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"Let’s take a walk, Mira" Before she could argue or throw another verbal volley at hiot out of the car and rounded the hood to her door in less than a second The speed was deliberate He figured it couldn’t hurt to reht he was playing gaet out
She obeyed, much to his surprise, and he walked her into the peaceful darkness of the empty park
"I would’ve expected you to scrub and dump me in the city, not out here"
"I wanted to be alone with you," he said as they strolled along-side each other in the crisp,lot somewhere, or be rushed by crowds around us"
"Romantic," sheout between here and Boston proper when I nored the jab "I’ll watch over you once we’re done here, et back to the Order’s headquarters safely"
She blew out a sharp exhalation "Don’t do rown up, in case you haven’t noticed"
Oh, he’d noticed The first time had been when Mira was about fifteen Scrappy and stubborn as always, but that year the reed-thin toly overnight as a powerful young wos that went on forever He wasn’t the only ra Mira
But for so to this day, she only had eyes for him Her best friend, she’d dubbed hi to give up on the sullen teenager who’d co of his entire farandfather, Lazaro Archer
Mira was still stunning, even with the passing of eight years since he’d last been this close to her He could see traces of that time under her eyes and around the full curve of her mouth She hadn’t taken another Breed male as her mate If she had, their blood bond would have enhanced her beauty It would halt her aging, keep her youth intact
There was a tiht be the ht up until thechanged What he wanted becaht, he had si beside hiht to
Still, the urge to touch her was nearly too much for him to resist But Kellan knew if he touched her now, he would only want s that were now and forever out of his reach
How had he ed to keep his distance all these years? Not very well, he reminded himself He hadn’t really ever been that far from her He’d lost count of how many times he’d watched her in secret, both in Boston and Montreal, curious to kno she was faring Proud to see her accomplish stubborn streak - landed her in trouble
His plan upon waking up and realizing he hadn’t been blown to pieces along with the warehouse had been to get as far away from Mira and the Order as he could It would’ve been better for everyone if he had All the iven where he stood now But the simple fact was, he hadn’t been able to leave She had a hold on him that he hadn’t been able to break
He’d told hi close to where she was so long as he ensured their paths never crossed But if he’d had any honor in him, he would have fled as far as possible, as soon as he’d been given the chance
Mira’s pace slowed beside him, then stopped as she pivoted to face him "What happened to you inside that warehouse, Kellan?"
He grunted, gave a vague shake of his head "Does it matter now?"
"It ether and she gave hi to scrub myyou say or do here tonight If you’ve got a conscience anymore, this is your perfect chance to clear it - when you knoill only hate you for a few more minutes before you take even that truth away from me"
It was an accusation, one that scathed him more than he wanted to admit "I have to do this, Mira It’ll be better for everyone this way"
"Definitely better for you, at any rate" Bitter, angry words She was hurting deeply, understandably so But it was the sudden doard tilt of her head - the lint of her eyes - that undid hiht," he murmured "I do owe you that"
"You owe ht now, nearly dry when she looked up at hiain
She wouldn’t allow herself to break in front of hiaze She wouldn’t give hiain
When she spoke, her voice was schooled and level, a soldier recounting facts after battle "I’ve seen your death a thousand tiht You were ahead of Nathan and me and the rest of our tea the riverfront after reports of rebel movement down at the industrial park You radioed that you were in pursuit of several suspects, gave us your location and where you were heading Nathan and I were closest to the area by then, so we joined up and proceeded in your direction to provide backup We arrived just in time to see you disappear into the warehouse Not even two seconds later, the explosion went off"
Kellan nodded, recalling the night as clearly as she did But this was the point where their two accounts differed "The rebel ledI didn’t realize why until I was inside and sant of live explosives somewhere nearby It was a trap, Mira I knew you and Nathan were right behind me I couldn’t risk that you’d be anywhere near the place when it blew"
"But you were," she said, her blond brows knit as she tried to put the pieces together in her mind "You were inside the warehouse when it exploded"
"I was," he said "But only long enough to spoil the trap I flashed to where the C-4 and detonator had been planted It ired to the walls, no chance of ripping it out and disposing of it, certainly not without setting the whole thing off So I killed it Shot the whole thing up"
Mira gaped at him "You detonated it while you were still inside? You would’ve had less than seconds to escape the blast once the charges blew"
He nodded again "I didn’t even know if I wouldyou and anyone else fro hurt in the blast, it orth the risk As it happened, the bo the back door of the place I re the percussion throw me airborne I could smell the smoke and my own burned flesh I felt my broken bones shatter even more as I hit the cold surface of the Mystic and sank into the murky water After that, I suppose I lost consciousness The next thing I knew, so my bloody, broken body ashore"