"That was truly the worst lie," Wells agreed sympathetically.
I blew a breath out of the side of my mouth, pushing a lock of fine hair away from my face. "I do have protectors."
"Bees don't count," Benjamin intoned, still tapping away at his phone. I cleared my throat, blushing. Yeah, I'd been thinking of bees. "Alright, my assistant knows I'll be unavailable for a few days." His electric eyes snagged mine. "Please tell me you don't live in a quaint little cottage or a yurt or something."
I blinked. "It's a restored barn."
"Fuck," he muttered, lifting his eyes to the ceiling.
Wells pulled his lips in, fighting another smile. "I'm sure it's lovely. Frost will survive."
Clearly, there was no dissuading either of them, so I kneaded my temples instead, trying to think of where I was going to put the doctor for the night if he really was insisting on staying on my property. It wasn't like I could put him in the storage shed. Benjamin made a pained sound and picked up my tote bag from the floor. "Camping in a barn. 'Lovely,' he says."
I glared at him. Maybe the shed would do, after all. Although my legs still felt slightly gelatinous, I swiped my bag from his hands and turned to go. "Thank you for helping me. I should get back before my Nan worries."
Wells scratched the back of his neck, clearly worried. "Are you sure you don't want to get looked over at the hospital? You've had your tetanus shots?"
"I do not want that, and I am up to date on my shots, yes," I replied stiffly. The lab was starting to feel oddly claustrophobic. Cluttered and sterile all at once, it only clashed with the jumble of thoughts tangling in my brain.
Frost followed close behind me as I left the lab, and I tried to ignore my pounding head and lurching stomach. Exhaustion licked at my heels, dragging every step back. I needed a two-day nap. And chocolate, maybe. I reached for the door handle, but Frost curved his arm around me, opening it before I could. I stared up at him in mute surprise, but he only raised his eyebrows. He swung the door wide. "After you."
"This is very strange," I commented openly.
"Agreed. But it doesn't change the facts." He led me through the dark waiting room, and as soon as we exited Dr. Wells' office, my heart tripped into a panicked rhythm without warning. Benjamin looked left and right through the empty building, which had darkened considerably after sunset. He put his hand to the small of my back, steering me to the stairs. "Even if youdon’t want to go to the hospital, I’ll need to arrange for a blood test to ensure you didn’t contract anything from the needles. Deal?”
Distracted by the sudden constricting fear gripping my throat, I squeaked out a, “Yeah.”
“How far away is your place?"
"It's about an hour and a half by bus," I said, trying to quell the rising terror. When I gave him the address, he pulled it up on his phone, and I faced the deserted stairwell with mounting unease. I didn't hear anyone behind us, but I looked over my shoulder anyway.
Benjamin glanced down at me. "I'm right here with you."
My pride poked its way out of my fear, and I squared my shoulders. "I'm just fine."
He breathed out a laugh through his nose but didn't say anything more. Getting through the building and to the parking garage passed in a strange haze of impending doom. I had a sense that the empty building might be full of specters, every shadow reaching for me, every corner hiding an enemy. I didn't realize that I'd hunched my shoulders in tight and clutched my bag to my chest until Benjamin unlocked his car and waited with quiet patience for me to unravel enough to get in.
"Sorry," I choked.
He shook his head once, his sharp features interestingly soft. "Take your time."
He hadn't specifically saidthat he understood how to treat someone like me, someone rattled. But the way he was acting told me he did know, and I was grateful for it. He had a cobalt blue, retro-looking sportscar I didn't have a chance of recognizing. I was sure it was very collectible. And expensive from the shiny, well-restored look of it. I sat in the cushy, black leather seat and zipped the seatbelt on as Benjamin joined meand turned on the engine. It roared to life, and then we were headed out of the parking garage and into the bright city night.
It wasn't until streetlights slipped into starlight that the grip of fear released my shoulders and neck. I forced myself to relax, listening with half an ear to the atmospheric, beat-heavy music playing over the speakers. Slowly, glass and steel buildings made way for lush greenery and towering pine trees, and the countryside darkened the car interior. Just as my eyes began to grow heavy, the tires crunched on gravel, and I realized we were pulling up to the old, rusted gate at my property's entrance.
"Wait here," I told him, perking up a little with my home in sight. There wasn't anything secure about it; the gate didn't even have a lock as I swung it open for him. But it wasmygate. My driveway. My air. I breathed in the chilly spring evening gratefully, closing my eyes to savor the sound of field crickets and frogs. Frost rolled past the gate, and I latched it closed before joining him in the car again.
He glanced at me. "Why… is there a gate?"
I glanced back at the faded white gate made of rusty metal and listing off to one side. It was connected to a flimsy picket fence that stopped twenty yards out on either side. Security-wise, it was pointless. I shrugged, turning back around. "I don't know. It's just always been there."
He shook his head, heading down the dark driveway slowly. "So, you have no way of keeping intruders out."
"The front door has a lock," I offered.
"Oh, well, the bad guys with needles never stood a chance," he replied drily.
I wasn't sure how I felt about expending precious money and resources to make my home into some kind of fortress just because a bunch of billionaires were playing a game with me as a pawn. Surely, it had to blow over soon, right? How many players were there? "I can still get a gun."
