Chapter 9 - The Debt of the SisterI screamed, closing my eyes, ready to see Kai fall into the white snow.
But Kai didn't fall.
Julian Moretti dropped his ivory-handled revolver. He looked down at his own chest with wide, disbelieving eyes. A small, neat hole was blossoming through his expensive Italian coat, right over his heart.
Behind Julian, standing on a ridge overlooking the creek bed, was Lev—his tactical rifle still smoking softly in the freezing night air.
Julian collapsed to his knees in the snow, coughing up dark crimson blood. He looked up at Kai, trying to speak, but only a wet gasp escaped his throat.
Kai stood over him, looking down with cold, unyielding judgment.
“That was for Clara,” Kai said quietly.
He didn't fire another shot. He didn't offer a dramatic speech. He simply watched as Julian Moretti keeled forward into the white snow, his eyes going glossy and lifeless against the winter moonlight.
Silence returned to the forest—a deep, heavy silence broken only by the sound of the wind rustling through the tall pine trees and the soft, ragged breathing of four survivors.
Kai stood still for a long moment, staring down at his fallen enemy. Then, slowly, the terrifying monster faded away. The tension left his broad shoulders, his lethal posture slumped, and he turned toward us.
His eyes found Lily, who was peering out from behind my coat, her hand still clutching the silver locket.
Kai dropped his silver pistol into the snow. He fell to his knees—not from injury, but from pure, crushing exhaustion.
“Lily…” Kai whispered, his voice trembling violently as tears finally broke through his icy facade.
Lily hesitated for a second, looking up at me. I looked down at her, wiping a tear from my own eye, and gave her a small, gentle nod.
She ran across the snow.
She didn't run away from him. She ran straight into Kai Harrington’s arms, throwing her small arms around his neck, hugging him as hard as her seven-year-old strength allowed.
Kai wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her small winter coat, weeping openly and shamelessly into the quiet night. The mighty lord of the East Coast underworld was broken, reformed, and saved all in the span of a single hug from a child who didn't know how to fear him.
I walked over slowly, kneeling in the snow beside them. Kai looked up at me through his tears, his hand reaching out to grab mine, squeezing it tight.
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“Thank you,” Kai sobbed, his voice raw. “Thank you for saving her, Maya. Thank you for bringing her back to me.”
“She’s family, Kai,” I whispered back, squeezing his hand in return. “She belongs to both of us now.”
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