Minutes later, they return. Drac’s face is cool like hard stone, but Krampus looks wrecked.
“You can’t stay here anymore,” Krampus says firmly.
“What?” I blink. “Why?”
“Because it’s not safe,” he urges. “Pack whatever you need, but I’m getting you out of here.”
“Rich, I told you I can’t leave my shop. If I do…”
“Please, baby, you gotta trust me on this. This time I have a good reason for taking you away.
Amber opens her mouth to argue for me, then quickly closes it after she studies their faces, reading something I have completely missed. “I’ll help you pack. "
We pack a few duffle bags, then strap them to my bike.
Outside, engines rumble to life again.
As Krampus guides me toward my bike, I feel someone’s eyes following me. Jigsaw’s leaning against a post nearby, arms crossed, his beady brown eyes tracking every movement.
“Be careful,” he calls out casually. “Things can get messy when things go unclaimed.”
Krampus stops abruptly and then turns to him slowly, his voice low and lethal. “She chose me, asshole.”
Jigsaw raises a brow. “Did she?”
Krampus doesn’t answer him. He looks at me for answers instead.
When I wrap my arms around Krampus, holding him too tight, Jigsaw finally looks away.
And that’s where we leave everything. They put up a note in my shop that says closed until further notice, locking the door behind them.
I have no idea what they found inside my apartment, or how bad this really is.
But as the wind whips past me, doing my best to keep up with Krampus riding up ahead, one thing has become crystal clear… whatever’s coming next, will resort in violence.
ChapterTwenty
Krampus
We pull up outside my tiny little house just outside of Fernley. It’s tucked away on a hillside, hidden by a line of trees at least a mile long.
Mindy follows my lead and parks her bike behind the house, hiding it behind a few bushes.
“You’ll be safer here.”
“Where are we?”
“My place.”
Besides the other day, I don’t really come home much, mainly because it reminds me of my aunt and uncle.
“You own a house?”
“A tiny one.”
“It’s bigger than my loft,” she remarks, staring at the stone fireplace that has a picture of me, my aunt and uncle, and my grandmother. “Is this your family?”
Nodding, I move closer to her, staring at the faces of my past and missing them dearly. “They took me in after my fatherabandoned me. That’s my aunt Heather and uncle Kyle. And that’s my Mimi.”
