Chapter 13
13
ROBE
The forest settled once Mari left the living area, and every man in the house breathed his relief. Except for Jon.
He glared at me, accepting the plate Alan thrust into his hands. I spent that night dozing in a recliner by the door, hyperaware of every single body in the house and subconsciously listening for any unusual sound outside. I hadn’t been able to settle since the Blackthorne incident, blood thrumming in my veins as I worked through every inch of potential, both negative and positive.
There weren’t as many of the latter, but we needed to do this.
I had always been sleepless the night before a mission, going over it in my head dozens of times to pick out the weaknesses in my plans.
“Not well done. Not after… the other afternoon.”
I hadn’t been backward in telling Jon exactly what our resident barkeep got up to in his spare time with our guest.
His tone bothered me, but we had work to do. “It went well?”
“It went well—until we walked inside.” His teeth ground together. “It went fine.”
“Fine? The fuck does that mean?”
“She asked questions.”
“Which ones did you answer?” Alan asked over his shoulder as he grabbed another plate and headed for my bedroom.
“All of them,” Jon groused, throwing a baleful look my way.
Alan hesitated midfootfall but then kept walking without another word.
“Don’t get all pouty. You wanted to spend time with her,” I reminded him, dragging my ass to the kitchen to serve up the rest of the plates.
Pulling a handful of greenery from his pocket that sure as shit didn’t come from the forest, Jon deposited it onto the bar and started eating where he stood. “And it worked. Though I made her cry.”
“Asshole.”
“We were talking about you.”
I smiled, though no part of that struck me as funny. “Of course you did. We need to plan. Alan?” I asked as he entered the room.
“Unhappy, almost in tears, and force-fed until she ate on her own. And locked in, on your orders. As usual, I’ve followed your command to the letter, oh Great One. This doesn’t need to continue.” He sent me a baleful glare full of blame and betrayal.
“At least we won’t be interrupted.”
“Fuck, you’re an asshole,” Alan cussed, swiping his plate from the bench and retreating behind the bar.
I ignored him, letting him continue his rant beneath his breath. “Miller found tracks on the northwest boundary after I spoke to our… sweet neighbor. Three men, combat-style boots with medium depressions.”
“Could be a hiker,” Alan said through a mouthful of stew.
“Group of,” Will corrected from the balcony. “I don’t think so. They walked in a straight line, and some of the impressions crossed over, but not all. Like they were?—”
“Hiding their numbers. So Gideon did a recce after you kicked his ass verbally. What’s new?” Alan’s mouth twisted. “Fuck. I’m usually better at reading Gideon’s bullshit.”
Jon glanced across at me and held my gaze. “We’re getting distracted. She wants to go home.”
I ground my teeth. “Will, Miller. Up for a nighttime incursion?”
Both boys nodded without speaking.
“Robe—” Jon cleared his throat.
“And I need a little intel from town, Alan.”
“You got it,” the bartender said.
I waited another minute for their objections, but Jon didn’t interrupt me a second time, burrowing his attention into his food. “Good. Tomorrow, Will can take Mari into the forest. South side, well away from the house. It’s important she’s kept safe and out of this,” I added in a gentler tone.
Will nodded, his hands flexing around his plate. “What do you want me to do with her?”
“Don’t make her cry, for a start,” I snapped, then closed my eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“This is bullshit.” Jon scraped his plate clean in record time and stalked out the door.
“Jon—” Alan began.
I held up a hand. “Let him go.” Besides, that fuckup was mine to fix.
“I’ll figure something out,” Will mumbled.
“Good.” I swallowed my pride. “He’s moving, and I don’t want to miss an opportunity to make sure that move isn’t aimed in our direction.”
“It’s not like there’s anyone else up here much.” Alan rested his forearms on the bar, his bright blue eyes fixed on me.
“Finish eating. You’re heading out tonight. I need to know what’s happening in New York.” My chest ached at the thought of sending my boys out when I couldn’t enter the city without earning myself prime real estate on death row.
“I’m out.” Alan pushed the rest of his plate away. His apron floated to the bar top as he grabbed a prepacked backpack from beneath the bench and shot out the door.
“See you in a few days.”
“Check in whenever you can.” I might not like how tonight turned out, but of all my boys, Alan was the one I most trusted to be able to make the choice between emotions and duty.
He winked and flipped me the bird.
He’d be gone as long as it took for the job to be done. That didn’t put my mind at ease. It did mean I’d be in shit with the rest for sending him out alone when we all needed to focus on the enemy who’d stepped foot on the other side of our invisible barrier, even if by proxy. Not that I blamed him.
Miller had erased a handful of his men while we were engaged in neighborly chitchat, after all.
“Get your asses onto Gideon’s land. Have a scout around and report back. Nothing else. Hear me? We’ll decide what to do when you come home.”
“You got it.” Miller threw his plate in the sink and jerked his head at Will. “Let’s go.”
In a matter of seconds, the mass exodus left the cabin empty except for me—and Mari.
Her presence in my room burned me as I washed every plate, stacking each into a neat pile and tidying the room. Once every surface gleamed spotlessly, I folded my arms and glared at the door. I’d given her enough time to eat and shower. She’d likely be asleep on the other side.
I clenched my teeth, calling myself a coward a hundred times over before I pushed through my frozen state and marched to the door.
