And then Aurelia recounts everything from before I woke up on the bathroom floor to after I pulled her off her uncle. Thorin and Khalil hang on her every word, their eyes filling with rage until the story is over and they’re silently wishing they could kill him all over again.
“We have to play this one by the book. We need to report this. It’s our best chance of walking away from this. Do you think you’re up for it?”
“I can do it,” Mine swears with a determined nod and then swings her brown eyes my way. “Bane, let me down.”
I slowly set her down, and then the four of us leave the hallway and return to the ballroom, where the screams of the guests rent the air once they see Aurelia painted in her uncle’s blood.
CASE CLOSED! AURELIA CLEARED OF ALL CHARGES
1 week ago
By Erica Danes | America’s Daily News
The Stardust Gala was a glittering assembly that ended in panic and chaos as Aurelia George, known to bring the drama wherever she goes, emerged shaken from a violent backroom encounter with her uncle, who reportedly barged into the women’s bathroom and attempted to kidnap the singer at gunpoint. You might have heard that Marston George is currently facing several federal indictments for fraud and that his niece may have been the one to blow the whistle. Luckily, Aurelia’s bodyguards were there to save the day. And though the reports of the scene are unnecessarily grisly, we appreciate the dedication to keeping America’s former sweetheart safe.
AURELIA
Scorched earth.
That’s what our lonely cliff looks like when the four of us step onto it again more than a year after the fire. The few trees that are still standing are blackened, the ground is charred, and the vegetation is sparse. The cabin, which used to mean home, is nothing but a ruin at the edge of the cliff.
Decades.
It’s what the forestry team that escorted us up told us it could take before the cliff and the forest surrounding it are back to what they used to be. The fire didn’t take it all. The night Isaac burned everything down, at least a dozen helicopters carrying water arrived to quickly put it out. The walls of water falling down from the sky were the last I saw of the cliff and Big Bear as we were being flown away.
But there’s life here too.
Because clinging to the charred trunks of the trees are spots of fuzzy green. Wildflowers are already beginning to spring from the ground along with some herbaceous plants and other green shoots. It’s going to be a long recovery, but we’ve been doing everything we can to help it along and return this home to the wildlife.
“We should get going before it’s dark,” Zeke suggests after he walks over to stand next to me at the edge of the cliff.
“You think he’s still down there?” I ask.
“Must be,” Zeke mumbles as he peers over the edge. “We would have heard about it if anyone had found the body.”
“Maybe some bears got him,” I muse. “I heard they like porridge.”
It takes Zeke a second to draw forth the image of what Isaac’s corpse must have looked like after a fall like that, and then he snorts at the storybook reference. He drops his arm over my shoulders, and I let him steer me away.
Thorin and Khalil are already waiting at the top of the hill for the hike down to where we left the ATVs. From there, we head to Little Bear where we plan to camp for the weekend. Nico, who is almost one, is back at the ranch with Khalil’s parents, who we also invited up with us for our return to the Cold Peaks. It took them a minute to get used to our quad plus the addition of Zeke’s alters, but their love for their son helped them push through their shock and discomfort. It also helps that they adore Nico and me.
“I never thought I’d see this place again,” I confess over the roar of the water once we reach the hidden waterfall and drop all our gear. My gaze immediately travels to the cliff where Zeke first kissed me, and I see him glance at it too out of the corner of my eye as he responds.
“Neither did I.”
We make quick work of setting up camp. Well, they do. I get led away by one of them to a rock to sit whenever I try to help, so I get started on dinner instead and end up eating it without them when they’re still cursing and fighting with the tent an hour later.
“Don’t tell me I’ve spoiled you and you forgot all your survival instincts.”
Thorin throws me a glare over the top of the collapsing tent while Khalil fusses at him to pull. I keep my smile small to avoid laughing, and Thorin’s gaze narrows before he turns his head and barks something back at Khalil.
It took my mountain men some time to acclimate to life back on the grid, but having the best of everything money can buy helped a lot. Thorin’s been complaining that all myfrillsare making them soft, so I loaded them up on my private plane and surprised them with a trip back to the Cold Peaks so that my big burly brutes can rough it for a little while.
The tent is finally up a few minutes later, and my guys join me around the fire I started.
“Why are your clothes still on?” Thorin asks me with his focus still on his food. My heart thuds against my chest as goose bumps spread over my skin, and then his blue gaze slowly rises to meet mine when I don’t move.
I jerk to my feet at the unspoken command, feeling my skin flush from the fire and the weight of all their attention as I lift my thin T-shirt over my head. I feel their eyes tracing my exposed skin as I drop the shirt and move my hands down to my denim shorts. I see Khalil’s eyes glowing even brighter in the firelight when I peel them off my hips and over my ass. The shorts drop to my feet and I kick them away before unhooking my sports bra from the front and discarding my thong.
