Chapter Twenty-Five
Lark
The clubhouse had finally settled down.
Not because anyone felt better, but because everyone was exhausted.
The surveillance video had sucked every bit of life out of the place. Even Alice had been quieter than normal, and if Alice was quiet, you knew something was wrong.
Nobody had gone anywhere without someone else trailing behind them all day.
Every door had been checked twice.
Every window had been looked through more times than I could count.
It was like everyone was waiting for something they couldn’t see.
I found Oliver exactly where I expected.
The back patio sat just beyond the clubhouse, tucked far enough away that it always felt peaceful, even when the inside of the building was chaos.
He stood near the railing with both forearms resting on the top board, staring out toward the fence line.
Watching.
Always watching now.
I grabbed two bottles of water from the kitchen before slipping through the back door. “I figured you’d be out here.”
He glanced over his shoulder. “I figured you’d find me.”
I smiled, walked over, and handed him one of the bottles before setting mine on the little table beside the oversized patio chair.
Without asking, I grabbed his hand and he sat in the chair. I climbed into his lap, and he wrapped one arm around my waist while I tucked myself against his chest.
Comfortable.
Easy.
Like we’d been doing it forever instead of only a few weeks.
I leaned my head back against his shoulder and looked up. The stars were beautiful tonight. Thousands of them scattered across the black sky. “I like it out here.”
Oliver looked down at me. “You do?”
I nodded. “It reminds me there’s still a whole world outside these fences.”
A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “I just like it when you’re out here with me.” His arm tightened around me just enough for me to notice.
A branch snapped somewhere out near the woods.
Oliver’s head immediately turned, and his entire body tensed before relaxing again when nothing happened.
I rested my hand over his. “They really got into everyone’s heads today.”
His eyes stayed on the tree line. “Yeah.”
“I hate that.”
“So do I.”
For a minute, neither of us spoke.
The breeze drifted through the trees, carrying the scent of pine and fresh-cut grass.
I reached up and rested my hand against his cheek.
“You’re a good man, Ollie.”
“You’re pretty fucking fantastic, too, Lark.” He pressed a kiss to my lips, and like always, it was like heaven.
He pulled back to look around, and then back at me. “I don’t know what’s coming next.”
“I don’t either.”
“The Reapers...” He sighed. “They’re still out there.”
“They are.” I laced my fingers through his. “But so are we.”
That earned me a real smile. “I guess we are.”
I rested my forehead against his.
“Whatever happens...” He squeezed my hand. “We’ll handle it.”
“Together?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Always.”
I smiled.
The fear from earlier was still there.
The unknown hadn’t disappeared.
The Northbound Reapers were still out there somewhere, watching and waiting, but sitting there in Oliver’s arms, beneath a sky full of stars, I realized something.
Some things were uncertain, but Oliver wasn’t one of them.