The need inside me nearly brought me to my knees and had me crawling.
A different energy pulling me forward.
A luminescence of beauty and grace and glittering light.
And there was nothing I could do but stumble up the porch steps.
Like some kind of prodigal who had found his way home.
I turned off the alarm then hurried through the locks so I could get to her.
Guess I should have known she’d be right there, standing on the other side, waiting for me in the shadows.
The most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
TWENTY-EIGHT
DAISY
I stoodin the shadowy tumult that filled Cash’s house. The energy was alive and volatile. Shimmering in the bare light that glowed from under the cabinets in the kitchen and the nightlight he’d installed in the hall in case one of the children needed to use the restroom in the middle of the night.
The man was so gruff and thoughtful it was disorienting.
But I wasn’t prepared for the storm that flooded the room when the alarm panel beeped and metal slid as he worked through the locks. Wasn’t prepared for the bedlam of intensity that spilled into the room.
The man was a towering, vibrating silhouette in the doorway, though I could feel the fire of his eyes as he froze to take me in. His stare hitting me like a thousand pounds of severity.
I shifted on my bare feet, uncertain of exactly what had pulled me from his room but one hundred percent sure it was him.
His spirit a call that clamored and shook and whipped as if he were wrapping me in chains.
But I’d always been that way when it came to him.
In chains.
Hooked and held.
Forever prisoner to everything I once felt.
I always believed the years would deteriorate and tarnish it, but I realized then it had only been twisted and reformed. It was raw and riddled with wounds, but the pulse that beat through the middle was just as strong.
“Cash,” I whispered into the lapping night.
He slowly stepped the rest of the way inside and locked the door behind him, pressing a button on his phone to reengage the alarm.
Then he carefully turned his focus back to me.
My eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light. The corners creased as I struggled to make out what was smeared across his face.
My stomach dropped when I realized it was blood.
“Oh my goodness, Cash, what happened?” I rushed forward, and when I got close, I could see a gaping cut on the left side of his forehead that also oozed red. My attention raced, taking in the rest of him.
He was covered in leaves and dirt and his shirt was torn on the side.
It also became clear that he was guarding his left side.
“What happened?” I demanded again, my voice ragged and my knees going weak.
