“What the fuck are you doing?” I hiss, grabbing his arm.
He shrugs me off. “I have to see her.”
“You’ll get yourself shot, you absolute knobhead!”
But he’s already gone, crawling into the light like a suicidal shadow. I stare after him, stuck between fury and disbelief. Bloody fucking hell. He leaves me under here, alone with the rising anger and the weight of what I know now. About why he left. About the guilt that’s been chewing him alive from the inside.
He’s a dick, but he’s not a monster, and if he’s got even half the balls he used to have, he’s not going to let anything keep him from Luna again.
I stay hidden as the soldiers disappear around the corner. I wait until the coast is clear and then I crawl out from under the RV, wiping dirt off my hands, heart still pounding in my ears. I’m about to move for the house when more voices have me dropping and rolling back under the damn RV. Fuck!
I’m forced to lie there and wait as my mind circles around the bigger picture of what’s happening here. If we’re going to do this, find a way to fight back, we'd better be smart about it because if my father is behind all of this? That's not good. Thistime, I’m not backing down. I’m fighting back. The bastard won’t take anyone else that I love from me.
Chapter 67 - Gage
I crouch behind the thin line of trees near the edge of the ravine at the start of our street’s alley, eyes locked on the shape of the house just above. I’m so close I can already feel her arms around me. Just along the ridge and across that alley sits home and Luna.
But the street’s crawling with movement. There’s yelling and hard voices barking orders. There are too many boots on the street for me to risk going straight in. I need a better view of what’s happening. Instead, I slide down the ravine, using the natural incline and tall grass as cover. My boots are quiet on the dry earth, every step calculated to be as silent as possible as I make my way to the bottom of it. The place directly across the gully from our backyard is an old church with stained glass windows and ivy clinging to the brick. Its bell tower rises above the treetops, perfect for a vantage point.
I slip through the side door, breath held, rifle cradled close to my chest but the building feels empty. The inside smells like candle wax and dust, the air still and heavy. I move through theshadowy nave, head on a swivel, until I find the narrow wooden staircase that winds up to the bell tower.
It takes effort not to curse with every aching step. My legs burn, and my head aches from too many days without real sleep, food, or water, and my brain won’t shut up with everything that could go wrong here. But I ignore it all as I reach the top, duck into the open steeple window, and lift the rifle.
The scope brings the house into crystal clarity and my breath catches. There she is. Luna. She’s standing on the back deck, her face is drawn tight with horror, her focus locked on something out of view. I follow her gaze, swing the scope to scan until I stop three yards over, and spot what’s got her in a panic.
Two soldiers are dragging a woman across her backyard, ignoring her kicking legs and desperate screams. Another one lifts a gun and fires. My heart slams in my chest when I see the woman’s dog, a shaggy little white mutt, spin and dive under the deck. They were aiming at the dog. Those motherfuckers! I want to start firing at them and see how they like it, but I check that urge and shift the scope back to Luna.
She’s moving now, racing down the deck to the lawn and across to the alley gate, Penny hot on her heels. She reaches down toward Penny and picks something up from the ground. Something bright orange. It’s the ragged orange rubber ball Penny loves to play with.
At the back gate, she pauses just long enough to crack it open and peek out to check the alley, then slips outside. My grip on the rifle tightens as my stomach twists, urging her to run, run down the hill and across to me. Her head jerks in the opposite direction and I swing the scope that way and start swearing. Soldiers are coming into the alley from the right. I look back at Luna and at first, I don't understand what she’s doing. Why isn't she hiding? Running away?
She throws the ball over the metal wire divider that separates the alley from the ravine and then I get it. She's trying to save Penny. The orange toy bounces once, then rolls down the incline and Penny bolts after it. Luna spins and sprints back through the gate, across the lawn, disappearing into the house. I lose her. She’s gone from view. But my scope finds the dog.
Penny is at the bottom of the hill, tail wagging like mad as she snatches the ball in her mouth. She turns, clearly ready to race back the way she came, back toward danger. Instinctively, I purse my lips together and let out a loud, sharp whistle. One I’ve used on her a hundred times to get her to come.
Penny stops and perks up. She spins in a circle and lifts her head. Our eyes meet, and she barks once, a short, happy bark, and charges toward me. The dog bounds through the grass, straight to the base of the church. Then she plops her butt down, drops her ball, tail thumping the ground, tongue lolling out as if she’s been waiting years for me to come back and play fetch with her. I lower the rifle, chest tight with relief, joy, and pure adrenaline crashing through me like a damn tidal wave.
Good girl, Penny. Now I just have to get to Luna.
And pray I’m not too late.
Chapter 68 - Luna
The door clicks shut behind him, sealing us inside the tight, wood-paneled darkness under the stairs. I’m still frozen, my heart hammering as I stare into the eyes of the man I haven’t seen in two years. Not since the night that shattered everything.
Mars.
He steps forward, close enough that his chest brushes mine, his presence thick and overwhelming in the cramped hideaway. His hands come up, slow and careful, settling on my hips like he’s afraid I’ll vanish if he touches me too fast.
My brain is a storm of confusion. What is he doing here? How did he get here? Is this real? But those questions slip from my mind the moment his fingers graze my waist, triggering a flood of memory so strong I almost drop to the floor.
He sets me on the edge of my tiny apartment’s counter, his hands warm and steady as he peels off my boots, one by one. His voice is low, gruff in that way that always makes my stomach clench.
“I’m here…for you, Little Moon. I’m here to make you mine.”
I gasp, almost whimper at hearing those words from him, and he hammers them home by saying it again.
"I'm here for you, Luna. I’m not going anywhere again."
