"Hey," Stella told one of the women who was fighting Xander, "we are helping you."

The woman froze and struggled to push her wild hair out of her face. Stella reached forward and pushed her hair back, looking in her face.

"Liddy?" she whispered. "Oh my God."

Liddy threw her arms around Stella. The two girls held each other tightly while the chaos of getting the women out ensued around them. Their bodies shook with their cries but they didn't let go of each other. Stella rubbed her friend's back and whispered quietly in her ear. When the basement was finally empty, I touched Stella's shoulder.

"We need to leave," I told her.

She nodded and helped Liddy to her feet. When she almost fell over, Ace came up and lifted Liddy in his arms. We climbed the stairs and I looked back at my father's body before leaving the house. Outside, Xander was loading the women in cars and trucks.

"They are coming with us," I told him, indicating Stella and Liddy.

He nodded and signaled the guys to leave. Xander had a house ready for them to get cleaned up and ready to be set free. While planning, I didn't really think I would find anyone else other than Stella, but wanted to be prepared. We had enough men on our side to make sure those girls were taken care of.

In the van, I buckled the girls in the back seat. When we arrived at the airport, my plane was waiting as promised along with an ambulance I had on payroll. Ace got stitches on his hand while the girls were checked out. Stella wouldn't leave Liddy's side as a nurse fussed over them. I leaned against the truck watching a woman carefully check Stella for injuries.

"She's in good shape considering what she went through," the doctor told me. "Dehydrated and some bruising, but nothing too serious."

"And the other one?" I asked. I wasn't sure I wanted to know because I was ready to kill someone already seeing them hurt.

"She wasn't so lucky," he said with a sad voice.

We were loaded on the private plane where the girls passed out quickly. I sat in my seat and gripped my glass of whiskey so hard I thought it might shatter. I couldn't even go to Stella because I was afraid I would hurt her in my rage. I itched to break something. The blood shed today wasn't nearly enough.

"I didn't find her," Ace whispered with a raspy voice. "All of this, and I didn't get her back."

"We saved some," I told him. "It's not over."

Ace looked back at this sister and then to me. "She should hate me."

"She should hate us both."

XXXI

Stella

Death was a bitch. I was shaped by it, changed from it, and sick of it. I watched too many die and one at my own hands. It was something I could never forget. The way the gun kicked in my hands and the way his body fell limp was engraved in my mind. It would join my nightmares.

I stared at myself in the mirror and didn't recognize the girl looking back at me. Her hair was changed, her face was thin and pale, and her eyes were dull. A part of me died in Miami. I didn't know if I could ever get her back. Maybe she was with the old Liddy.

My best friend lost herself. It was days before I could coax her to eat or drink. It was even longer to get her to talk to me. When she finally spoke, I wished I had never asked. I was saved just in time. I didn't think I could have survived what Liddy had gone through. When I thought about what they had done to her, I felt a little less guilty for pulling the trigger.

Liddy called her parents and made up some excuse about taking a last minute vacation with a boy. She wasn't ready to face them and she didn't want to talk to police. The other women were returned to their homes and some even spoke to the police. I didn't know what Atlas did to keep them from telling them who was to credit for their escape.

There was a certain emptiness I felt. For so long, my life had become fear and hiding. Every moment, I was waiting for the past to catch up to me. Even when Atlas found me, I was fearing what would come for us. Now, it was all over. My parents were forever gone but I still had my brother. No one would ever come for me again. I wasn't sure what do with myself anymore.

"Stella, you need to talk to me eventually," my brother said from the bathroom doorway.

"That may be true, but it doesn't mean it needs to be right now," I said, pushing past him and into the bedroom.

I was still at the lake house in the bedroom I had come to think of as mine. The four walls that were once my prison were now my safety. Not even Atlas dared to enter them. The first night back here, I waited all night for him to come in like he used to, but he never did. Was he giving me space or did he not want to see me?

I was the girl who killed his father. It was my bullet that left a dead body on his chest and covered him in blood. They told me to run but I couldn't. I was too weak to run anymore.

"Do you have any idea what you put me through?" I asked, spinning to face Ace. "I needed you. I stood at our parents' funeral, alone!" I was screaming now but I didn't care. "I was scared, sad and I needed someone. You left me behind!"

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I watched you. I sent Atlas for you. I thought you were safe."

"But I was hurting." The tears followed my last word.

Ace's arms wrapped around me and I melted into him. It had been too long since I had seen him. When we were younger, his hugs were rare but priceless if I could sneak one out of him.

"He's worried about you," Ace said in my hair.

"He has a funny way of showing it," I said, unable to mask the bitterness in my voice.

Atlas hadn't spoken to me since we returned to the lake house. He returned to the city the next morning for a few days and had avoided me since then. He didn't come to me at night like he used to. I didn't know what I had expected exactly, but the coldness wasn't it.

"He's just pissed and I think he's scared he will snap if he sees you."

"Because I killed his dad."

"No," Ace said quickly, grabbing my face to keep my attention. "For making you kill him. For putting you through that and what they did to you. That's all our fault."

"I don't blame either of you," I said.

"You should have run," he whispered, his blue eyes glistening.

"Dad would have stayed and fought."

Ace nodded, knowing I was right. I couldn't walk away knowing they were in danger. Before that day, I thought Ace was the only child to inherit Dad's courage and morals, but maybe we both did. Maybe I wasn't as weak and scared as I thought I was. As much as what I had done sickened me and would haunt me, I didn't see how this could have ended any other way.

"I love you, Stella," he said and my heart broke at the words.

It had been too long since I had heard those words and my anger melted. I threw my arms around him and held my brother like he had come back from the dead, since he had. He squeezed me and I let go all the tears I had held in since we had returned to the lake house. A throat cleared in the doorway and we broke apart.

"Atlas," I whispered.

Atlas stood in the doorway looking as dangerous as he was. He cooly watched our exchange like he wasn't making my heart race just by being near. Ace gave me a squeeze and left us alone in my room, giving a slight nod to Atlas as he passed.