Redemption Hills: The Complete Collection

40. Aster

FORTY

ASTER

Lights strobed, and the band played, and the crowd rejoiced.

Celebrating.

My celebration was the truth of this man who held me close in the middle of the crush, his forehead dropped to mine and his big hands spread out around my ribs as we swayed. It was close to the way we’d done the night of his birthday.

But then, there’d been so many questions.

It didn’t feel that way tonight.

Tonight, it felt as if we’d been lifted.

Elevated.

Exulted above the mess to delight in what we’d been given.

It was half an hour to midnight, and the revelers had turned rowdy. Drinks flowed free as everyone cut loose the weights and worries of the previous year in anticipation of the new.

It sent excitement billowing through the cavernous space.

He edged back to gaze down at my face. “Look at you beneath all those lights, still shining brighter than anyone.”

“I think I’m just reflecting off you.”

“Hardly.”

Our words were barely audible above the din, but we felt them, our spirits swimming together in a sea of exhilaration.

I wanted to stay there forever.

But I was jostled back and out of the dream when the crowd was suddenly torn apart. People scrambled to get out of the way as six big bodies busted through.

Panic.

Fear.

Hate.

They burst in my blood.

No.

Eyes wide with shock , I fumbled back.

No.

My papa was at the helm of the men I knew had come to drag me away. His expression was contorted in disappointment and rueful discontent.

Jarek was at his side, venom in his eyes and vileness in his presence, the man slicked in a sweat that reeked of malevolence. Four men surrounded them, three that I recognized as Jarek’s guards and one of my father’s.

Violence bristled through the air, and Logan stepped in front of me to create a barricade. Hostility burned from his being.

This man a hedge of protection to shield.

But continuing to hide wasn’t going to get us out of this.

The mass continued to throb, oblivious to the ground that had been ripped out from under my feet.

“It’s time to leave. Now.” Jarek’s vicious voice curled over the music.

“That’s not going to happen.” The words speared from Logan’s mouth. I could feel his control fraying in every tremor that rocked through his body.

“I thought by now you would have remembered who you’re dealing with,” Jarek spat, taking a step forward. He lifted his chin in arrogance, his power gained in the men who surrounded him.

The crowd parted again, a wave that undulated from behind to give way to Jud and Trent, plus Milo and Kult and three other bouncers who came up behind us.

A fortress of strength.

Aggression quivered in the dense atmosphere.

Two groups in opposition.

Trent stepped forward. “I don’t appreciate you waltzing into my place of business when you haven’t been invited.” He cocked his head. “Paying customers only, and all. No offense.”

Oh, it was purely offense.

Old hate.

Conflict and contention.

Papa angled his head, his voice controlled. “My daughter is here.”

Trent sent a sweeping gaze back my direction before he turned toward my father. “It appears it’s where she wants to be.”

My father ignored him and looked at me. “You were given thirty days, mia vita. The time has come.”

I could see in his eyes he no longer believed I was there to retrieve the stones.

“She’s not going anywhere with you. Not any of you.” The words were razors that cut from Logan’s mouth.

Jarek and his men surged forward.

Logan, Trent, and Jud did the same.

The promise of violence clotted the air.

Stagnant and harsh.

“Then you die tonight.” Jarek hissed it.

I could feel the frantic eyes that had gathered. Eden, Salem, and Tessa were suddenly there, terrified, held back by Milo.

They’d meant it when they’d promised to come alongside me.

A feeling washed over me.

Marked.

Potent.

Mandatory.

I was finished being pushed around.

Finished being ordered into submission.

Finished with being told who I was and where I was to be and who I was supposed to love.

Yes, I’d already made the oath to myself, but it felt different staring down the manifestation.

The reality that I either fought for myself or surrendered the way I’d done before.

Do or die.

I pushed between Trent and Jud, coming up to Logan’s side. My words were held in a low rasp. “Everyone outside. Now.”

Jarek balked as if anything I said was insignificant.

My father put out a hand. A hand that wielded the power. I saw the way it made Jarek flinch with the bite of bitterness.

“Outside. Everyone,” Papa commanded.

Logan cast me a searching look. Is this what you want?

He’d run with me if I asked him to.

Or fight to the death.

Whatever it took.

I knew he would.

And I loved him even more for it.

I threaded my fingers through his, squeezed tight, and I was the one who led us behind the gambol of my father’s men who pushed through the throng until the mess of us were spilling out into the parking lot.

Trent and Jud flanked me and Logan, and Kult and Milo came to stand on either side.

