Chapter 8
Finn
––––––––
Finn felt the electricity in the air before he saw Kallie on the street.
The wind had blown wrong all morning. First east to west, then south to north, kicking up small dust circles. Before Kallie appeared, the wind disappeared completely as if the town was holding its breath.
Kallie. He exhaled slowly. Kallie with a K.
He couldn't take his eyes off her. She'd changed. How many years had it been since the last visit? Six years? That would make her sixteen. It was more time than the marks on the wood. He should've started the day he met her instead of waiting.
Her somber brown eyes were the same. Wide, wounded, and yet stronger than before.
Instead of shoulder-length brown hair with curls brushing her shoulders, the strands now hung over her shoulders in waves, almost reaching her slim waist.
Finn's chest tightened.
He hadn't let himself imagine this moment. Hadn't let himself hope that she'd return. But seeing her standing there, real and breathing and hurting, hit him harder than any blow he'd taken in his life.
Her shoulders tensed, and her gaze darted beyond him to the town. He took a step toward her.
Behind him, a door creaked open. Voices rose. Boots scuffed against pavement. He shielded her from the men.
Of course, they'd notice her. A girl didn't just appear in this place without drawing attention. There was no way he could hide her from everyone else.
Unrecognized by the men, Kallie's presence ignited a hunger that would break them out of their dull daily routines. And Kallie brought the change that all men dreamed of, even in hell.
All he wanted to do was protect her from the others. He wanted to keep her for himself.
"Kallie." He smoothed the hair off her cheek.
Her breath hitched. "I'm so glad you're still here."
He couldn't ask her what happened, not here with all the men watching. Her vulnerable state would get them riled, and he'd have more problems to deal with than trying to get her back through the veil.
"Come on," he murmured. "You can't stand out here."
He picked up her hand and guided her down the street. She came with him willingly, walking beside him, close enough that he could feel her trembling.
He didn't look back, but he heard the men talking. Their voices raised in question and hope. Tension crawled up his spine. He had to get her away from them.
He brought her to his house and shut the door behind them. Picking up a chair, he propped it under the doorknob in case the others rushed the door.
Kallie stood in the middle of the room, wrapping her arms around herself. She looked small. Not physically because she'd grown, almost into a full-grown woman, but she was too tender for this world.
He grabbed her by the upper arm and pulled her to the couch. "You shouldn't have come."
"Why?" Her spine straightened. "Didn't you want to see me again?"
She was so fucking innocent. Still growing up, she had no clue about how she came to Everstill or what could happen to her.
It was already hard enough for him to keep track of the days, and he was surprised she even remembered her last visit to Everstill, let alone him. She was practically a baby the last time, and now—he looked up and down her body—she was on the verge of becoming an adult.
"This place isn't for you." He ran his hand down his jaw.
"I think it is." She scooted closer. "I don't know how I got here, but I'm here now. I'll figure it out, and when I do, I can come see you whenever I want."
"You shouldn't be around me. You're a kid," he muttered. "It's not safe."
"I'm sixteen," she blurted.
He stood, dragged a hand through his hair, and walked to the window.
He could feel the men outside, their curiosity thick as smoke.
The town didn't get surprises. It didn't get visitors.
And it sure as hell didn't get teenage girls who looked like a beautiful butterfly slipping through the shadow seam.
"Even more reason why you need to go back," he said.
"No."
"Kallie—"
"I'm not going back yet." Her voice cracked, but she didn't look away. "There's nothing there for me."
He returned to her side. She wasn't thinking straight. He was the adult here. He'd force her to go back.
"My mom's dead." She took a breath, shaky and uneven. "I don't have anyone."
Each man who'd found their way here also had no one. They had no connection to the real world. But they were all unredeemable, having committed crimes that were unforgivable. It was the one thing they had in common.
Kallie wasn't like them.
"She overdosed, and nobody told me. I had to overhear them talking about her," Kallie whispered. "It's not like I care that she died. She abandoned me for drugs and never tried to get healthy again to regain custody of me. Not once."
