An Echo in the Sorrow (Soulbound, #6)

by Hailey Turner

“They should give me a discount next time for messing up my order. I wanted extra meat and extra cheese. Look, now the bagel is all soggy from the tomato.” Wade held the breakfast sandwich up to Patrick’s face so he could see. He turned his head and stole a bite, tearing through the toasted bagel and getting crumbs on the center console. Wade’s eyes widened in affronted disbelief as he yanked his sandwich back and cradled it close to his chest. “That was mine!” he hissed.

“Then accept my challenge or forfeit your rank right now.” “You’ll never see Patrick again if you persist with this.” “Bollocks. I’ll find him, or he’ll come back to me.” Whether across the country or through a hell, Jono would go where Patrick was or die trying, and knew his pack would be right beside him.

“You were dust,” Jono growled. “And I will be dust yet again. It is how I exist.” “If you let them have Patrick, you forfeit Earth to whatever hell Ethan will turn it into. What will you eat when he’s killed us all off? You lose no matter what if we don’t get Patrick back.” “So little faith in the weapon I taught him to be.” “He was a fucking child.” “He was made the hero in a tale still being written before he was even born. That is a fate he can’t outrun, for all that he has tried. I was tasked with keeping him alive, and that is what I have done.” “You’ve done fuck all if he dies by Ethan’s hand. I’ll never forgive you if that happens.” “What use have I for forgiveness?”

“You won’t help us save Patrick out of the goodness of your heart, because you haven’t got one. You won’t do it out of love, because you’ve lived so long you’ve forgotten what love means,” Jono said, choosing his words carefully. “I’ll love Patrick because you can’t, but you’ll save him if it means you win in the end.”

“Some battles never last long enough to become a war. Others merely need a spark.” Ashanti smiled at him, beautiful and cold, but it wasn’t Jono she spoke to as she gestured at the walls surrounding them. “Would you like it back?”

The ground jerked. For a second, Patrick didn’t know what was happening. Then the shaking intensified, and the only reason he kept his footing was because of Wade. “Are we having an earthquake? If my shot glass collection gets broken, I’m stealing more,” Wade said. “You’re not old enough to drink.” “They have funny designs.”

“I’m here,” Jono murmured. Patrick’s hands found their way to Jono’s hips, touch cold. “I’m sorry.” “Let’s not start that, love. It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t you.” Patrick’s breath hitched in his lungs, fingers digging into Jono’s skin, his voice coming out tired and small. “Sure as fuck felt like it.”

Patrick tipped his head in Jono’s direction. “What about you? Are you happy?” Jono tore his gaze away from the altar to look Patrick in the eye, seeing the shadows there that had become more prominent since Saturday. In the wake of everything that had happened, the knowledge of what they still had to face, Jono refused to lose the moments, big and small, that were important. “I’ll always be happy with you,” Jono murmured.