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

you to. I don't even want Quin and I facing them, so if you throw yourself into the mix, it just makes things harder.” She straightened and raised a suspicious eyebrow at her grandpa. “Are you just saying this so I'll reconsider my decision not to hide?”
    Daleen’s mouth fell open as she grasped her heart. “Of course not, Layla. We understand why you don't want to hide, and we don't want you to go.”  
    Layla's gaze softened and saddened as her grandma squeezed her eyes shut and hugged Serafin's arm. Daleen had always been a rock and was usually the first to suck it up and move beyond her grief. But at the moment, she was struggling, and Layla hadn’t seen her this way since watching Aedan and Rhosewen’s memories.
    Taking a shaky breath, Daleen opened her eyes and met Layla’s stare. “The reason we supported Aedan and Rhosewen's departure into hiding was for your protection, Layla. We didn't want them to leave, but there was an innocent and precious life on the line, so that's what had to happen. If things had been different and Rhosewen hadn't gotten pregnant, they would have stayed and faced the Unforgivables, and we would have faced the evil with our children. We want you to stay, darling, and if that's what you want, we'll support you every step of the way, which includes any you take toward the Unforgivables. We’d be devastated if we lost you to them, so we're not going to sit by and watch when there are ways we can help. We're only doing what we would have done two decades ago had it not been for you. Your existence has given us an extra twenty-one years to enjoy our lives, and if we must sacrifice those lives to give you a better chance, that's what we'll do. We owe them to you.”
    Layla's face flexed as her lips trembled. “You don't.”
    Morrigan pulled away from Caitrin's hug and rapidly blinked away tears. “What do you think your mom and dad would ask of us if they were here?”
    “That's not fair,” Layla squeaked.
    “It's the truth,” Caitrin returned. “If Rhosewen and Aedan could speak to us, they’d tell us to do whatever we could to protect you and give you the best possible chance at a happy life. That’s what we’re going to do, and it shouldn't come as a big surprise.”
    He was right. Layla should have known they wouldn’t let her do this alone. She looked at Quin, who still had his eyes closed. Why wasn't he alert and responding to this discussion? “What do you think of all this?” she asked, shriller than she'd meant to.  
    His eyes popped open, and his heart beat faster as he slid a hand to the nape of her neck. “We can't face them alone and keep our lives, Layla. We don't stand a chance, and I'm not prepared to watch you die, so I'm going to accept all the help I can get.” He paused and took a labored breath. “You might find it selfish of me, and that's fine. You're too kindhearted to accept the help, so I'll do it, and the guilt can rest on my shoulders. That's exactly how I want it.”
    Backed into a corner, Layla stupidly stared at him, her determination to live by her own rules draining away. Hopelessness flooded in, swirling into a familiar void, one she hadn’t suffered in weeks, and she began resigning herself and her hero to a half-life – a life full of love and magic, but empty of family to share it with.
    She sank into Quin's chest as she concealed her aura. “Fine. Let's go. Start planning and we'll leave. We’ll hide until Agro dies of old age. Then we'll come back until the next evil person comes along.” Her throat tightened, which was weird, because the rest of her body was numb. Despair and loss acting like Novocaine against hurt and anger. She touched her neck, willing her vocal cords to relax.   “Where do you want to go? Think we can still take Vegas by storm?”  
    When she yanked her sad aura from Quin’s sight, she yanked the air from his lungs, and he realized there was only one choice. Watching his angel suffer in life