Finn's jaw tightened. His insides twisted painfully.
Living here had killed any feelings inside of him. Each day was the same. He knew what to expect. Nothing gave him joy, nothing to look forward to. Hell, he never experienced anger or frustration living in Everstill. Nobody did.
So why would this young girl bring out the monster in him? If he were in her world, he could have done something to protect her or deal with her mom, but here, there was nothing he could do.
She blinked fast, fighting tears. "I didn't know where else to go."
He closed his eyes for a moment. She'd chosen him. A man she'd met once when she was little.
She had no idea that every morning, he hoped she'd return. As of yet, he couldn't figure out their connection. Why him? Why her?
Forgetting about her was impossible. Each day began and ended with the thought of her returning. But she had to go back.
"This isn't a safe place." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not a good person."
"But you're here." She stood, frowning. Her perfect little arched brows pinched together.
He wanted to tell her she'd done the wrong thing. That this place wasn't safe. That the men outside weren't the kind you wanted noticing you. That the glitch didn't bring people here unless they were broken in ways that didn't heal.
She looked at him as if he were the only one left in the world who could help her. And maybe he was, at least in this dimension.
As much as she needed to leave, he refused to push her out the door. She'd lost her mom. It was obvious she was hurting.
"You can stay for tonight," he said. "Just tonight. Tomorrow, we'll figure out how to get you back to your life."
Her breath trembled. "Okay."
"I'm serious. Tomorrow," he added, forcing the words out, "you go home."
She shook her head. "I'm not going back."
"Kallie—"
"No." Her voice broke, but her eyes didn't waver. "I want to stay here."
Finn stared at her, heart pounding in a way he didn't understand. She was underage. There had to be someone missing her.
Outside, the men's voices had grown loud enough to be heard inside the house. He gazed at Kallie. She had no sense of danger surrounding her.
The air was charged with electricity. The hair on his arms stood, keeping him tense.
Deep down, a part of him still remembered the sunlight in the world he came from, yet he'd lost the memory of what it felt like to have that warmth on his skin. He remembered the emotions he used to feel. But here, he lacked everything that made him feel human.
Everstill wasn't a punishment.
The town removed any emotional consequences for those who were brought here.
And without emotion, they were all suspended.
Yet, why did he feel the need to help this young girl who kept returning to him?
And how was she here and obviously in control of all her emotions?
A commotion outside drew him back to the window. The men were pointing to the house, apparently discussing among themselves whether they should try to enter it.
The town didn't get surprises, and a girl slipping through the veil twice was the biggest disruption they'd ever had. He spotted Moe, pacing back and forth. The way they all questioned Kallie's existence made him wonder if the men believed they would gain something in return.
Maybe her entrance would change Everstill.
He could feel a difference with her here. It would be irresponsible of him to believe the others weren't affected, too, and that rush of trying so hard to feel anything was addictive.
He also knew without any doubt that if another man had walked into Everstill, none of the others would've given a damn. But because Kallie was a female, they were all curious about her.
He stepped away from the window and turned toward Kallie.
"You hungry?" he asked.
She shrugged and then nodded as if she was unsure if she was allowed to be.
"Kitchen's through there," he said, jerking his chin toward the archway. "There's bread. Eggs. Whatever you want. Make yourself something while I'm gone."
She hesitated. "You're leaving me?"
He grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair. "I need to talk to the men."
Her eyes flicked toward the window, toward the shadows moving outside. "Are they mad at me because I'm visiting you?"
Finn paused with his hand on the doorknob. He didn't sugarcoat things. Never had. Never would.
"They don't want you here because you represent change. No female has ever come to Everstill," he said.
She chewed on her lower lip. "What is this place?"
He shook his head, opened the door, and stepped outside before she could ask anything else. The answer wasn't easy to give. He wasn't sure he was even allowed to talk about Everstill.