While Jarek glowered and gritted his teeth and silently raged.

The beat of the music pulsed through Absolution’s walls while the frozen air wafted in white tufts of vapor from panted mouths.

A stand-off between two warring sides.

I should have known that’s what it would come to.

“You wish for a scene?” My father inclined his head.

“No, Papa, I just wish to be heard. To be listened to. To be understood.”

“I already granted you thirty days.”

“And it’s time for you to grant me my life.”

His brow curled. “What are you asking?”

“For you to let me go. To give me my freedom. To let me love the man I’ve loved all along. The one you and Jarek robbed me of.”

Logan’s hand tightened on mine.

Belief.

Pride.

Support.

I stood firm in it, and I shifted to make sure they could see the ring I proudly wore on my finger.

Rage blistered from Jarek when he saw it. “This is blasphemy. You are my wife.”

My attention swung to the monster who’d scarred me so deeply. Ugly, gnarled wounds that would forever weep and bleed. “I am not your wife. I am a prisoner you took, one you abused, and I refuse to allow it to continue.”

“Bullshit.” He surged forward.

In a flash, Jud was in front of him. His hand slammed into his chest. “I’d think twice about that.” He leaned in close to his ear, his voice a dark threat. “I’m pretty sure it’s you who has forgotten who we are.”

My father waved another hand as if Jarek were an unruly child.

“You will stand down, Jarek, as I told you before. We came here for my daughter, not for bloodshed.”

Papa’s attention swiveled, his eyes narrowed in speculation, focusing in on where Logan and I stood shoulder to shoulder with our hands tightly woven.

“You ask me to leave you with a man who stole from me? A man who touched my daughter when he was forbidden to even speak to her? The man who killed my brother? The same man you promised you would never see again if I spared his life?”

Shock impaled Logan.

An arrow to his heart.

He nearly bowed in two, and his breaths turned ragged, and I could feel the brutal thunder of his heart.

As if a piece of him had simultaneously broken and healed.

Because now he truly knew what it meant when I’d told him there was no other choice to make.

I’d chosen him.

I lifted my chin. “Yes. I’m asking you right now, as my father, to see me as your daughter. As a human being. As a woman who loves and hurts and has needs. I’m asking you to let her finally have the chance to live.”

“And if I say no?” That he issued to Logan, a challenge in the rise of his brow.

Logan’s hand clamped down so fiercely it was close to painful. “Then we’ll have a war I doubt either of us want to fight.”

My father chuckled a low, disbelieving sound. “You know, you were the smartest boy to ever pass through my halls, your mind quick and your skill natural, but also the most unwise.”

I could almost hear Logan’s teeth grind. “If you think my falling in love with your daughter was unwise, then you’re the biggest fool of all. Loving her is the only thing I’ve ever done right.”

Emotion welled.

So thick.

So real.

A dubious sound puffed from my father’s mouth, and he took a step back, eyed Logan when he said, “I expect you and my daughter in Los Angeles on Friday. We will have a discussion. Without an audience.”

He slanted a direct look at Jarek when he stated it.

My own shock had me rocking forward, the ground shaking beneath my feet. Was he actually hearing me this time?

It was the same second Jarek snapped. He flew forward in an effort to get around Jud, only it was like slamming into a brick wall.

Jud held him back by the upper arms while Logan positioned himself in front of me. Jarek thrashed and tried to break free, threats ripping from his mouth, “You have just signed your death warrant. I promise you. I will take back Aster and the stones you stole. Where are they?”

Desperation wheezed from his outrage.

My stomach twisted.

The stones had been nothing but a curse.

“Let’s go.” My father lifted a hand in the air to indicate it was finished.

Jud shoved Jarek back. “I’d suggest you disappear, asshole.”

Dizziness spun my head, and I tried to remain upright, unable to believe the possibility.

That my father might actually see.

The group of men moved deeper into the parking lot.

“Papa,” I couldn’t help but call out.

He barely paused. Barely looked back.

But he did, and I thought what I saw in his expression was mercy.

Thank you , I mouthed.

With a tight nod, he turned and disappeared into the hazy darkness.

In the background I could hear Trent rumble low, “Prick is gonna be back.”

“It would seem that way, Sir,” Milo offered quietly.

“You good, darlin’?” Jud shifted his attention to me.

I gave him a jerky nod, the welling of shock so thick in my throat I wasn’t sure I could speak.

Logan tugged at my hand. “Come with me.”

And the truth was, I would follow him anywhere.