If Ever I Fall: Book 3 of The Six Series (20 page)

I doubled up my fist, clenching it tight to my leg to keep it from swinging out and connecting with his gut. “You want Robert, aye? And Robert wanted me for some reason, aye? Well, here I am, and here he is… somewhere.”

His eyebrow quirked as he leaned in close. “I know what you’re saying and the answer is no. Are you fucking delusional or something? You can’t just walk in and start yelling for him. You’ll get us both killed.”

He pushed me to the side as he stepped around me. Pulling in a deep breath, I let out a bloodcurdling screech.

Oliver spun around so fast that I ended up tripping over my own feet and landing on my ass.

Jerking me up by my shirt collar, he lifted me off the floor as if I weighed nothing at all and shook me.

Growling, he said, “I should kick your ass for that.”

Pressing my lips together, I fought to keep my breathing under control. I very well could end up becoming another person who just up and disappeared from the property. The next unexplainable death on my family tree. Because as surely as I was standing inside a cave, I had infuriated a man who could snap me in half and toss me into one of the many black holes.

Anger rolled off him in waves, but he returned me to my feet. Sticking his finger in my face, he was ready to release another warning, or threat, when we heard it. The sound of footsteps coming towards us. The flashlight in Oliver’s hand clicked off and he moved to stand in front of me, shielding me with his body.

Leaning down so that his lips touched my ear as he spoke, he said, “Take the flashlight. If it’s him, blind him with it when he gets close. I’ll take it from there.”

And then he was gone, shrinking off somewhere behind me.

I fought every instinct to run, but I couldn’t run. Aiden’s life could very well depend on me holding my ground and facing off with my uncle.

The closer the footsteps came, the clearer it became to me that it wasn’t just one person. I wanted to voice my thoughts, but I had no idea where Oliver had slunk off to.

My entire body shuddered in place as the footsteps came nearer and the sound of a girl’s sob broke as if she’d been holding it back.

A hand clamped over my mouth, cutting off my scream, as Oliver brought his mouth up next to my ear. “Something’s not right. Bring the flashlight up and shine it right at the spot you hear the footsteps. Okay?”

When I nodded, he moved his hand and I brought the flashlight up, fumbling with the on switch.

Light shot out, highlighting the last person I ever expected to see again. “Liv?”

Her head snapped up as Aiden pulled her behind him. “Airen? What are you doing here?”

Oliver reached out, taking the flashlight from me and pointing it down. “Where’s Robert?”

Aiden went to shrug, gasping from the movement of his arm.

“Dislocated it?” Oliver asked, moving over to stand in front of Aiden.

Aiden clutched at his elbow, backing himself up against the wall of the tunnel. “Yeah, I tried to reset it, but couldn’t.”

Oliver moved himself into place, grabbed Aiden’s arm, and before I knew it, Aiden dropped to his knees with his hand clamped over his mouth to keep from making any noise.

The pinched look on Aiden’s face smoothed out. He took Oliver’s outstretched hand with his good arm and stood.

“How’s Grant?” Aiden asked, worry dancing in his eyes.

“He was unconscious when we found him. Eli’s with him now. How did you get away from him?” Oliver asked, dismissing Grant’s injuries as if they weren’t really all that important.

“After he shot Grant, he put the gun to my head and walked me to the end of this tunnel where there are a handful of catacombs. He made her tie me to the outside of the cage he had her in and told her that if she released me, he’d come back and shoot her in the head instead of releasing her like he planned to do.”

Oliver snorted. “Releasing her, my ass. So she untied you then?”

“No, I did. Her knots suck, and I had my hands free in no time,” Aiden answered, flicking a glance at where Liv had pushed herself as tight as she could against the wall.

Her thin frame shook as she wrapped her arms around her knees and sobbed.

“How the hell did you manage to dislocate your shoulder then?” Oliver asked.

“By rescuing her. The opening to the cage wasn’t wide enough to crawl in and grab her once I busted the lock. So I had to stretch in order to get a hold of her. When I had her, she jerked back. My arm caught against the bar and popped it right out of the socket,” he answered and then followed it up by asking, “Why is Airen down here?”

