Honestly, I’m still trying to decide howIfeel about this.
I won’t break or fold in on myself and hide. However, I lean my head against the window and let the city smear past us, streetlights flashing gold against the dark interior of the car.
By the time we reach the edge of the warehouse district, the silence is its own creature with claws and a prehensile tail.
But I say nothing as Jace parks the car in their garage, and Silas opens my door.
They aren’t treating me like glass.
They treat me like gravity.
Everything orbits around getting me inside their converted warehouse.
And for the first time in what feels like forever, I let myself go numb for a few precious minutes.
Someone puts a glass of water in my hand as they lead me to the couch. I hold it, but I don’t drink it. I’m not thirsty. My pulse has already settled into a calm I shouldn’t have. I balance on a tightrope, teetering left and right.
I’m tired, yet I’m wide awake.
Kieran kneels in front of me, forearms resting on his thighs, eyes locked on mine. I can’t decipher exactly what he’s searching for, but he seems satisfied, giving me a small smile.
“You’re safe now,” he states, like I need to hear it.
And maybe I do.
Safe.
I let that word sit on my tongue for a breath I don’t quite take. Laughter feels inappropriate since they don’t really know much about me… But it’s a struggle.
“I was supposed to be safe before.”
No one argues.
Silas takes the chair across from me, elbows on knees, gaze hard and unblinking. “He won’t come near you again.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.” His voice doesn’t waver. “We all do.”
I turn to Jace because I’ve seen him in the wild more than Silas and Kieran. And I have questions I need answered before I just blindly sit in their space and let myself feel any safer than I do right now.
Jace hasn’t stopped pacing back and forth across the loft, like he’s trying to burn holes into the floor because the violence is still thrumming under his skin.
“Did you follow me before tonight?” I ask.
He freezes, but he doesn’t face me. I think he’s waiting for someone else to reply, though they clearly see that I’m asking him.
“Jace,” I call out, not soft or harsh… Just a tone that brings his attention to me.
“Yes,” he says, finally turning to look at me.
I nod once in acceptance. It wasn’t a guess. I already had my suspicions, and I knew where I was going to start my hunt…
This morning.
After I woke up.
Before Daniel broke in and ruined the entire night.
