Endless

Forgiveness | Nick

Alya grew restless in her sleep. Fool that I was, I lay down next to her and held her. I never wanted to let her go. For her sake, I would have to. This trust she had in me wouldn't remain once she remembered. I wouldn't betray her again, wouldn't take advantage of her vulnerability. She deserved that much and more. So much more.

Alya whimpered, burrowing her face against my chest. I could only smile, gently stroking her hair the way she loved. I missed this.

Too soon, Ryan's power made itself felt. He was coming in fast. I grimaced and started to extricate myself. Now was a bad time for me to face his questions. I was almost free of Alya's hold when Vince walked in on us, freezing when he saw what I was doing.

His eyebrows shot up. "I thought she's Ryan's girl."

"She's no one's girl."

His disbelieving expression didn't improve my mood. "And yet, I get the idea Ryan'd be seriously pissed if he saw you right now."

"Saw what?" Ryan asked, walking towards us.

Damn. Damn. Damn, damn, damn. I looked at Alya, but couldn't bring myself to wake her. It was too late now anyway.

Sure enough, Ryan's jealousy and rage rolled over me in waves. "What's this?"

I frowned at him. "Not what you think. She had nightmares." True enough, but then, I'd just gone and underestimated Ryan's power.

His eyes dulled as they gazed at Alya. "Want to leave her be so we can talk?"

Now he was just pissing me off. But let go I did. I stood up and went to the living room, shoving my shoulder against his on my way out.

Vince joined me a second later. "You know, for a chick I've yet to see awake, she sure is stirring up a shitload of trouble."

"Fuck you."

He smirked. "Don't for a second think I'm not sympathetic. Your love life has nothing on mine."

Ryan closed the door behind him before coming to stand by us. "I don't care what your history with her might be," he said quietly, glaring at me, "but she's not yours to play with any more."

"I know that, but neither is she yours. Once she remembers what happened with Luc Davenport, she'll kill you as much as look at you."

A muscle by Ryan's temple ticked, the only indication of my jab hitting home. "Our father showed up at the hospital. Juiced. He's personally offering us our old places in the firm."

"Does he know about Alya?" I asked, amazed.

The muscle ticked again. "Yes. In fact, he made it quite clear that he's protecting us all."

"For now," Vince inserted. Both of us frowned at him. "Come on, I'm as likely to get killed as you two. Shot the griff and the Davenport guy. I'm pretty sure I deserve a say."

"True," Ryan said, turning his frown at me. "Vince has a point. We've broken Firm rules left and right since the plane crash. If we put the Firm back in power..."

"We might as well be signing our death warrants," I completed, "but what choice do we have? Align with the rebels? Go to the protectors? Cut and run?"

"And then what? Stand by, watching humanity go to hell? Or get killed for nothing? Because I assure you, unless Ali remembers and helps us get into safe contact with the protectors, Davenport will kill us on sight."

"Not to mention the fact that the Firm will definitely want you dead if you pick any of the other options," Vince stated. Another excellent point to the vamp.

"Besides," I said, glancing at the closed door of Alya's room. "When she remembers, she won't want anything to do with us."

"You," Ryan corrected, staring me down.

"What?"

"You." He repeated. "She forgave me during World War Two. Saved my life, even. It's why I became a doctor. And why I've risked everything to keep her safe." He walked towards her room, and stopped with his hand against the door. "She forgave me and gave me a second chance. For that alone, I'll love her until the day I die. The way I see it, our only option is to wait for her to fully recover her memory and then see her safely home. After that, we help the Firm. That's my plan. Are you with me?"

"Yeah," Vince said. "I want to die."

I was too floored to speak. She forgave Ryan? Him? But she had continued to hate me. And why wouldn't she?

Ryan went in and shut the door.

I returned to the kitchen and lit up another cigarette. Fuck it. It shouldn't have mattered anyway. Not when we were both sure to die.

And yet, it did.

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