She straightened her arms and looked up at me defiantly. “Therealtragedy is keeping us apart. I never had a family before, and he makes me feel loved and wanted. I want to meet his parents and brothers. I want to be a part of that while I’m still young. He said that they’ll take me in and look after me until I’m old enough.”
I sighed and put my arm around her, leading her back in. “Don’t be in such a rush to grow up, kid. Love isn’t what you see in the movies.” I thought about my rough road with Christian. “If love puts one of you in danger, the other has to love you enough to let you go. Even if it’s just for a little while. Joshua loves you, or he wouldn’t be following you across the country. But look at the danger he’s in now. Don’t let love destroy you. It’s like that fire behind us. It can either warm you or kill you, so maybe you should be careful about getting too close.” When we reached the crevice where the kids were sleeping, I faced her. “Look, I was a kid once. I know how strong those feelings are. If they’re real, they won’t change in four years. But you need protection. If he respects you enough not to mate with you this young, then he’s a good guy. But he can’t protect you. You’re still a human, and if anyone finds out what you are—”
“They won’t! I never show anyone my mark. I always cover it up.”
There was no convincing this girl. I patted the cold wall. “Get some rest. If there’s another attack, you can’t run if you’re sleep-deprived.”
Carol looked like she wanted to retaliate with a better argument, but she capitulated and crawled into the space.
Claude used a long stick to stoke the fire. The wood crackled, and tiny embers skated upward in a cloud of smoke. Viktor was fast asleep, and Shepherd had taken a seat on a rock so he could rummage through his gear.
I stepped past the two men and sat down next to Matteo against the wall. “Thanks for all your help. Look, you can take off now. It’s too dangerous.” I lowered my voice. “I don’t think my team trusts you.”
“What reason would they have?”
“It’s our nature to be suspicious of strangers putting their lives on the line for someone they don’t know.”
“I gave you my word.”
“Yes, but they don’t see it that way.”
He snapped a small twig in two. “I promised to take you as far as I could. I can take you all the way.”
“What do you mean?”
“I know where they keep the children.”
Shepherd’s dark eyes flicked up.
Matteo held out his hand to placate him. “Rest assured, I have no interest in what goes on in that place. They’re protecting children, so that’s all I need to know. These woods belong to the people who live in them. You can’t expect a man to be blind to those who traverse across our land. I’ve seen other children pass through. They were never afraid, and those who guarded them left behind an emotional scent I can trust. Nothing ever alerted me that something indecent was afoot.” He shook his head. “Not my business.”
Shepherd digested his answer with care. His bloodshot eyes made him look like a crazed serial killer, and the scruff on his face wasn’t helping. He always had a stone-cold look, but now even more so.
“You should get some rest,” I said to Shepherd. “We’ll keep an eye on things.”
“I’m fine,” he fired back, still staring at Matteo.
“You’ll be real fine when one of those kids needs stitches and you can’t see straight.”
Claude set his stick against the wall. “I’ll take the first shift. Get some shut-eye, you stubborn fool. I’ll tap your shoulder when I need rest.”
Shepherd grumbled beneath his breath as he stripped off his shirt and put on a dark green one with long sleeves. After collecting his things, he chose a spot by the far wall and folded up his leather coat as a pillow.
The gun stayed strapped to his hip.
It made me realize how silly I felt with a belt around my sweatpants, but it was the only way to carry my daggers. “Thanks for the boots,” I said in earnest. “They’re warm.”
Matteo stared at them for a beat. “It’s good to see them getting some use.”
I thought about the tiny pair of shoes I’d seen him pull out, and while curious, I didn’t want to pry into a piece of his life that might be upsetting. I could speculate all I wanted, but as long as he was here to help, dredging up the past might only upset him. A pair of woman’s boots in the home of a single man was never a happy story.
“What troubles the girl?” Matteo asked.
“Teen angst.”
“I can smell her sorrow.”
“She tried to escape earlier in the trip to be with her boyfriend. I think we should tie her up, but Viktor would never go for that.”
