Diary of the Unbroken (BOOK #4)

Poor Unfortunate Souls

William's POV

Silence encased the room, swallowing us all whole. No one moved. Not a sound could be heard except for the heaving of human breaths. The past minutes finally caught up to us and now there was nothing we could do.

Hanson laid cold and dead—actually dead—on the floor, blood spewing from all orifices of his face. Liv crumpled to the ground, letting go of Daniel's youngest daughter—his most prized possession—watching the life drown out of the man she'd been bound to.

"Dad...Daddy?" Jessamine whispered.

Daniel went forward, reaching for his daughter, but she pulled away. "Jessamine—"

She swallowed, eyes growing puffy and her face red as shook her head. "You...you killed him," she sputtered out.

"I had to, darling," Daniel said, his hand slowly falling to his side. A serious yet somber look possessed his gaze. "I had to keep you safe."

"But you killed him. You said you wouldn't kill anyone. You promised them," she said through her teeth as she pointed over at her sisters. "You promised me."

Daniel came towards his father again, his motions now pleading just as his tone. "Jessie—"

She shoved him away with a strength that didn't fit her small frame and stormed past the rest of us, up the stairs away from the chaos of war.

Derek coughed from his spot still on his knees slumped over on the ground. I reached out a hand, pulling him up. He grasped onto my shoulder giving me a look much like the one Daniel had given Jessamine.

"Was it worth it, Daniel?" Derek asked the man, his voice gruff. "Was all of this worth it? Was it worth another one of your daughters looking at you like the monster you are? Is all this pain and destruction you've caused worth the power? Worth the glory of winning the battle?"

"You," Daniel hissed, jabbing a finger in Derek's direction. "Don't speak to me. You and I are not equals. You don't know me."

"What about me?" Val stepped forward. "Do I know you? I've seen the person you are the person you could be. I've witnessed those moments—the ones where you look at me and Ava and Jessamine like you having something worth living for besides power and glory. You aren't always this monster you put yourself out to be. You are capable of caring. I know there is another man in there—someone who cares. Someone who hurts and feels pain and emotion like any human. I know there is some good in you. There has to be."

Ava grabbed onto her sister's hand. "You used to read to us," she said, her voice steady. "Every night before bed. I couldn't remember it before, but I do now. You weren't always this person. You can be good. A good man. A good father. If only you tried."

"It doesn't have to be like this," Val continued. "We don't have to be like this. We could be a family. Just like how it's been the past few weeks. You, me, Ava, Jessamine. We can all be together—happy. No secrets. No killing. No holding us here, away from the outside world. Give Jessamine her freedom. Give us our freedom."

He closed his eyes and shook his head. That sadness now possessed his whole face. Suddenly a man—a father—breaking. "The world—Jessamine—I never wanted her to see it. To see how horrible it could be."

"I understand," Val, loosening her sister's grip as she stepped towards their father. "You thought that if you were in charge—it vampires ruled—there wouldn't be a problem. You could have control of what Jessamine saw, what she knew, what she believed. But just today in this very room, she has witnessed the brutality of the world. Sometimes you can't prevent it. You have to realize that, eventually, she's going to see. She doesn't need your protecting anymore. At some point you have to let go."

Letting go.

Suddenly, this was no longer a story of a raged vampire wanting to rule the world. It wasn't the tale of death and destruction and ultimate superiority. Not even the story of a man after revenge, so broken and bruised by a race who wanted him dead. Now, it was a story about a father afraid of sending his daughter out to face the real world.

Ava cleared her throat as she went to stand alongside her sister, the rest of us spectators in this conversation—a revelation really. "Val thought she could protect me, too, you know. She kept me from the world of Hunters for years. But it didn't work. I still found out, but I'm still here by her side, living my life the only way I can. Let Jessamine go—let her decide what the world is for herself. I know you've been burned before. We all have, but what you're doing, keeping her here—keeping us here—it's hurting her more than you could ever know."

"So, you think I should stand down?" he asked, his voice low. "Give up on a mission I have spent centuries on?"

"I think you should be the man Jessamine has always wanted you to be," Ava asked of him. "Be the father I always wanted. I promise you, if you do that, if you give up this stupid crusade and accept Derek's proposition...if you accept unity between vampires and Hunters, no one will get hurt. Not Jessamine or me or Val or your men or the people I care about or my child. Or you."

His eyebrows pulled together. "You won't leave me?"

Ava glanced over to where I stood. This was no longer about the Sumner's and all their drama. I was now a part of it. We all were. I went to stand with her, grabbing onto her hand.

"I'll visit," Ava promised her father. "I'll call. I...I will let you be a part of this child's life. As long as you let me and everyone else here go."

The two shared a look—something that I felt buried in my bones. It was a look I had never shared with my own parent—that look of utter trust between the two. It was everything I craved—trust and understanding.

Daniel closed his eyes, bowing his head. "Men," he said to his cronies. "Let my daughter's family go."

The Red Barons stepped away without a word, loosening their holds around our people and followed their leader's orders, soon leaving the room altogether.

Daniel looked up at us, after months of fighting, finally waving his white flag. "I apologize. I am sorry. I truly am," he said before following his men out of the room.

No one moved. Once again, we stood there in silence. Liv, still crippled on the floor, her face expressionless. Hanson dead, stone cold in front of us. All the others, fiercely holding onto each other, never letting go.

Then Luke spoke. "Is it over?" he asked.

Ava wrapped an arm around me, laying her head on my chest. "Yeah, I think it is."