“Haze. Sweetheart.” His hand moves in slow, soothing circles across my back. “It’s okay. It’s all over.”
With a shuddering breath, I tilt my head back to meet his gaze. “But it’s not okay. Amy. The other women.”
“We’ll find them.”
“Wendy, Jess, Angel.” Another sob slips out. “They were in danger. All because of me.”
Pain tightens his features. “No. Not because of you. Never because of you. It was because of some sick, twisted men and their disgusting plan.”
“You were almost shot,” I blurt. “You could have been killed. If not for me?—”
“Sweetheart,no.” It’s quick. Fierce. He brushes my tears from my cheeks. “First off, I wasn’t shot. I’m fine. And if that was anyone’s fault, it was mine.”
“But—”
“And Wendy’s fine. Jess is fine. Angel is fine.” He stops. Cups my cheek as he looks deep into my eyes. “Hazel. I know you’re used to blaming yourself. But you didn’t do anything wrong. Not in Boston. And not here.”
I want to believe him.
“I know this has been a lot,” Alec continues. His voice is achingly gentle; a complete contradiction to the threatening tone he was using only minutes ago. “And it’s going to take some time to absorb everything. But I promise you, there’s nothing to feel guilty for. Not one thing.”
“Alec.” My voice wobbles. “What if I can’t get past it? What if I always feel like this?”
In the distance, the faint rise and fall of sirens approaches.
“Haze.” Alec shifts me on his lap. He brushes atender kiss across my lips. “You will. Because I’ll help you. We’ll set up more counseling. I’ll stay with you every night if you want me to. I’ll remind you?—”
From the darkness, a glimmer of light sparks. “You’ll stay with me?”
“Of course.” Emotion darkens his eyes. “Don’t you know, Hazel? I would do anything for you. I—” He stops. Pink rises on his cheeks. “I care about you,” he finally continues. “Alot. And I’m with you. Through everything. Okay?”
The weight on my chest lifts. Not completely, but enough to give me hope that eventually, it will.
Tucking my head back under Alec’s chin, I snuggle against him and whisper, “Okay.”
CHAPTER 16
ALEC
“What doyou think about ordering pizza and watching one of your movies tonight?”
I turn away from my computer to find Hazel standing in the doorway of my office, a small smile lifting her lips. “I saw there was a new movie on Netflix,” she adds. “Something about aliens that take the form of ice cream. From the trailer, it looks like they spread their alien microbes through ice cream trucks. I thought it sounded like something you’d want to see.”
It’s such a relief to see Hazel smiling, that’s all I can think about at first.
And not a tight, fake smile, like the ones I saw during the first few days after everything went down at her house. A real one. One that reaches her eyesand lights them with an enthusiasm I’ve missed seeing.
I know it hasn’t been long—yesterday marked only a week since we caught those three monsters and handed them over to the police. So I’m not expecting Hazel to feel like herself already, as much as I’d like her to be.
Of course, I wish I could snap my fingers and magically take away all her trauma. I wish I could erase the memories that haunt her dreams. I wish she’d never had to go through any of it—the nightmare in Boston and the horrors that came for her here.
That’s been the hardest part of it. Knowing that no matter what I do, I can’t take away Hazel’s pain.
I can help her. I can take her to counseling. I can stock my fridge with all her favorite foods and subscribe to the Travel Channel and spend hours shopping online to find the perfect gifts to brighten her day. But to make everything better, like I desperately wish I could?
It’s a hard pill to swallow, not being able to fix something.
“It sucks,” Knox admitted while he was visiting the other day. We were out in the backyard, screwing around with my new leaf blower, while Lark and Hazel chatted inside. “I knew Lark was hurting after everything that went down with that asshole at herdad’s company. And I wanted to fix it for her. But I couldn’t. Only time could.”
