself forward and took it.
The sound it made was horrible.
Blood landed on Mara's face. She looked at the figure crumpling to the ground and, without meaning to, the name came out of her throat.
"Cade!"
Then memory hit her all at once, like needles driving into her skull.
Mara cried out and went limp.
Everything she'd buried came flooding back. Wave after wave, no way to stop it.
She was back in that rain-soaked night when Ren died. On her knees at the side of the road. Nowhere to go. Nothing left.
Then she was at the coastal cliff, watching Cade raise the gun and pull the trigger.
"Mara? Mara!"
A voice pulled her back from the dark.
Riven's face appeared above her. His eyes were frantic. The sharp smell of antiseptic was in the air.
She looked at him. Everything in her chest went complicated.
This man — the boy who used to tease her when they were young — had crossed the world to find her. He'd kept her close even if it meant deceiving her. He'd taken care of her in every way without ever crossing a line. Not once.
His care was real.
His lie was real too.
Mara closed her eyes. When she opened them, she was calm.
"Where is he?"
Riven was still for a moment. Then he looked down.
"Next room. Intensive care."
He paused.
"Severe burns across his back. The doctors said — even if he recovers, there'll be lasting damage."
Mara didn't reply. She pushed the blanket off and got out of bed. Riven reached for her arm. She moved aside.
She walked down the hall to the ICU and stopped at the glass.
Cade was face-down on the bed. His entire back was wrapped in bandages. Dark stains had seeped through.
His face was white. His eyes were closed. His brow was tight, like he was stuck in a dream he couldn't wake from.
Mara stood at the glass for a long time.
The boy she'd fallen for at sixteen was lying in there, barely breathing, and she felt nothing stir in her.
She pushed the door open and went in.
He must have sensed something. He opened his eyes slowly, and when he saw her, something in his face loosened.
"Mara. You're okay. You're okay—"
She didn't speak. Her eyes were dark and flat.
He met her gaze and went still.
"You remember everything?"
She sat down in the chair beside his bed and nodded.
He worked his mouth. He tried to push himself up and broke into a harsh coughing fit.
He caught his breath. His eyes went red at the edges.
"I'm sorry."
"Mara. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking straight. I didn't know how much you suffered. I didn't know what happened to Ren — one mistake led to the next, I—"
His voice cracked. He couldn't finish.
Mara didn't look at him. She looked out the window.
She watched the distant skyline slowly brighten and spoke quietly.
"How did we end up like this, Cade?"
His breathing stopped for a second.
"I remember the first time you held Ren. You were scared to hold him too tight. Your hands wouldn't stop shaking."
"I remember you swearing to me, eyes red, that the three of us would never be apart."
She drew a breath. She turned and looked at him.
"Then you locked me away for three years."
"And you sent a three-year-old to the Pack Disciplinary Quarters. You never went to see him. Not once."
Cade's eyes were red. Tears ran down without a sound and soaked into the pillow.
"Believe me," he said, voice shaking hard. "I never had feelings for Vivienne. Never. You were always the one—"
Mara made a short, quiet sound that wasn't a laugh.
"You said you loved me. You're the one who never came. Ren died because of you."
She stood up. She looked down at him.
"Cade, I really don't understand you."
He opened his mouth to speak and started coughing. A thin line of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.
She looked at it. Nothing moved in her face.
"You saved me today. That's real. But you're the one who brought this disaster down on us. I don't owe you anything."
His chest seized. He looked up at her.
"You're — you're walking away?"
She almost smiled.
"Walking away? Cade, you took my son from me. What are you going to give back?"
The color drained out of his face.
She turned and walked to the door.
Behind her, a sound broke through the room — wrecked and muffled, like something finally collapsing.
In the corridor, Riven was waiting. He looked at her with words he couldn't say.
Mara stopped in front of him and spoke first.
"Thank you."
Riven's chest went tight. He reached for her instinctively.
"Mara—"
She stepped back. She looked at him and her eyes softened a little.
"I have to walk my own road from here."
She turned.
Outside the windows, the sky was breaking open with light. A warm wind came through and moved her hair.
She walked. Each step forward. She didn't look back.