37. Theo
THIRTY-SEVEN
THEO
It was close to ten as I followed Piper’s Volvo down the long, winding drive that led to The Sanctuary.
The sky was clear, a billion stars scattered over the canopy stretched overhead.
The moon was close to full, and it cast a silvered glow over the vast expanse of winter white.
My bike rumbled through the silent night as we kept a slow pace. Cold wind whipped at my face, lashing across the bare portions of my skin, though I’d never felt this close to burning up.
I feared whatever had gone down between me and Piper at Otto and Raven’s had shifted something intrinsic inside me.
Had breached a place that I couldn’t fuckin’ let her. And there she was, invading every crevice of my being.
Piper eased down the drive, and the concentrated thick of trees fell away as the road opened to the big lot that fronted the main portion of the motel. She continued down the smaller lane that dipped back into the forest before the two small cabins came into view.
I spotted Jonah doing a sweep of the perimeter, his flashlight bobbing through the darkness as he searched for anything amiss.
I found solace in it—the fact that Alicia and Lucy were being watched when I clearly was losing my footing. Slipping from my purpose and drawn toward something that I never expected.
Piper eased the small SUV into the spot beside Unit B, and I pulled my bike to a stop directly in front of her cabin.
I killed the engine.
Silence rushed in to cover the roar.
In it, I could almost hear the thunder of her heart from where she remained in the car.
I sucked for oxygen.
Clarity.
Or maybe I was just looking for some kind of resolve since it was clear I was traveling the most disloyal, treacherous path. But there seemed to be no other destination.
No other place to go but striding up to the driver’s side door of the Volvo.
I cracked it open and was instantly hit with a rush of this woman.
Light and life and that sweet cherry-blossom scent.
She looked up at me with those arctic eyes.
Peering into them was like touching a vast blue horizon.
Like gazing at the sun rising and setting at the same damn time.
“Hey,” she whispered, her voice uncertain. Apparently, neither of us knew what we were doing.
Chained by this thing that strummed between us like a brand-new life beat that hummed in our blood.
“Hey,” I murmured.
I stretched out my hand.
She took it, teeth chewing at that plump bottom lip as I helped her out. Woman driving me out of my fucking mind with that slight action that told of her own insecurities and questions.
I wanted to be the one to wipe them away.
The one to hold her fears.
The one who stood in front of every threat.
She climbed out, and I let my palm slip to her defined cheek before I glided my fingers into the silky strands of her white hair.
Doing nothing but staring down at her beauty.
Wanting to keep all of it for myself.
“We’d better get Finn inside,” I said, voice rough.
Piper barely nodded. “Yeah. We should.”
In it was an agreement.
The we a clear issuing of surrender.
I stepped back for the rear door and opened it to a sleeping Finn.
My chest squeezed. A tightening so fierce that I felt it twine with my spirit.
The child’s face lax with exhaustion from playing nonstop all afternoon and evening, though I could still see a halo of joy radiating from his being.
The fun he had.
The way he fit right in with Maci and Nolan like he’d been there all along.
Like he belonged there.
And I was struck with the urgency to make it real.
Not some temporary transition as Piper was finding her way.
I…my throat nearly closed off as the realization hit me.
I wanted this.
Forever.
Finn only gave a tiny moan as I unbuckled him and pulled him into my arms. He snuggled right into them, his chubby cheek pressed to my shoulder as I shifted around and nudged the door shut with my hip.
When I turned around, I was slammed all over again by the way that Piper looked at me.
It felt like every edge of her face had been carved into my existence.
Scored and inked.
“Let’s get inside. It’s cold out here,” I muttered.
She barely nodded, and she turned and followed the path that wound from the parking spot around to the porch.
I followed close behind, my footsteps heavy against her dainty thuds.
My breaths serrated and harsh as I panted them into the back of her neck.
Chills lifted across her flesh, and energy scattered between us.
She tapped her keycard against the reader and the door gave, and she let us into the quiet stillness of their cabin.
The colorful lights on the tree still twinkled in the muted glow of the room. Tranquility holding fast to the atmosphere.
Piper started for the stairs, and I followed close behind. Breathing her in as she led me up and into her room.
I carefully laid her son into the small crib that sat on the far right wall, and Piper came forward, pulled off his shoes and jacket, then covered him with a soft blanket.
Her touch was tender as she ran it over his head before she shifted back to look at me.
