She glanced over at Rena to find her grinning at him like a woman in love. She wanted to make a sound of disgust, but caught it as she thought of herself and Niko.
“We will go on.” He said again, bringing her attention back to him. “This created has chosen the wrong family to try and terrorize. I believe this is done for personal satisfaction that one of us has done something to him or his family unintentionally and he has decided that we should pay for it. The insult he imagines we laid at his doorstep will cost him his life. There will be no remorse or second chances. He will die.”
Aran looked at each of his brothers, before pausing to look at Dee and then finally at Rena.
“To my family new, old and adopted.” He glanced at Dante. “We do not stop. We continue to live, to thrive, to love and be loved. There will always be someone willing to try and take what we have fought hard to gain. We will not go quietly. We will not go at all. We will prevail. Make no mistake, some wars are short, and some are long. All that matters is that we win.”
Rena walked over to him and hugged him. She looked like a doll next to him. Dee laughed. She suddenly understood the nickname and it was appropriate.
“Kitten?”
In the midst of the blood and destruction, Niko slid his arms around her. She turned and kissed him. She took those words to heart. ‘We will go on.’
“What about them?” Dee asked.
“Nicolas thinks he can save them.” She hugged him tighter. She was at home with him.
Nicolas had told them an ambulance had an ETA of ten minutes and they needed to clear out. It didn’t take long for them into get back to the jeeps, leaving Nicolas, Dante and Ash behind.
***
The brothers had all taken a different path and gone home. At least, that’s what she assumed had happened. They were now strolling into Niko’s house, having changed what they were wearing.
The last to come in were Dante, Nicolas and Ash.
“How is Vance?” The guy was her supervisor. She wanted him to be well. Besides she had questions she wanted to ask him.
“He will live. He is fortunate that I arrived when I did. I rode to the hospital with him. He crashed three times. I made sure he would live.”
“What will he remember?” Aran asked.
“Nothing. His memory loss will be permanent.” Nicolas smiled, but it wasn’t warm.
“What did he know?”
Dante answered Aran this time. “Not much. The created played with his mind. We will have to wait to find out if he remembers anything that happened before the cabin.”
Aran nodded and asked about Tina.
“I took her to the safe house with all of the other women. Nicolas has already taken a look at her. She was definitely violated by Vance. She may need to speak to someone. I will arrange it.” Dante replied.
Aran nodded and pulled Rena onto his lap. Holding her close, he let his eyes close.
The brothers stayed long enough to take comfort in family, the coming together after a near tragedy. Hale picked up a ball from the pool table and threw it at Nicolas, who caught it and threw it back at him. The others laughed and placed bets on who would get the first hit.
Dee and Rena screamed about someone losing an eye. It was rough play, but so much better than guns aimed at them and small explosions going off around them.
In the end, no one scored. They put everything back and silently departed, leaving Dee sitting on Niko’s lap in the middle of the game room.
“Is it all over?”
“No, kitten. There’s more to come.”
“What about us, Niko?”
“Kitten, we’ve only just begun.”