Pick us back

chapter 18

I look at Marcus, then back down at the glowing screen. My fingers are still a little unsteady, but I type out a quick thank you and hit send. I need him to know I heard him, even if I’m not ready to go back yet.

I shove the phone into my pocket and wrench the door open. The mountain air is biting, a sharp contrast to the heated luxury of the Porsche, but I welcome the sting.

I step out onto the gravel of the overlook, my boots crunching loudly in the silence.

My legs feel like jelly, a delayed reaction to the adrenaline of the punch, the chase, and the sheer weight of the secrets I’ve just been handed.

I walk toward the edge of the ridge, gripping the cold metal railing as I try to breathe through the tremors.

Behind me, the car door clicks shut.

Marcus doesn't crowd me; he just stands by the hood, silhouetted against the moonlight, giving me the space I need to simply exist without being "the princess" or "the asset."

"It’s a lot to carry," Marcus says, his voice carrying easily in the thin air. He walks up slowly, stopping a few feet away. He pulls off his heavy jacket and drapes it over my shoulders. It’s warm from his body, and it smells like the same cedar and rain that’s on the shirt I’m wearing.

I pull the jacket tight around me, looking out at the city lights. "I spent ten years thinking I was a mistake," I whisper, my voice catching. "Thinking my mum hated me because I did something wrong. But she was just... hiding the truth...

Marcus steps up to the railing beside me, his large hands gripping the metal. "She didn't do it right, Nova. She should have trusted us.

We could have protected you both." He turns his head to look at me, his eyes dark and serious. "The shaking... it’s just the fear leaving you. Let it happen."

I lean my head back, looking up at the stars.

For the first time, I don't feel like I'm running away from something. I feel like I'm standing still, waiting to see who I'm actually supposed to be.

"What happens tomorrow?" I ask.

Marcus reaches out, his hand hesitating before he gently tucks a stray lock of hair behind my ear. "Tomorrow, we start training you. Not to be a ghost, but to be the person your father knew you could be.

No one is ever going to hurt you again, Nova. I'll make sure of it."The mountain air is freezing, but the look I give him is colder. I pull his jacket tighter around my shoulders, not because I want his warmth, but because I’m shivering so hard I might break.

"You told me to stay away, Marcus," I whisper, my voice cutting through the silence of the overlook. "Back at the light house, before all this... you were the one pushing me back. You were the one looking at me like I was a problem you didn't want to solve. And now?"

I turn fully toward him, the city lights flickering like dying embers far below us. "Now you’re talking about training me? Now you want me to be some version of myself my father imagined?

You can't keep flipping the switch."

Marcus flinches. It’s subtle—a tightening of his jaw, a momentary break in his composure—but I see it.

He lets go of the railing and takes a half-step toward me, his shadow stretching long and dark across the gravel.

"I told you to stay away because I knew the second I let you in, there was no going back," he says, his voice a low, rough growl. "I knew that once I looked at you—really looked at you—I wouldn't be able to just be the 'leader' anymore.

I’d be the man who would burn the world down to keep you safe."

He reaches out, his fingers hovering near my cheek before he pulls them back, balling his hand into a fist.

"I wanted you to stay away because I'm a monster, Nova. Julian, Ezra, me... we were raised in blood. You were the only thing clean left in our lives, and I thought if I kept you at a distance, I wouldn't stain you."

He steps closer, closing the gap until I can feel the heat radiating off him. "But seeing you bleed today? Seeing what they did to you while we were 'staying away'?

That changed everything. I don't want to keep you at a distance anymore. I want you right here, where I can see the heart beat in your neck."

He looks down at me, his eyes dark with a possessive, haunted intensity.

"I don't just want you, Nova. I need you to be the reason I stay human.

I quickly avert my gaze, looking back out at the vast, shimmering carpet of the city below.

My skin feels like it’s on fire, a deep blush crawling up my neck despite the freezing mountain wind. His words are too much—too heavy, too honest—and they send a shudder through my frame that has nothing to do with the cold.

I can feel him standing right there, a solid, overwhelming presence in the dark. The way he spoke about being a monster, about needing me to stay human...

it makes my heart hammer against my ribs in a way that’s terrifying and exhilarating all at once.

"Don't say things like that," I whisper, my voice trembling. I wrap my arms around myself, clutching the edges of his heavy jacket.

"You can't just... put that on me. I'm still trying to figure out how to breathe without looking over my shoulder

I hear the crunch of gravel as he moves even closer. He doesn't touch me, but I can feel the warmth of him just inches away.

"I know," he says softly, his voice right by my ear. "And I'll give you all the time you need. But I'm done pretending I don't care where you are. Every second you were gone, it was like the air was missing. I'm not letting that happen again."

Authors notes

As book one slowly comes to the end in a few chapters thank you all for reading!!