Read Online Retribution by B. C. Burgess - Free Book Online

it wasn't fair, and it wasn't what they wanted, what they deserved. “You really don't think we have a chance, Quin? Not one glimmer of hope?”
    “We don't have the power to take on a ruthless army, Layla.”
    “There has to be a way.”
    His eyes widened on her. “Aren't you scared?”
    “Of course I'm scared, Quin. I'm terrified, but if we give up and hide, and let him take everything we have, he wins. I don't think my mom and dad would have hid if she hadn't gotten pregnant, and I'm not going to get pregnant, so why should we leave? Teach me how to defend myself and let the dice roll.”
    He didn’t reply. He just watched her while swallowing hugely, and she didn’t need words to know how he felt. Taking his jaw, she slid her thumb to a hidden dimple and quietly pled her case. “We have a beautiful life here, Quin. I know if we die, we lose it, but if we hide, we're giving it away. Of course I could live hidden from the world as long as I stayed tucked in your arms. You know it’s my favorite place to be. But a life in hiding isn’t what we want, not for ourselves or for each other. We want to be able to sit on the lawn with our family; eat our meals at a table with the people we love before lying on the ground to watch them perform magic. We want to see Alana and Brayden grow up, and Bann and Sky graduate. We want to take walks on the beach, fly over the ocean, and drink amazing coffee at Cinnia's cafe. I don't want to surrender the things that are special to me, Quin. It feels like I’d be placing them in Agro's hands and bowing my head in defeat. You once told me some things are worth dying for, and you're right. I have a long list of things worth dying for, and by hiding, I’d be giving all but one of those things away.”
    He took her face in both hands, blinking as he swallowed another lump. “It's impossible to do this by ourselves, Layla. It can't be done. One of us would have to watch the other die, then turn and face our own death. And I can't watch you die.” He pulled her closer, whispering against her lips. “I'm not – that – strong.”
    Seeing his glistening eyes and hearing his tortured confession tied Layla in knots, and since she wasn't as good as he was about controlling the waterworks, her tears quickly spilled over. “There has to be a way, Quin. We have to find a way to end this. I don't like living this way. Always afraid. Always hiding.”
    Quin quickly dried her tears. Then he tucked her face into his neck and looked at the others. His eyes went from one pair to the next, waiting for someone to object to what he was about to do.
    After several silent seconds, Serafin stood and walked behind Daleen, placing his hands on her cheeks as he met Quin’s stare. “We'll figure out a way.”
    Quin closed his eyes and laid his head back, his body heavy like lead, his lungs struggling under the weight of trepidation, the weight of all those who’d line up in front of a firing squad for him and Layla, the weight he’d carry until his dying day.
    Layla pulled her face from his neck and looked around, noting everyone’s auras and expressions while putting them together with Serafin’s agreement, and when comprehension slapped her, it also nudged her gag reflexes. “No,” she blurted, scowling at her grandpa. “We'll not ask people to die for us. That's not an option. Quin and I will handle this. No one else.”
    She turned away so they’d know the topic wasn’t up for discussion, and when she saw Quin's disparaging aura, her stomach rolled. She snuggled into his chest and drifted her lips across the tight tendons in his neck, and he wrapped his fingers in her hair, covering her back with solid arms just the way she liked it.
    “You're not asking,” Serafin replied, “and this isn't just an option. It's the only option. If you face them, we’ll face them. That's how it's going to work.”
    Layla stopped moving her lips along Quin's neck, but she didn't look up. “I don't want