“We stay inside.”
“That’s your plan?”
“It’s the only one that keeps you safe.”
Her jaw tightens. “You said you’d find him.”
“I will.”
“Then why are we just standing here?”
“Because he wants you to panic.”
She exhales sharply. “I’m not panicking.”
I step closer, boxing her in without touching her.
“Your heart says otherwise.”
Her breath stutters. “Get out of my space.”
“Make me.”
The words come out low, rough, before I can stop them.
Her eyes flash, but she doesn’t move. Doesn’t push me away. Doesn’t step back. She just stands there, looking up at me like she’s deciding something that could go very wrong for both of us.
“You always this bossy?” she asks.
“Only when I’m right.”
“About what?”
I let my gaze drop, slow and deliberate, to her mouth, then back up.
“This.”
Her breath catches again, and this time she doesn’t try to hide it.
Outside, the wind howls as the storm rolls in, something unseen moving in the trees beyond the glass. But in here, in this moment, none of that matters.
Right now, the only thing I’m focused on is her.
Chapter 7
Maddie
Cold air fills my lungs the second I step outside the next morning, sharp and clean in a way that should feel refreshing but doesn’t. The quiet hits me just as hard, not peaceful like it usually is in Devil’s Peak, but heavy, like the mountain is holding its breath and watching. I pull my jacket tighter around me and scan the tree line out of instinct now, my gaze moving slowly, deliberately, searching for anything out of place. Every shadow feels thicker than it should. Every shift of wind feels like it means something.
Ethan steps out behind me, his boots crunching against the frost-dusted ground, the sound louder than it should be in the stillness. “You always look at the trees like they’re about to bite?” he asks.
“Only when someone might be hiding in them.”
There’s a beat of silence before he answers, and when he does, his voice is calm in a way that doesn’t help. “Good.”
I glance over my shoulder at him, narrowing my eyes. “That wasn’t comforting.”
“It’s not supposed to be.”