Rex, all six foot seven inches of him, stood at the front of the house, arms crossed, jaw tight. Vaughn and Boone stepped forward, both watching Finn with the same wary tension. A few others lingered behind them, half in shadow, half in the open, like they weren't sure how close they wanted to get.
Nolan, usually reserved and uninterested in becoming a part of a community in Everstill, asked, "It's the same girl, isn't it? She's back?"
Finn didn't respond.
"You said she wouldn't come again." Nolan lowered his voice. "You said she wasn't lost."
"She's not," Finn said.
There was a breach in the veil that controlled Everstill. She was able to slip past. Not once, but twice.
"Then why is she here?" Vaughn asked.
He didn't understand it himself. She'd stepped through the glitch like it had been waiting for her. On this side, the way the air had shifted before her arrival told him she was on her way. The town seemed different now, as if it were listening and testing each of them.
Boone stepped forward. "This place isn't for kids. You know that."
"She's sixteen," Finn said.
There were things he'd done at sixteen that classified him as an adult. He had no idea how long ago that was, but things couldn't have changed that much.
"Jesus." Moe ran his hands over his face. "That's worse. A girl her age? In a place full of men like us? You think that's safe?"
He understood what Moe wasn't saying. None of them had had the soft touch of a woman in a long fucking time. Kallie's arrival reminded him that he hadn't felt any sexual desire during his stay in Everstill. It was as if all the other emotions had been stripped from him.
Kallie put all kinds of thoughts back into his head. It was hard for him to think about the others when she was with him. In his house. Depending on him to help her.
Finn's jaw tightened. "She's in my house. Nobody will get past me."
"That's not the point," Boone said. "The glitch doesn't bring people here unless they're broken. Unless they're meant to stay."
That was only a theory. A common denominator amongst them all. But no one knew for sure why they were here.
Finn's stomach twisted. Kallie was grieving her mother's loss, but she had her whole life ahead of her. As a teenager, she hadn't had time to fuck up her life the way each of them had.
Kallie wasn't meant to stay.
"She's going home tomorrow," he said.
Griffin raised a brow. "You sure about that?"
Finn didn't blink. "Yeah."
The men exchanged suspicious glances. There was a darkness that had come in with Kallie, and they could all sense it settling down on them.
Moe stepped forward from the back of the group, eyes softer than the others but no less worried. "Finn... the town feels off. You feel it too."
Finn looked at the street. "It'll be okay, Moe."
The glitch had been unstable for weeks. The air shimmered more often. The road grew thinner. Time passed without notice. If it wasn't for him marking the wood, he would have no idea how many days had passed.
Levi crammed his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. "Let me talk to her."
That's exactly what he didn't want to happen. Kallie was still a child, despite looking like a woman.
Finn's voice dropped, low and dangerous. "She's not your concern."
Levi narrowed his gaze. "She's everyone's concern if she changes the rules. If there's a way out of here, we have a right to know. We've never had the option to leave before."
Finn refused to budge. He wouldn't allow any of them around her.
Just because Kallie walked through the veil didn't mean any of them could walk out of Everstill.
The men stared at him, waiting for him to crack, to explain, to justify. His muscles tensed from the added stress. A stress he never felt unless Kallie was here.
Movement out on the street drew all his attention. Copper walked toward his house and stopped behind the others without stepping onto the property.
"Finn, you've got until morning, and then she needs to go. After that, we talk," said Copper.
With his declaration, the men took it as law and drifted away, one by one, their voices fading into the quiet.
When the street emptied, Finn let out a slow breath and scrubbed a hand over his face.
He'd known this would happen. The moment she stepped through the rift. He turned and went back inside.
Kallie stood in the kitchen, her hands wrapped around a glass of water. Her wide eyes searched his face.
He stepped closer. "You can stay the night in the guest room. We'll figure out how to get you home in the morning."
Her shoulders sagged with relief.
Finn looked away before she could see the truth in his eyes. He didn't want her here, but he didn't want her gone either.
And that was the problem.