I didn’t wait for Oliver to explain. “I’m here because I chose to be here.”

The sound of rock exploding from a gunshot had all of us ducking to the floor as Oliver’s flashlight turned off, sinking us in complete darkness.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of this fucker,” Aiden hissed.

“Airen, stay here with the girl,” Oliver said, shoving the flashlight into my chest. “And don’t move until one of us comes back.”

I swallowed back a protest when a set of lips pressed against my forehead. “Please stay here.”

And with that, Liv and I were left to the darkness.

Crawling over to her, I put my arm around her. She didn’t say a word. She just shuddered and buried her head into my neck. I wanted to ask her so many questions, but it wasn’t the right time.

I felt like the worst friend on the planet. Thinking Liv had stolen from me and taken off was one thing I’d have to live with. Especially when that hadn’t been the case at all. Ever since I returned home, Liv had been in the clutches of a complete madman. Bile rose in my throat as I wondered what kind of nightmare she’d been through.

Another round of gunfire pinged off the rocks as someone ran towards us up the path. The flashlight came to life in my hand and I brought it up, hoping to see Aiden’s face.

“Well, I’d call this a bit of luck,” Uncle Robert said, reaching down and hauling me up on my feet in front of him.

Liv cried out, scrambling on her hands and knees to get away, putting herself between where Uncle Robert held a gun to my head and Aiden, who’d came to a sliding halt just outside the beam of my flashlight.

“Let her go and take me instead,” Aiden said, taking a step closer.

“No, Aiden…” The rest of my sentence cut off when Uncle Robert jabbed the barrel hard against my temple.

“Take one more step and I’ll kill her,” Uncle Robert hissed.

“You won’t make it out of this cave alive, Robert,” Aiden said, delivering his warning with words that brought the temperature of the cave down several degrees.

“Who’s gonna stop me? Huh? You? I’d say you’ve outlived your usefulness,” Uncle Robert said, moving the gun from my head and pointing it at Aiden.

“
No!
” I shoved my elbow into his gut as the gun went off.

Shards of rock rained down on us as I threw myself backwards, hoping to knock him down and give Aiden enough time to make a rush at us.

The gun came up as I pushed myself away from Uncle Robert. The metal hit my cheek with a sickening crack. Warmth spread out along my face as I felt myself teetering on the edge of oblivion.

When I fell, another gunshot went off. A heavy darkness descended on me. All I could think was I’d been shot and I’d never see Aiden’s face again.

ROBERT'S
EYES WIDENED SECONDS BEFORE
he crumbled to the ground.

Behind him, the gun that ended his life lowered to the floor.

“That’s for kidnapping Jared and then Aiden. I hope you rot in hell,” Ace said, stepping over Robert de Fleur’s body and sweeping a path of light over all of us, stopping short on Liv.

Whistling through his teeth, he took in the scene around him.

“Jesus, a little warning would have been nice, asshole,” I said, bumping my fist against his.

“Yeah, well, the opportunity presented itself, and I’m all about opportunities. She okay?” he asked, shining the light down on Airen.

“She’ll be all right once she comes around,” I answered, crouching down to check her pulse. It beat slow and steady against my fingertips, flooding me with a wave of relief. He’d cracked her in the face pretty good with the gun and as much as it pissed me off that he hurt her, I felt equally justified that he was dead. She’d have one hell of a headache when she came to, but she’d be alive and that was all that mattered.

“And her? Who is she?” Ace asked, settling the flashlight over the girl crouched as far away as she could get.

“Airen called her Liv. I think she knows her,” Oliver said, taking a few steps over to crouch in front of her.

She ignored him even as he snapped his fingers in front of her face.

“Shock probably,” Ace said when Oliver couldn’t get her attention.

“Guess that means one of us has to carry her out and one of us has to carry Airen out,” he said, lifting the girl off the ground.

Once in Oliver’s arms, she buried her face into his neck, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

“Well, that settles that. I’ll get Airen,” Ace said, kneeling down beside her.

“I got her,” I said, trying to push his hands away.

