Shameful by May Dawson
68
Legacy
The sightof the Reject Island bridge coming back into view made my throat close up. I’d been so close to escape, but I’d do anything for Killian—even go back to Reject Island.
We debated whether to take a motorized boat for the sake of speed, then decided to steal a handful of kayaks. We wanted to move as quietly as possible.
“Here.” Tania held up a spray bottle of bug spray she’d dug up on one of the boats. “It should help camouflage our scent.”
The unfamiliar scent might draw Cyrus’s attention, but not the way our scents would.
“Good thinking,” I said, grabbing the bug spray. We all took turns spraying each other down—and coughing, that stuff was nasty—and then climbed into the kayaks.
Night had fallen while we made our way to the island, and long black shadows from the islands seemed to fall over the water. I couldn’t shake the feeling those shadows might swallow us up. The moon was full, reminding me how much time had passed since the supermoon that was supposed to change my life in the best ofways.
Well it had certainly changed my life. And not in the best of ways—not yet. but I was glad that I hadn’t ended up married to Lucas. And maybe I was glad to have the chance to shed my good girl ways and become myself.
I wasn’t anyone’s Legacy. I was myown.
I’d wanted to escape our haunted island when we first arrived. Now we traveled quietly over the dark water back to the place I had never wanted togo.
We stayed far away from the castle, where I would bet Cyrus was waiting for us, and traveled instead around the far edge to land not far from where Tobias had tried to kidnap me again.
Rhett jumped out ahead of me and pulled my kayak up onto solid ground so I wouldn’t have to slosh through the water. He offered me his hand like I was a queen and I laid the paddle down and took his hand before stepping out of the smallboat.
The five of us looked at each other under the moonlight.
“We know the house well, which gives us an advantage,” I said. “They’re unwelcome guests in ourhome.”
That house belonged to us and to the ghosts.
“We could go in through the pool,” Rhett suggested. “The pool cleaning room has a door that leads outside, but even if Cyrus and Lucas searched the house, they probably missed it. It’s pretty hidden by the equipment and cleaning supplies.”
“Lead on,” Isaid.
The five of us moved quietly through the woods. As we were approaching the house, my heart pounded at the thought of seeing Lucas again. I had to kill him, but part of me wondered if my body would be able to—or if that same pull between us that I hadn’t managed to break completely just yet would stay myhand.
If he’d killed Killian, though, I knew that I would snap and kill him. Maybe Lucas was my mate. But Killian, Rhett and West were my choice.
The five of us passed one-by-one through the narrow half-door that led from the moonlit night into the tight pool closet. The room was dark, and the scent of chlorine burned mynose.
“Here goes,” Rhett breathed before he turned the knob and opened the door into the poolroom.
The pool was always eerie, but especially so at night time. The moon light from the windows made the water seem to glow green. The shadowed marble statues around the edge of the pool made my heart stop, and I searched each one to make sure that Cyrus and Lucas weren’t frozen amongthem.
The five of us were almost to the pool when Cyrus, Lucas and a handful of our pack’s shifters stepped through the door. Lucas gripped Killian’s shoulder, and his other hand had a gun pressed to the back of Killian’s neck. Killian’s face was stoic, ropes wrapped around his corded forearms to bindhim.
“Look who’s back where they belong,” Cyrus sneered atus.
He wasn’t even worth talking to. I looked at the half-dozen members of the pack behind him. “So, do you all know what he’s been doing? Working with vampires so he can take their blood, so he can pretend he’s strong enough to be the alpha?”
Cyrus snarled, and I ignored him. I was tired of men who thought they were tough because they could hurt people, that this meant they deserved respect. “He doesn’t deserve your respect, and he doesn’t deserve to leadyou.”
“And you think you do, slut?” Lucas intervened for his father. “Your only friends are these guys you’ve been fucking. They only care about you because you offered up your body for them to use—just like you threw yourself atme.”
My chin rose. “I am embarrassed I ever let you touch me at all, Lucas. But not because sex is bad. Because you’re a disgusting misogynistic wad of soggy tissue strutting around, imitating a human being.”
His lips curled back from his teeth, but I just smiled at him. Just as I’d told Killian, I had no fucks left togive.
“Slut,” Lucas blurted out, obviously the worst thing he could call a woman, even though he’d been pounding girls left and right since I left thepack.
“You said I was shameful, that you were ashamed of me.” My voice had gone very soft. “Well, you’re the one who’s shameful, Lucas. You never deservedme.”
I’d told myself that before, but this was the first time I believedit.
And I felt the last chain between ussnap.
Lucas must have felt it too because his eyes narrowed dangerously.
Cyrus gestured with the gun. “Let’s go for a walk outside, kids.”
“No,” Lucas said. “I want her. I want Legacy.”
He pushed Killian toward Cyrus.
That was Killian’s moment. He suddenly came to life, throwing his elbow at Cyrus’s face. There was a ripping sound as his muscles swelled and the ropes burst, flying off his arms. Killian was more powerful than I’d ever realized, and he threw himself into attacking a shocked Cyrus.
Gunfire broke out, echoing loudly through the pool room as the shifters opened fire. Lucas pushed one of their guns down, shouting sharply, “Watch out for thegirl!”
That gave us an opening. West, Rhett, Tania and Courage moved toward the shifters, but I made sure to stay in front of them, trying to shieldthem.
“Just shoot them!” Cyrus grunted as he struggled with Killian.
But by then, we’d closed the distance. Rhett and West tackled the guys with guns, trying to take them down. We had to hope that Cyrus and Lucas had kept the vampire juice to themselves rather than creating a situation where more people could challenge their reign.
I went straight for Lucas.
He came toward me, smiling.