“He took the other woman the same night they moved you. She’s still out there.”
She blinks at me but stays quiet. I watch her reflection on the dark screen of my tablet, the way she chews her bottom lip, weighing her next words.
“And you want to help find her.”
I nod.
“Selfishly, I want to tell you to leave it to these guys, but if I were her, I’d want everyone who can to work on finding me.”
Then her hand touches my arm, light and warm through my sleeve. “Find me when you’re done?”
I step back, needing distance to stop me from breaking, and the hurt on her face is immediate, her hand still hanging in the air where my arm used to be. She lowers it slowly, curling her fingers around the mug again.
“I should get back to this,” I say, reaching for the tablet I don’t need, her words echoing in my head. Selfish? She’s the least selfish person I’ve ever met. “Van has a lead on a property.”
We lock eyes, and I pray that what she sees there is enough for her to know I care. I really do. I just… can’t.
“Bodhi.” Harder now. “Look at me.”
I am looking. That’s the problem.
“I’m not scared.”
Her words are heavy with meaning, but raise more questions than they answer. Does she mean she’s not scared of me, of us, or shifters? Dimitri? I guess this is why we need to talk.
“You were.”
“Of the situation. Not of you. Never of you.”
With her chin tipped up slightly in defiance, I see the spirit I’ve fallen for. Her courage. She’s proving herself to be braver than I am.
“It’s new, and will take time to get used to, but I’m glad I know.”
Unable to stop myself, I cross to her and wrap her up in my arms.
Breathing her in, I press a kiss to her forehead. Brief. Chaste. I can feel her lean into it, but I pull back before she tempts me into more.
With a shaky exhale, she rests her cheek against my chest, and I allow myself this moment of weakness to absorb all the strength I can from her.
“We will. I promise. Just… let me do this first.”
She stares up at me, green eyes searching my face for something I can’t give her. Not yet.
When she pulls back, unwrapping her arms from around my torso, I want to scream. I want to pick her up and carry her out of here, to lock her up somewhere quiet and isolated, like the caveman I am.
But I don’t.
She walks out, and the room falls unbearably quiet except for the hum of Van’s equipment.
He’s very deliberately focused on his screens. And Tripp has found something fascinating on the ceiling to study.
Natalie appears a moment later, watching Emma’s retreating form, before turning to me, arms folded and mouth pressed into a thin line.
“I’ll go sit with her.”
“I’ll talk to her later. You don’t need…”
“Yes, I do.” Her impatient tone cuts through my protest. “She’s been through hell, Bodhi. Kidnapped. Nearly raped. And now the man she thought was her hero won’t even look at her for more than two seconds at a time.” She holds my gaze, unflinching. “Somebody should be taking care of her. Since it’s clearly not going to be you.”
