Ember holstered her blaster as raw panic continued to choke her. “Did you take care of it?”
“I did.” Tasi smiled grimly. “Another reason I had to make sure I wasn’t followed. Everything’s secured. Just like you asked.”
Thank the gods. Ember returned to Brand. “So what’s going on at home?”
Tasi winced as she saw their mother’s body on the ground. “You’ve all been accused of treason. If they find you, you’ll be arrested on sight.”
“Alura?” Cin asked before Ember had a chance.
Tasi grew silent.
Ember’s stomach grew tight. “Did they kill her?”
She drew Cin into a hug then whispered in a low tone, “No. She’s giving statements that have indicted the rest of you.”
“How could she?” Brand whispered.
Cin tried to pull away, but Tasi held her fast. “You can’t go after her. She’s being protected. They’re trying to draw you home.”
“Good,” Cin said firmly. “I’m willing to go.”
“But I’m not willing to lose you. Now sit down with your sisters and let’s think this through.”
Ember was amazed when Cin obeyed her without question. Only Tasi could get Cin to listen. Especially in this mood.
Wiping at her eyes, she struggled to accept this new reality. Her parents were dead. And she and her sisters were wanted outlaws. “I warned Sa-sa. I knew they’d come for us. But Alura…”
“I’ll kill that bitch!” Brand growled. “Gut her and bathe in her blood!”
At the moment, Ember couldn’t agree more. And yet with her world crumbling, what she really wanted was Bastien. She needed him more right now than she ever had before. He’d have a plan to get them out of this. He’d know what to do. This kind of strategic planning was what he did best.
Not to mention scrounging for supplies. It was why they’d dubbed him Ghost Gadget, or GG, for a call sign. If you gave him a problem, any problem, big or small, he came up with a workable solution. The bastard made it look so easy.
But she had no idea where he was. If he was even alive.
Most likely not. Ravins only survived six to eight weeks. They were long past that now. He’d probably died years ago.
Alone.
That thought almost broke her as she imagined him going down under a barrage of fire as her mother had done. With no one there to care for his body.
No one there to shed a single tear for him.
Her Bas had deserved more than that.
“What are you thinking?” Cin asked. “I see those gears working.”
Ember cleared her throat as she blinked back her tears. “Wondering what Bastien would do.”
Brand sighed. “You think he’s still alive?”
“I don’t know.” Yet she never failed to pray for him. Even now, he was still a part of her.
“I do,” Kindel said as she and Ashley joined them. “He’s too ornery to die. That prick will live just to spite them. You’ll see. And he’ll be back for his vengeance. Just like he said.”
Ash laughed. “He always kept his word. No reason to think he wouldn’t keep this one.”
“Yeah, especially if he felt like I do right now.” Kindel took her jacket off and wrapped it around their mother. “They left us for dead.”
“And framed us.” Ash shook her head. “I want Barnabas’s ass in a grinder.”
“You’ll get it,” Brand assured her. “Right after I cut out Alura’s lying tongue and shove it down her treacherous throat.”
Yet as Ember sat there, listening to them vent and plot their vengeance, the one thing she knew beyond a doubt was that their lives would never be the same again.
In the blink of an eye, everything had changed.
Everything. And they had no solid ground to stand on. Nothing solid to reach for. Not even their names. Barnabas had taken everything from them.
How could they start over with so little?
And in that heartbeat, she heard Bastien’s voice in her head. She saw his handsome, teasing face. Life tries us all, Em. It’s going to kick you in the balls and test every bit of your mettle. The true measure of humanity isn’t how you cope when everything’s coming your way. It’s what you do when you’re being pile-drived headfirst into the ground. You can lie down and let them kill you. Or stand up with a fist and a finger and shout out “Is that all you got? ’Cause you ain’t gonna take me down, bitches. So bring it with both fists. I’m ready.”
Yeah, Kindel was right. Bastien wouldn’t be dead. Not with that ironclad defiance of his. Nothing had ever rattled her baby. You could knock him down for a minute, but you better duck when he stood up.
And Bastien always got up, dusted off the blood, and went for the throat.
How weird that right now all she wanted was to feel his arms around her and to hear his voice in her ear telling her that it would be okay. That she could do it.
Of all the things she missed the most, it was his never-ending optimism. That screwed-up humor he had when everything skidded into a shit pile. His firm belief that she could do anything she set her mind to.
Why hadn’t she fought harder for him?