“Oh no, no.” A bitter laugh scraped past Della’s throat. “The yacht was for fun.” She sighed. “The world before TheEnd drowned in excesses. There were many who lived like kings.”
Rue’s dark lashes flew up. “So that made you a queen.”
“No, not exactly.” Egalitarian to their core, she and Rakesh had been copilots, co-CEOs of their complicated lives, but she’d never been Rakesh’s queen.
Only one man had seen her that way: a queen without a country, hiding in the shadows, living half a life so nothing could be taken from her again. Tears scalded the back of her throat, and she caressed the bond, searching for some trace of Cal. It glimmered weakly in her chest, rife with misery and discomfort, faltering like he hovered on the verge of unconsciousness. She strained harder, like extending a hand to someone hanging off the edge of a cliff, desperate to feel a firm push from his side of the connection. Nothing came, and the tears pushed their way up her throat.
“But you loved him?”
“Who?” Della’s froggy voice cracked, and she refocused on the Omega in front of her. Rue rested her chin on her fist, fully entranced at the story of Della’s life in the before times. “Rakesh? Yes, I loved him.” Rue’s lifted brow silently asked the next question. “He died in a fire,” Della said in a resigned tone, letting the memories unfurl one by one like a slow flip through her photo book.
Memories of her palatial home ticked by: her favorite chair by the pool, the pile of books next to her desk waiting to be read, the outline of her bed, unmade and untidy, her last thought that she ought to make it because how nice it would be to come home to a properly made bed. Refusing to face the inevitability of the coming inferno. A wave of affection for her former self poured from her heart. If only she’d known what was to come.
But, then again, what difference would that have made? What would she have done differently?
“There were fires everywhere then, in all directions. Rakesh had wanted to leave sooner, but I refused. Instead, I went door to door and tried to round up my neighbors. You see, some were elderly or had young children, and I was trying to get everyone together, to take what we could and go.” The old sadness crept in around the corners, yet it lingered in the realm of memory, not encroaching into the present. Della could see it there, could acknowledge it, but the old aches had lost their hold on her. “He went back for something, a dog, maybe? He always loved dogs. Anyway, we got separated.”
Della cut a glance to Rue, who listened like she’d never heard a more riveting story. “A tree fell and cut off the exit. The last time I saw him was through flames shooting ten feet high in the air. I screamed at him to go around, to try to make it, but he wasn’t moving. He smiled at me and waved, waving goodbye. He looked oddly… peaceful? Like he’d accepted it, like he was ready to die.” A distant pain squeezed her heart. “My neighbor, Mai, dragged me away. Like, literally dragged. I left bloody scratches up and down her arms, the poor thing. I had nightmares about it for a long time: the flames, the heat, the smell… dreaming that he’d tried harder to find a way, or I fought more to get to him.”
Years she’d had those dreams, and every time she woke up, she took that pain and stared it in the face, promising herself she’d never feel pain like that again because she’d never love someone like that again. Whether it was possible to immunize herself against future hurt didn’t matter, she’d sworn to try.
Only to fail at it again.
“You were lucky though.” Rue’s voice pulled her from her thoughts.
Della’s head snapped to her. “What?”
“He didn’t want your last image of him screaming in terror. He loved you so much, he protected you from that. It was his final act of love.” A sad smile wavered on her face. “I can’t even imagine what it feels like to be loved like that.”
Della stared, tongue-tied, at the young Omega. If she hadn’t been sitting down, she might’ve crumpled to the ground.
A sacrifice. Rakesh hadn’t failed to fight for her. In those final moments, he hadn’t given up and left her alone in the AfterEnd. He’d spared her the only way he could. He’d stared into the face of death and saved her from one last devastation.
It was an act of love.
Rue reached out and grabbed her hand, clenching it emphatically between her own. “I’m so glad you’re back so they can protect you fromhim.”
Della blinked, struggling to understand the conversational turn as Rue’s face twisted in disgust. “Who?”
“The one that took you. The bad Alpha.”
“He’snotbad.” The words shot from Della’s mouth.
Rue pointed an accusatory finger at Della’s claiming bite. “Look at what he did to you! They should put him to death. Everyone’s been saying so.”
Terror seized her heart in an iron grasp. Put him todeath? Della’s fingers tightened so fast Rue flinched and extracted herself from Della’s grip. “Is that what they’re saying?” Della demanded, pushing the words past her breathless lungs. No, that couldn’t be right. They didn’tput people to deathin this Pack. That was barbaric and insane! Surely Hunter wouldn’t take such drastic measures. Bands fastened around her ribs, cinching like a vice. She’d thought he wouldn’t separate a bonded couple either, and look how that turned out.
Rue nodded her fervent agreement with this form of justice.
“He’snotbad.” Della jumped to her feet and took a few jerky steps toward the door, her hands wrapped around her head. “He saw something that made him suspicious of this place, and he was right to be suspicious. They won’t hurt him... theycan’t.”
Cal’s face those last few minutes came back to her, his kind eyes reassuring, convincing her everything would be fine, even as they’d yanked his body this way and that, wrenching his shoulders and arms in unnatural angles.Oh god. If they killed him, would that be her last image of him? Subdued and struggling to comfort her?
Chest burning, she stumbled to her bed and pressed her palm to her sternum, gasping shallow breaths. Closing her eyes, Della grappled for their connection, opening herself to it in a way she’d never before allowed. The effort settled her tortured respirations, and she breathed into it further, seeking the man on the other side of the link. The orb responded with a soft ripple, like the smallest pebble thrown in the smoothest lake, and its warmth saturated her insides, surrounding her with the comfort of losing herself in his arms.
The memories of their time in the cave knit together like a tapestry. Salacious and mundane moments displayed in a picture for her examination. A picture of patience, humor, and tenderness so exquisite she wanted to cry. A picture very much like love.
A wave rolled through the bond, an answering push to the emotion she’d released. Love reaffirmed and reflected back.