“But I didn’t.” He squeezed my hand. “I’m still here.”
For now, I thought, misery gripping my heart.But for how much longer?
CHAPTER FIFTEEN || HARRIS
Iwoke to cold sheets and silence. My hand reached across the bed automatically, searching for Reed’s warmth. Finding nothing, I blinked my eyes open, squinting against the pale morning light filtering through the window.
The cabin was empty.
I sat up slowly. The wounds from the Algea’s claws had healed—Simone’s blood had seen to that—but my muscles were just slightly stiff and sore in a deep-tissue way that let me know my body was still catching up to what had happened. I rolled my shoulders experimentally.Almostno pain.
That’s when I saw the note. It was propped against the coffee mug on the nightstand, folded once.
Harris—Had to open the bar. Didn’t want to wake you. You needed the rest.—R
Unease slithered through me.
Reed had never left without saying goodbye before. Even on the mornings when he’d slipped out early to check on the pack or the bar, he’d always woken me up first.
I turned the note over, as if there might be more on the other side. There wasn’t.
Well, last night had been a lot. For both of us. I’d almost died.
Reed had watched it happen, paralyzed and helpless. And then there’d been that awful, haunted look in his eyes afterward. He’d barely spoken on the walk back to the cabin.
But I’d thought we were okay. We’d fallen asleep together, his arms around me.
Now I wasn’t so sure.
He’s processing, I told myself firmly.Give him space. He’ll come around.
Reed wasn’t the type to talk through his feelings in real time. He needed to sit with things, turn them over in his mind, work through them alone before he could share them. I understood that. Hell, I was the same way most of the time. Figuring out how to do thattogetherwas a learning curve.
That’s all this was.
Pushing the thought aside, I got out of bed. My stomach growled immediately. When was the last time I’d eaten? Yesterday afternoon, maybe? Before the witches arrived and opened the portal. Before everything went sideways.
Or notcompletelysideways. Sally was alive. All of us had lived. The plan was still a success, even if the Algea had attacked the moment the portal opened. We’d fought it off.
Trying to reassure myself, I shuffled into the kitchen, made myself a piece of toast, and poured a mug of coffee from the pot Reed must have made before he left. It was lukewarm but way stronger than usual.
It occurred to me only then that Reed and I hadn’t shared dreams last night. Which meant he probably hadn’t slept.
Again.
I ate the toast standing at the counter, staring out the window. Sarah and Lacey pushed open the door to the mess hall, a few cabins down. The witches’ cars were still parked in the gravel lot—they were still here, too. Recovering, probably. The spell they’d cast yesterday had been no joke.
I should check on them, I decided. Better than sitting at the cabin and letting my thoughts get the better of me. And then maybe, after he’d had a little time to process, I’d swing by the bar and talk to Reed. I needed to make sure we were okay.
* * *
The mess hall was louder than I expected. I heard the voices before I even reached the door. Laughter, the clatter of dishes, the low hum of conversation. Warm and alive in a way that reminded me of family, of belonging.
I stepped inside and stopped short. The space was surprisingly crowded. Long wooden tables filled the center of the room, bench seating on either side, all of it filled with werewolves, witches, and vampires.
Lee and Hunter sat close together at one table with Daniel beside them. Lacey and Sarah were already sitting across from them, even though they’d just walked in right before me. Oliver sat alone near the window, a mug of coffee in his hands, looking lost in thought.
And then there were the witches. Poppy and Simone sat at one end of a table, across from Ethan and Nathaniel. Tatiana was on Ethan’s other side, her posture stiff and formal even while sitting, holding a cup of coffee she was regarding with barely concealed disdain. Maybe she was used to something higher-end than whatever the pack was serving.
