The drive back to the house takes an hour that feels much longer. I check the mirrors constantly, taking random turns, making sure we're not being tailed. Flynn is silent in the backseat, and I know he's doing the same, his eyes scanning our surroundings. I hear him tapping on his phone, rendezvousing with the rest of our security.
By the time we pull up to the house, Maeve has stopped shaking, but she's gone eerily still. I don't like it. I come around and open her door, and she flinches when I reach for her. Something in my chest cracks.
"Let me help you," I say quietly.
She looks at me for a long moment, then takes my hand. Her fingers are ice-cold. I help her out of the car and she sways. I catch her without thinking, pulling her against me.
"I've got you," I murmur. "You're safe now."
She makes a sound that might be a laugh or a sob. "Am I?"
I don't have an answer for that.
Inside, I settle Maeve on the couch while Flynn does a security sweep of the house with Jack and the other men who arrived right after us. She sits there with her hands in her lap, still in that night-sky blue dress, looking like a ghost. I crouch in front of her and reach for her face, gently tilting it so I can see the cut on her cheek.
"It's not deep," I say. "I'll clean it."
"Okay."
Her voice is too flat. Too empty. I head to the bathroom and grab the first aid kit, and when I come back, Flynn is standing in the doorway with his phone to his ear, speaking rapid-fire. I catch enough to know he's calling in reinforcements, more security for the house.
I kneel in front of Maeve again and start cleaning the cut. She doesn't flinch or react at all, and it worries me more than if she were crying.
"Maeve," I say softly. "Talk to me."
"What do you want me to say?" She finally looks at me, and her eyes are hollow. "Someone just tried to kill us."
"I know."
"With a bomb."
"I know."
"Why?" Her voice breaks on the word. "Why is this happening? My family is already dead. What more do they want?"
I don't answer, because I'm not sure she's ready to hear it, and all I have are theories that formed on the drive home. I finish cleaning the cut and apply a bandage, my movements gentle. When I'm done, I sit back on my heels.
"I won't let anything happen to you," I tell her. It's the only truth I have to offer.
She laughs, and this time it's definitely bitter. "You can't promise that."
My jaw tightens. "Watch me."
Flynn ends his call and walks over. "More security will be here in ten. I'm going to make some more calls." He looks at me meaningfully. "You two should talk."
Then he disappears down the hallway, leaving us alone.
I should put distance between us. Instead, I reach up and tuck a strand of red hair behind her ear. She closes her eyes at the touch.
"Go upstairs," I tell her quietly. "Get some rest. I'll stay down here."
"I don't think I can sleep."
"You need to try."
She opens her eyes and looks at me, and there's something raw in her expression. "Will you... will you stay with me? Like you did the other night?"
Every instinct I have is screaming at me to say no. To maintain distance. To protect her from myself as much as from the threat outside these walls.
