Chapters (76)
- Title Page
- Copyright Notice
- Dedication
- PROLOGUE
- PART I
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- PART II
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- PART III
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- INTERLUDE
- PART IV
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- INTERLUDE
- PART V
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- PART VI
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- INTERLUDE
- PART VII
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- PART VIII
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- EPILOGUE
- AUTHOR’S NOTE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- Newsletter Sign-up
It shouldn’t have been possible, that the world could continue to be, after such a thing. It should either be done with and end, all of it, or let them start anew. Anything would be better than plodding forward from here.
“I didn’t mean to kill Alan,” she cried still, as useless a thing to say as ever.
“No,” Robin huffed. “You meant to kill me.”
“You’refuckingrightImeanttokillyou!” She turned savage, eyes blood red, swinging wildly at Robin but stumbling to the ground. “You never drank from your cup, why didn’t you just fucking drink it? Why did you give it to Alan?”
Will seemed incredulous. “You’re blaming him?”
“It wasn’t supposed to take effect for hours.” She turned back to him, the rage gone, her face pleading for understanding. “I don’t know what went wrong.”
“Lena, why?” Will tore at himself, his face riven. “Why, Lena?”
“Because he was right.” Again she tried to touch him, and again he skipped away, turning and wringing his hands. “Gisbourne was right. He was right that Robin is to blame for all of this! The Sheriff and Robin are the same, they’re both using us! He doesn’t care about us, about what we’re doing out here. He pulled us back, he wanted us to be nothing. He was working with William the whole time! He’s the reason Much died. We said the Sheriff deserved to die. Why wouldn’t Robin deserve the same? He’s brought all this pain upon us, and then we sing songs about him. We should be singing songs about you.” Her voice broke, she swallowed against tears. “The people should be singing about Will Scarlet.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Will growled at her, at the world. “You’re working with the man who killed Much! Didn’t you see Gisbourne was trying to manipulate us? You’ve done exactly what he wanted!”
“They were going to hang us,” she broke down. “I wasn’t going to let you die.”
“I do not accept Alan’s life as a trade for my own.”
“I didn’t mean to kill him—”
“I don’t accept Robin’s life either!” He pounded at his chest, hard enough to bruise. “We made our decision. We knew the consequences. I did, at least. I was willing to die for it, to die for what happened to Much. I should never have let you come.”
“You deserve better.”
A third time she reached for him, instinctively, and he swatted her away, striking her forearm. “Don’t touch me!”
“Don’t touch him,” John echoed, in instant reaction. He didn’t say, Don’t hit her. He didn’t even think it.