“Everything’s going to be okay,” Knox stated firmly. “The Parrishes didn’t take him. They’re just men, Leni, not ghosts. I promise you, no one came into this house last night or this morning. I would’ve heard them. I would have smelled them.”
She stared up at him, miserable. “And yet Riley’s gone.”
Although she hadn’t meant to fault Knox for her failure, his jaw tightened as if she’d struck him. She paced away from him, heartsick and furious with herself.
This was all her fault. She had let herself enjoy a few hours of pleasure, of normalcy, and this was the price. Riley’s safety.
Her gaze flicked to the door leading out to the backyard. She drew in a breath.
“It’s unlocked.” She swung a look at Knox. “The deadbolt. It’s open.”
She had been so swamped with panic she hadn’t noticed the detail until now. She glanced at the small pile of footwear cluttering the mat beside the back entry and realized Riley’s favorite pair of yellow rain boots were gone.
“He’s outside.”
The realization snuffed some of her alarm, though not all of it. She wouldn’t be able to relax until she had Riley in her arms. She dashed out in her slippers, no patience to fumble with her own boots or a coat. Dressed in the loose jeans and light sweater she threw on after her shower, she scrambled off the stoop and down into the thick blanket of snow that spread out behind the house and into the surrounding forest.
Morning sunlight nearly blinded her, beaming from a cloudless blue sky and sparkling off the pristine snow cover like diamonds. She followed a pair of kid-sized boot prints that made a meandering path toward the trees.
“Riley!” Her shout echoed in the tall pines. “Riley, where are you?”
A sudden gust of cold wind buffeted her from behind. It passed by her, a blur of energy and motion too fast for her eyes to track, especially in the harsh glare of the sun’s rays.
But when she glanced down she saw there were now two sets of prints in the snow. Riley’s distracted amble into the woods, and an arrow-straight path left by Knox’s bare feet.
Oh, God. He’d come out into the daylight to look for Riley?
Her heart lurched at the thought. More than a few minutes of ultraviolet light was lethal to the Breed, especially a Gen One like Knox. Yet he’d just run straight into the brightest part of morning. For Riley.
For her.
Leni raced into the forest, following the trail of footprints. Out of breath, her heartbeat hammering, she felt as though she’d run more than a mile when she finally spotted Knox’s hulking form up ahead near the ravine.
He held Riley in his strong arms.
“Oh, thank God.”
The little boy was dressed like a superhero, the blue coverlet from his bed tied around his neck like a cape. Red long john pajamas and yellow rain boots completed the makeshift costume. His teddy bear dangled from one hand as Knox carried the boy and Fred up from bracken-tangled incline above the river.
Leni sprinted forward, swamped with relief. “Riley!”
Now that she saw he was safe, it was hard to keep her anger at bay. She had never raised her voice to him or had to discipline him, but he had never given her such a fright before.
That cold fear still leeched into her veins as she caught up to them. Some of it transferred to Knox when she noticed the blistering skin on his bare arms. The UV light was taking a toll already, singeing his face and throat too.
“Knox, you shouldn’t be out here like this. Give Riley to me. I’ll take care of him. You need to go back to the house before you burn up.”
“Don’t worry about me.” His deep voice allowed no argument. And he kept his hold on Riley, all but dismissing the certain agony of his scorched skin. “I’m not going anywhere until I have both of you safe inside.”
Leni held herself together as they hurried back to the house. Once they stepped into the kitchen and Knox set Riley down on the floor, the dam burst on all of her emotions.
She crouched to pull the boy into a fierce hug. A sob caught in her throat as she clung to him. She couldn’t let go. She could hardly speak for the torrent of relief and anger and gratitude spilling over inside her.
His slim little body tensed. “Aunt Leni, are you crying?”
“Yes, I am. And do you know why?” She couldn’t hold back the wet trails that ran down her cheeks as she set him away from her. With her hands clamped on his narrow shoulders, she looked into his confused face. “I thought something very bad had happened to you. You scared me, Riley. You scared me very much.”
“I’m sorry.”
