“Why are you sorry, Broderick?” She’s speaking too fast, her words tumbling over each other to escape her lips. “Is it a problem that you’ve been fucking not one but two Amazons this whole time?”

I turn her in my arms until I can see her face. Her eyes are red, but there are no tear tracks on her face. Somehow, that makes it worse. I carefully take her shoulders. “I love you.”

Shiloh flinches. “But—”

“I. Love. You,” I repeat. “You are more than the faction you were born into, more than the abuse you survived, more than everything that came after. Why the fuck would something that happened before we met have any relevance on how I feel about you, Shiloh?”

Her tremors get stronger. “You hate Amazons.”

Next to us, Monroe gives a wild laugh. “Not all Amazons, love. Not…” She drags in a rough breath. “I killed your parents. Did you know that?”

Against all reason, that seems to steady Shiloh. Her lips curve in a sad smile. “Guess you got your wish, after all.”

“Don’t do that,” Monroe whispers. “Don’t make light of this catastrophic failure on my part.”

“Monroe.” Shiloh shakes her head, her hair brushing across my arm. “I said it before and I’ll say it again—you’re three years younger than I am. What could you have possibly done?”

“I could have killed them sooner.” Monroe reaches out but hesitates before she touches either of us. “I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry, love. I didn’t…” She makes a pained sound. “I can’t believe the shit I said to you. Why didn’t you punch me in the face when I was talking about how that would never happen in my faction?”

“The thought did cross my mind.” Shiloh’s still shaking, but she feels a little steadier, less likely to shatter. “What happened to them?”

I open my mouth to ask if she’s sure she wants to know, but Monroe beats me to speaking. She always did have more faith in Shiloh’s strength, more willingness to let our woman stand on her own two feet without a protective cocoon around her. “They hurt someone about six years after you left.”

“A child.”

“A child,” she confirms. “I was the one sent to handle the situation and to make examples of them.”

Shiloh draws in a full breath and releases it in a shuddering exhale. “I’m glad. I… I should have done it myself, but I couldn’t.”

“No. No, Shiloh, you shouldn’t have done it yourself. No part of this is on you.” Again, Monroe reaches out. Again, she drops her hand before it makes contact. “We failed you.”