His gaze dropped to her. The gangly skin-and-bones girl looked even tinier beside him, but no one could miss the glint of stubborn in her eye.
“Fine,” he huffed, before brushing past Kendall and heading toward the vineyard.
Helia winked at Kendall and might have caught a glimpse of a smile before she shut her door.
Falling into step behind Collin and beside Kendall, a thousand questions hovered on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t decide where to start. She didn’t want to interrogate the girl, but, well, she kind of did.
“Collin said he’s known you a long time,” Kendall said, surprising her by starting the conversation.
“We met when I was fourteen. He spent a lot of time here.”
“Yeah, he said he came to hide from Roger’s parties.”
Helia swallowed but nodded. No girl should know about the parties Roger Wilde used to throw. Collin had only ever told herbits and pieces of what went on in the dungeon of the castle, and even after all these years, they still made her stomach turn.
“He came for other reasons, too. He’s close to my parents and friendly with my brother.” She paused, then added, “But yeah, he came to get away from home.”
“Your parents were okay with that?”
“They never hesitated. They love him like one of their own.”
“And you? Do you love him like a sister?”
Not even close, but Helia bit back the words that wanted to escape. She’d never named her feelings for Collin, not as an adult. She’d never had a reason to until he came back into her life a few days ago. Butsisterlywas not among them. In fact, the memory of his arms around her when she’d jumped into them, then clung to him like a monkey, had given her fantasy fodder. He’d held her so easily, smelled so good, felt so warm, that her mind refused to forget. Nor did it stop at the memory. No, it had created an entire fantasy around that moment, one involving her back to the wall, legs around his waist, and no clothes.
“It’s a little complicated,” she managed to answer. Kendall snorted and wiggled a dark eyebrow at her, drawing a laugh from Helia, too. “Fine,” Helia said. “Not sisterly, but what it is, I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“Nosy much?”
“I’ve been hiding out in the castle for two weeks on my own. I haven’t talked to anyone else until last night when Collin found me. I’m making conversation.”
Oh, that raised so many more questions.Two weeks? What had she been doing for two weeks and how had she ended up there in the first place? But first things first.
“Nice try, sister. You’re nosy.”
They took ten steps before she answered. “Maybe,” she said as Collin held up a fist.
“Are we supposed to know what that means?” Helia asked.
“It’s a military or law enforcement thing. It means stop,” Kendall said.
“Look at you, smarty-pants,” Helia said, following Kendall’s direction and stopping. She didn’t really want to, but if Collin found something gross, she didn’t want Kendall to see it, and she doubted the girl would be willing to stay behind on her own.
A breeze rustled through dry vines and rippled across Collin’s flannel shirt, flaring the unbuttoned edges out. His broad body blocked their view, and alert, wary tension flowed off him in waves.
Kendall made to step forward, but Helia put her arm out. She opened her mouth to protest but shut it when Collin turned around.
“Back to Helia’s,” he said, holding his arms out and all but shooing them the way they’d come.
Kendall cocked her head. Collin’s gaze shifted from her to Helia, and he gave a tiny shake of his head. “It’s too cold to stand out here arguing over what to do,” Helia said, tapping Kendall’s arm lightly. “Let’s head to my house and you can interrogate him in front of my fire.”
Kendall’s gaze darted between them, then she heaved a sigh big enough to lift the world—leaving no doubt what she thought—then muttered something probably unflattering, turned, and started walking.
Helia let Kendall get ten feet ahead before glancing over her shoulder at Collin. He gestured for her to follow but stayed close.
“It’s a body. A human one,” he said quietly, catching her when she stumbled.
