That was all the explanation I got before he hauled me into his chest, scooping me into a hug so tight and enveloping, I felt my rib cage compress under the pressure. My feet left the ground entirely, dangling in the cold night air.
The rough bodily contact should have terrified me—should have sent me spiraling back to the apartment with Dennis only touching me to hurt me. Instead, something in my chest unclenched for the first time in months, and my lungs finally filled all the way.
I didn’t understand why this was working, but I was too desperate to question it. And my feet were dangling far off the ground, leaving me with what felt like no choice but to wrap my legs around Boone’s waist and cling to him like a baby monkey in one of those nature documentaries I sometimes watched on my laptop to get to sleep.
“That’s right, just breathe into me, sugar.” Boone crooned encouragement I didn’t remotely deserve into my ear, rocking me back and forth.
I laid my head on his shoulder. In the distance, there was a large wooden building with a sign that read BEAR MOUNTAIN BAR & GRILL.
Music spilled out of the open doors, the soundtrack of everyone else who was up this late having a good time. Boone could be knocking back a well-deserved beer right now.
But he just continued to sway with me in his arms, as if there was no other place he’d rather be. “I got you. We’re going to get through this together.”
My heart rate slowed, but I continued to cry, hiccupping as I wet the shoulder of his tee.
Wasn’t he cold? It had to be in the 30s outside his truck, and he was only wearing a t-shirt. But his body radiated heat like a furnace.
Questions like that began to pile up in my head as he held me. Along with, who were Vik and Zion?
As if in answer, two men who looked to be around Boone’s age suddenly came jogging up to us.
One was lean, Black, and incredibly handsome in an Idris Elba and Morgan Freeman went in on a genetic collab sort of way. He wore a gray turtleneck and chinos, and though he wasn’t sporting glasses, it kind of felt like he should be. He had a quality to him that reminded me of the professors back at UMG.
The other man was also insanely good-looking. But that was where all commonality stopped. He had thick hair swept backin inky black-and-silver waves and wore an intriguing collared shirt. Not business casual, like Dennis preferred, but something ceremonial-looking. A claw insignia marked the chest, and ribbons ran in vertical lines down to where they tucked into his jeans.
That and his tanned skin made me think he was probably of Indigenous descent.
They were both staring at me with looks of utter shock, their noses flaring in that same strange way Boone’s sometimes did.
Probably because I looked like such an idiot, koala-clinging to this giant man.
And still I couldn’t stop crying.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” I gasped out.
The Maybe Indigenous Guy was the first to speak. “Walker, get in the back with her. I’ll drive.”
“Keys’re still in the engine,” Boone answered, like the other guy’s word was law.
The Black guy shook his head, as if coming out of a daze. “Yes, if she truly wishes not to see her daughters yet, let’s accommodate her before someone comes out of the Bar & Grill and sees us.”
I knew I had no right to feel betrayed, but I looked up at Boone, and the words slipped out before I could stop them. “You told them?”
“Sugar, I couldn’t not tell Zion—like, on a biological level. But I’ll explain everything when we get there. C'mon, let's follow Vik's orders.”
Like a unit mobilized, Boone climbed with me into the back seat of his own truck. He handled me like a doll, easily repositioning me to sit on his lap while keeping me enveloped in his arms. Meanwhile, the guy he’d called Vik jogged around to the front seat, and Zion climbed into the passenger seat I’d been hauled out of.
“By Ursa,” he exclaimed. “It’s as if we’ve crawled into a sugar cookie.”
His accent was rich and resonant. Not quite British. But adjacent. Like someone hired to play the wise, well-enunciated wizard in some otherworldly fantasy story.
He turned to regard us in the back seat. “You did the right thing, reaching out to us, Walker. And Bell…”
His gaze swept over me with what I could only describe as loving concern.
Even though he’d only met me a few moments ago.
“Bell, I know it’s been a terrible and long road, but we’re glad you’ve found your way to us. We’ll talk more when we get there.”
