She scrutinized him as he towered over her, all six-foot-three of him crowding her five-foot-seven-inch frame. But she’d gone toe-to-toe with Max Dread, stared down his heat and rage without flinching, and came away stronger.
So, Morty didn’t scare her.
She cocked her head. “Is it short for Mortimer?”
Her voice squeaked before more laughter followed, and pride swelled in my chest.
I pulled her close and dropped a kiss on her head because, quite honestly, I couldn’t help myself.
“Oh, Quinn, if only it were. Then he could’ve adopted the nickname Tim. Or Timmy, even. But, much to his dismay, the name inscribed on his birth certificate is Morty Dread. A bit of a sore spot since they named?—”
“The spare—” Morty growled.
“Hishalf-brotherMaxwell.” I teased relentlessly, adding for good measure. “You remember him? The one we affectionately refer to as Max?”
Quinn’s answering smile, her trust in me to perceive the danger had passed, and how she responded to Max’s name with such affection, warmed my heart.
I winked conspiratorially. “He’s far more intimidating, if you ask me.”
Her brown eyes lit up again, and she winked back. Then she shook her head to clear it. “Okay, as fun as all this is, what is he doing here, barging into your room in the middle of the night?”
I turned back to Morty, who was eyeing my bookshelves like he’d figured out their secret as well. “I’d like to know the same thing, actually.”
“Ah, yes.”
He swiveled back around with a grin stretched wide across his features, and something about its sinister edge slithered fear down my spine.
“Daddy Dearest is on his way. Did I not mention that?”
Landon
A shadow fell over me as I stared out at the lake, but I didn’t look up.
Nothing was there.
Since Max Dread had mentioned my mother, the flow of memories turned from a gentle stream to a flood, rushing in to clear away everything else. I couldn’t make sense of most of it, left only with a warning that hung over my head.
Glancing over my shoulder changed nothing.
The space behind me stayed empty—as it had every time I checked. But at least now, I understood why. I’d seen what had once been there.
Whohad been there.
As Kingston and I stood beneath the lemon trees surrounding the lake, she’d been searching for me. Scared for me.
And what she’d seen?—
I couldn’t remember what came before it. Only the sound of her voice calling out my name.
Landon!
It rang in my ears. And I’d spun around. Caught.
But in what act I wasn’t sure.
Her face had been pale white. Her eyes wide, her mouth open with the ghost of my name on her lips. She’d rushed forward, reaching us in quick strides.
I remember her nails digging into my arm.
