Charlie bit back a sob. She thought she’d done an excellent job of hiding her fear from him, but she should have known he would sense it. He was far from stupid.
“You’ll also drive me crazy if you stay here, out of the action,” he said.
Charlie laughed as she bent to rest her forehead against his. “I’ll be back,” she promised.
“I know.”
“Anyone else?” Jack asked. “And it should be vampires as the humans can’t move as fast.”
“I’ll go,” Kirha said.
“So will I,” Clifford said.
“Me too,” Mal said.
“You should stay here,” Jack said to Mal. “You know these tunnels better than anyone, and you’re the strongest vamp here; they need you here if shit goes wrong.”
Mal started to protest before closing his mouth and nodding.
“I think we should all get some more rest,” Jack said. “We’ll go above once the sun is up tomorrow.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Charlie wokeand blinked against the darkness enshrouding her. She reached out for Dylan, but her hand fell on the dirt floor. She bolted upright when she realized her son and Jack were gone. Her racing heart gradually eased when, through her bond with Jack, she sensed everything was fine.
Tossing her blanket aside, she pushed herself up and bent her head to avoid hitting it on the ceiling of the small side tunnel. She left her boots behind as she padded down to the main tunnel. She made a right into the main shaft and walked to the end of it before spotting Jack and Dylan sitting by the fire. People and vampires were gathered in the cavern, but most were sleeping, and the ones who weren’t, were turned away from the fire.
Charlie stopped to watch them as Jack sat with an arm draped over his knee while he turned a rabbit on the spit. This far beneath the earth, the scent of anything they cooked wouldn’t reach the surface. Sitting beside him, Dylan had assumed a nearly identical posture. She couldn’t hear what Jack was saying, but whatever it was, it had Dylan gazing at him with a rapt expression that robbed Charlie of her breath.
Unable to control herself, she’d bound herself to Jack and, in doing so, she also bound Dylan to him. She hadn’t stopped to let herself think about the consequences of that while they were running for their lives, but now it occurred to her that Dylan might not want anything to do with Jack and his family.
Watching them together, she didn’t think that was a possibility as Dylan gazed at Jack with near reverence. Dylan lifted a stick to draw something in the dirt. Releasing the spit, Jack leaned closer to inspect what Dylan sketched.
Charlie yearned to join them so she could hold her son before returning to the surface, but she found her feet stuck in place as Dylan laughed at something Jack said. The beautiful sound of his laughter had become so rare since coming here that she’d almost forgotten it.
Now, it brought tears to her eyes as she slipped further into the shadows to watch her mate with her child. Her love for Dylan knew no bounds, but as she gazed at them, she realized she was falling pretty hard for Jack too.
When did it start to happen?When she contemplated it, she realized it started when he refused to let her go on the cliff. It solidified when he took a bullet for her. Jack was unlike anyone she’d ever known before, and he washers.
Sensing Charlie’s presence, Jack lifted his head and his eyes locked on hers as she stood in the shadows watching them. He almost rose and walked over to her, but Dylan drew his attention back to him when he drew something more on the ground and tapped it with the stick.
Though the drawing was of the lobes of the brain that Jack could remember from Anatomy class, Dylan’s next question wasn’t about the organ.
“Do you think we’ll be able to get off this island?” Dylan asked.
Jack gazed into the boy’s mismatched eyes and smiled. Sitting with him, taking in the simple awe Dylan possessed for learning something new, Jack found his grief over losing Doug a little easier to handle.
“I do,” he said.
“I hope so,” he muttered. “My mom deserves to be happy.”
Jack had only seen Dylan as a child who needed protecting, but the maturity in Dylan’s eyes aged the boy far beyond his years. Dylan had seen far too much to retain the innocence a child his age should possess.
Once they were off this island, Jack would make sure Dylan had the happiness and childhood he deserved. He would never be able to erase everything Dylan endured, but he would give him security and love.
Dylan may not be his blood, but Jack really liked the boy. He was curious and kind, and he’d somehow survived down here without becoming miserable. Plus, he was Charlie’s son, and Jack would care for the boy like he was his own. Charlie and Dylan had become his family, and he would die to protect them.
“She blames herself for us being here,” Dylan whispered, and his gaze fell to the ground as he idly traced the stick in the dirt. “But it’s not her fault. I know she thinks she failed me, but she didn’t. I’ve told her it’s not her fault and that I’m okay, but she won’t let herself believe it.”