This woman who I wanted to see everything that I was.
This woman I wanted to reveal myself to.
Wholly and completely.
“Piper.” I whispered her name like supplication.
A claim and a demand and a prayer.
Her chin trembled as she swallowed. “How is it possible you brought me to this place? To the place where I feel this?”
Her hand fisted over her heart.
I knew exactly what she meant.
“I—”
The confession I was getting ready to make froze on my tongue when my phone suddenly blared from my pocket.
Frustrated, I pulled it out.
My stomach twisted when I saw it was Jonah.
“Jonah,” I grunted as I answered it.
Jagged breaths flooded into my ear.
“Found someone hiding in the woods. He took off on foot when I saw him. Heading west back into the trees.” Jonah was clearly running as he shouted the words into the phone. “I’m on him, but the fucker is fast.”
Dread spiraled, and a vat of adrenaline dumped into my veins.
“Don’t lose him. I’m on my way.”
“Yes, sir.”
I ended the call and stuffed my phone back into my pocket.
Worry took over every line on Piper’s face. “What’s going on?”
“Trespasser on the property.” I gripped her by the outside of the arms. “Stay here and make sure the doors are locked.”
Without saying anything else, I turned and jogged down the stairs, taking them three at a time. Agitation buzzed through my body. Mind speeding through every scenario and situation.
Violence churned into a boiling point when I thought of the intel Cash had given last night.
How close Pierce Renfry was to our small town.
If it was him…
Horror ripped and tore, and I increased my speed.
Piper scrambled down behind me, frantic hands on the railing and her spirit screaming with dread.
“Theo,” she wheezed. She attempted to keep it quiet, though it felt like that single word was being shouted directly into my soul.
I flew back around, and desperation gushed out with the command, “Stay here.”
Her face pinched, though she stopped as I jerked the door open and flew out into the frigid night.
I only slowed long enough to make sure the door was locked behind me. That Piper and her family were secure behind it.
Then I hurtled across the porch, boots hitting hard against the walkway, my breaths salient as I expelled them from my clutching lungs.
Because in an instant, I sensed it.
Evil crawling the air.
So thick that I wanted to choke on it.
My attention darted every direction as I tried to discern where the corruption was coming from.
My gaze landed on Alicia’s door. I hurried that way, running onto her porch before I quietly tapped at the wood. I itched as I waited, guts a tangle of dread, before I finally heard shuffling on the other side.
Could feel her peering out of the peephole before metal grated as she undid the locks.
Worry filled her face as she barely cracked the door open. “Theo?”
“Everything okay inside?” I peered over her shoulder as I asked it.
Alicia’s worry shifted to fear. “I…everything’s okay. What’s going on?”
“Guard found someone hiding on the property. He took off.”
“Oh, God.” Horror filled her features, and that resolve steeled inside me.
“We’re on him. I just needed to check that you were okay. Get back inside and keep the doors locked.”
Alicia nodded frantically before she closed the door and quickly worked through the locks. The second I knew she was secure, I went running for the woods in the direction that Jonah had indicated the fucker had gone.
I could taste the foulness riding on the gusts of wind that whipped through.
Temperature a thousand degrees colder than the thermometer should read.
I ran across the narrow lane that looped around the far side of Alicia’s cabin and barreled into the trees, following the trail of footsteps that Jonah and another set of feet had carved into the snow.
Moonlight streamed down, tossing the ground in shadows as it flowed through the limbs and leaves.
It was enough to illuminate the area so I didn’t need a flashlight.
Heart beating a million miles a minute, I drove myself through the rugged terrain, jumping over boulders and ducking beneath branches that threatened to slow my pace.
The footsteps wove deeper into the forest.
Darkness crowded in as the foliage grew denser, the moonlight blotted out by the concentrated cover of trees.
A frown tugged hard at my brow when I saw a heap on the ground in the distance.
My pulse spiked into disorder when I realized it was Jonah.
I pushed myself harder, then came skidding to a stop when I made it to him. Leaning over, I wheezed, “Oh, fuck, Jonah. Are you hurt?”
He moaned and writhed in the snow, clutching his side with his hand. Blood seeped out between his fingers, staining the white blanket beneath him.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
He violently shook his head, and his teeth gritted as he hissed, “Blade just got me deep enough to drop me to my knees. I’ll be fine. Just get that bastard.”
“You sure?”
“Go!”
I didn’t hesitate any longer.