This is… just Austin. Gentle and kind to a fault. He always has been. I lost track of the number of animals he nursed back to health when we were kids, and I’ll never forget the tears he’d shed when he couldn’t. I made the right choice to call him. Maybe with his friendship, even I can be nursed back to health.
Or perhaps you’ll be another dead thing he couldn’t save. Another thing for him to shed tears over.
I shake my head against the thought. No. I won’t be.
“Thank you,” I murmur.
Austin nods, giving the scarf one more quick adjustment, and then he’s stepping forward in line.
I’m expecting the lady scanning boarding passes to tell me I can’t go, and the anxiety of Damien finding me returns full force, but she doesn’t.
She scans them, smiles at us, and waves us on. I let out a breath as Austin and I board the plane. When we get to our row, Austin gestures for me to take the window seat. After I’m seated, he puts my bag in the overhead bin and sits down beside me.
My stomach twists with nerves as the plane boards. I study each face, trying to see if I recognize anyone, if Damien sent someone after me. If he even knows I’m here. He has to know by now that I’m gone. There’s no way he doesn’t.
My hands start shaking, so I shove them under my thighs. I can do this. I’m doing this.
“You’re okay,” Austin murmurs under his breath. “Just a little bit longer, okay?”
I nod. Breathe in and out.
The seats are mostly full when the flight attendant starts going through the safety checks, but Austin and I remain the only two in our row. I’m thankful for that.
I listen as best I can, trying to remember all the things I need to know in case the plane goes down.
The second the plane starts rolling down the runway, a wave of nausea washes over me. I don’t think it’s sickness or even my headache. It’s the worry. The unrelenting pounding in my chest that’s telling me I’m making the wrong choice. The tug-of-war in my head telling me I’m not. Fighting back and forth and back and forth, one trying to gain control over the other.
I close my eyes, then let my head tip to the side, resting on Austin’s upper arm.
He doesn’t say anything, which is probably for the best, but when he taps my leg and I open my eyes to find his hand held out, palm up, I take it.
“I won’t let the squirrels get your nuts,” he whispers.
A choked, wet laugh escapes me. “Thanks. I knew you’d always have my back.”
The plane leaves the ground, and I lift my head from Austin’s shoulder just long enough to watch the city I used to love disappear into a tiny dot before closing the window shade.
The higher we get and the further away we are, the more my body relaxes and the more my exhaustion seeps in.
“Take a nap, Luc,” Austin says softly. “We’ll be home soon.”
I don’t have it in me to argue. I let my head fall back against Austin’s arm and close my eyes, safe in the knowledge that up here, Damien can’t touch me.
Chapter 7
Luca
“Hey,we’relanding.”Austin’ssoft voice has me bolting upright in panic. “Shh, you’re alright.”
My ears are popping from the descent, and it’s making my head hurt worse. It’s also making my stomach turn like I might puke, so I’m not sure I am alright. But I’m also almosthome.And that counts for something.
I made it. Damien didn’t find me. I didn’t talk myself out of it. I’m here. “How are we getting to your place?”
“I left my truck at the airport.”
I nod, glancing around the plane before settling my gaze on Austin. “We made it.”
He gives me a blinding smile, even though he’s got exhaustedshadows in his eyes. “We did. Told you.”
