“Would you prefer Dragan find you?” I snarl. “This isn’t about what any of us want. It’s about keeping you—all of you—alive.”
“You keep acting like you’re in charge, when you’re literally the one who—”
Jasmine steps between us, hands raised like she’s directing traffic at the gates of purgatory. “It’s alright, Ari. We can—”
The chapel doors burst open as the midnight breeze picks up. Out of nowhere, wind howls through the nave, snuffing the candle Kosti lit. In the sudden dark, I see it—the way Ariel’s hands instinctively cradle her stomach, the tremor she thinks she’s hidden.
I step into the blade of moonlight cutting through the rubble. She’ll hate me for forcing her down this path, but what choice do I have? Every other road leads to ruin. So let her hate me.
At least she’ll be a