“Seriously, Aiden. You can’t carry her out without screwing up your shoulder even more than it is,” Oliver said, nudging me with his foot.

I moved out of Ace’s way, allowing him to wrap his arms around Airen and cradle her to his chest. It was probably better that way. Keeping my distance would be hard enough once she woke up.

Holding her, knowing I could never have any sort of relationship with her, would only make it harder to let her go.

“What about him?” I asked, moving over to put my fingers against Robert’s neck.

Knowing there would be no pulse there didn’t stop me. I had to be one hundred percent certain, since the evil bastard seemed to be like a cat with nine lives.

Nothing—there was no life left in him, even though the warmth hadn’t left his body.

“Leave him. Once we get everyone back to the church, Grant will send a team in to recover the body,” Oliver answered.

Getting back up to my feet, I moved around everyone. Taking Ace’s flashlight and Oliver’s, I lit the tunnel up enough for them to walk safely back to the entrance while carrying the girls.

The sound of our footsteps alerted Eli we were coming long before he could even see the double beams I held in my hands.

“Don’t shoot. It’s just us, Eli,’ I said, announcing us to keep him from firing his gun in our direction.

At once, the darkness receded and we stood in the waning light coming from the cave entrance. Eli’s eyes bulged when he noticed the girl in Oliver’s arms.

“Well, that’s interesting,” he said, shaking his head. “You go in with one and come out with two. Where’s Robert?”

“Dead,” Oliver answered, setting Liv down beside where Grant lay.

“How’s he doing?” I asked.

Grant’s eye’s fluttered open as he answered. “I’m fine. Hurting, but fine.”

The storm had finally broken. The wind died down along with it, making it safe enough for an evac extraction.

Oliver wove his way around everyone, disappearing to the rocks below where Nadia waited.

Lowering myself to sit opposite of where Ace set a groggy Airen down, I allowed myself to look into her eyes as she opened them.

For a few brief seconds, we watched each other. I owed her an explanation. By the look in her eyes, she knew what I had to say wouldn’t be good.

Maybe it would make things easier if she hated me. I could walk away knowing her anger would one day turn into resentment, and she’d eventually forget about me.

Eli moved in front of her, speaking to her about her injuries. I tipped my head back, allowing myself to grieve the loss of her while no one watched.

THE
ONLY THING THAT KEPT
me grounded was the connection of our eyes. I held it for all I was worth, willing him to see past the guilt he felt.

I needed him to see I didn’t hold any grudges. That I wasn’t broken by the moment. Any of them, for that matter.

If anything, it made me stronger. Forced me to accept that life was perfectly imperfect… and that it was all right to be that way.

So long as he kept his eyes on mine, we could see past all of it and into one another. He’d been my strength whether he knew it or not.

A strength I never thought I’d need, but that I found myself reaching for in him. If he shut me out, I’d never be the same.

I’d survive it, surely, but I didn’t want to have to face it without him.

See me, Aiden. Don’t push away. I still need you.
I willed my thoughts at him, hoping they’d penetrate the foggy look in his eyes.

Even though our eyes were caught in silent communication, I was aware of everything around me. Could hear them as they spoke to one another.

Beside Grant, Liv lay curled in a ball. Her once straight, flowing hair was matted to the side of her head. Bones stuck out prominently as her dirty clothes hung from her frame.

Every single person around me had in some way been affected by my uncle’s madness, but that would be no more. He was dead, no longer a threat to humanity. No longer a threat to my family.

My heart stuttered as Aunt Brenda and Mum popped into my thoughts, filling my eyes with tears. Were they still alive?

Aiden’s face pinched. When he noticed the tears, his nostrils flared and his fist clenched. I wanted so badly to slide along the stone floor and tuck my head up under his chin. It would feel safe there, warm even.

Before I could scoot forward, Eli knelt down in front of me, severing the connection Aiden and I shared.

I wanted to shove him aside, but it was too late. Peeking around Eli’s shoulder, I saw Aiden close his eyes.

A sense of heaviness descended over me like a cold, wet blanket. I knew in that moment I’d lost him, and it hurt like hell.