I flicked the lock open as I knocked. “Mari?”
They were right—all of them. I’d been an utter asshole. To her and everyone under my roof, though group apologies weren’t my thing. I could have explained the situation, but some part of me wanted to keep her from the darker side of our lives in the event that she ran and never came back.
Not that I blamed her, but I also didn’t want to be the reason she threw herself headlong into danger when my safety net didn’t include places where I couldn’t see her.
Keep lying to yourself.
I got no response. No Go fuck yourself, Robe. No Leave me alone . No sobbing.
Just silence.
Her sassing me usually offered relief, but that didn’t come either. If I’d broken her….
“Mari?” I pushed the door open and found her on the other side, the doorway an invisible barrier between us.
“Why make me stay if you won’t let me in?” Her thin whisper broke at the end, scoring my heart.
“It’s not safe. Anywhere. Here. You’re not safe.” My throat constricted, but I forced the words out anyway. “And I want to keep you.”
Mari waited, her brow lowered as she peered at me through her lashes. “Is there another word to go with that sentence? Like an apology?”
Breath expelled from my lips in a laugh I covered as a cough. What are you, thirteen? “No.”
“Mmm.” She sighed. “I’m sick of crying, and I’m sick of being afraid. I thought….”
I waited, but she didn’t finish her thoughts. “Will is your guide tomorrow. He’s nice, so don’t scare him.” That earned me a sweet smile I memorized for later. “He’ll protect you. As for the others… I’ve been trying to teach you ways to fight your fear.”
“Is that what this is?” Lifting her head, she stared me full in the face, daring me to lie to her.
My throat dried on the truth I hid from myself. “Yeah.”
“Okay. Good night, Robe.” She reached across the threshold.
I grabbed her wrist, clinging to her. Knowing I shouldn’t, unable to step forward or bring her to me. “I know I’m an asshole. Everything I do… I do it because I’m trying to keep you safe.”
Mari stood stock-still for a long moment and then twisted her wrist in my grip. I opened my fingers, letting her pull away from me.
“I know,” she replied, retreating into the darkness.
She crawled into my bed, and though my heart ached at the thought of not taking her into my arms for one more night, I stayed on my side of the doorway. When she settled, I drew the door shut but didn’t flick the lock I had Will install despite his soft protests.
By the time the boys returned with their whispered reports, sans Alan, I had formed the plan I wanted us to follow the next day. Gideon’s additional crossover bothered me at a deeper level than usual, and it had everything to do with the bundle of heartbreak burrowed in my bed.
While every man slept, I resumed my station by the door and waited for the sun to rise.
* * *
Every footstep echoed louder than the last. I swore under my breath and tapped my throat mic out of habit. “Work in silence.” I waited until the sounds of movement faded before stepping forward, my gun raised.
Gideon’s compound was deserted.
My nose twitched every time the house settled or the mountain breathed, but after a full circuit of the place, checking room by room, I made it into his office undetected. I analyzed each vacant corner of the opulent room, though it became clear we were either very much in favor with luck herself or we’d missed one hellishly important boat.
“Call it in.”
“Clear.”
“Clear here.” I opened each drawer of the desk, sweeping my hand over the glossy wood, and swore again over the channel. “Everything’s been removed. He’s closed up house.” For now.
And gone… where?
The obvious answer settled in my mind. Back to NYC. Which meant I sent Alan into a potential minefield.
My brain whirred as Miller met me at the office door, his gaze sweeping our surroundings in a constant movement, his weapon raised to shoot out a dead camera.
I tapped his shoulder, and he jerked at the contact. “System’s down. Jon checked it out.”
“Fine,” he muttered, still glaring at the mangled tech as though it offered him a personal offense. “What else do we need?”
“One more thing.” I pushed past Miller and headed to a mezzanine level I spotted on my way through the compound.
I kicked a door open that stood ajar, then stepped into the arched space and stared. The open area without a railing looked out over a stage of sorts. An altar stood at the center, a white stain in an evil room.
A fucking altar.
But no sanctuary or revered altar had ever looked like this.
Manacles hung from blackened chains drilled into the stone at several points. My stomach clenched as I envisioned Mari’s sweet form stretched out there while they tortured her into the shade of the woman I protected.
Whether he played at summoning demons or truly believed in it, the man’s psychotic madness stunned even me. There was a slight dark patch in the upper center of the alabaster stone near where a smaller person’s chest would be if they were laid out upon it. Every doubt in my mind fled that this was where he’d tortured her, whether by his own hand or by others. It didn’t matter. I’d still kill him for it.
Miller swore colorfully behind me, throwing out a few choice terms we learned in the desert. “Fucking psycho. Are we done?”
“Yeah.” My breath stalled. “We’re done.”
I stared around the area, wanting to burn the damn thing to the ground, but I knew I couldn’t touch Gideon at that level. Not while Mari resided with us.
Nothing like a good bonfire to draw the prey to the flame.
“Not unless you want to take a souvenir home,” Jon said into my ear.
“Don’t touch a thing.” I held Miller’s eye until he relented with a grumpy-ass nod. And clean up the damn camera. I added that last as a mental note for myself and a text to Alan. “We’ve got no reason to be here. See you at the house.”
“Watch your ass.” Jon’s line closed.
“What the hell is he doing?” I seethed, resisting the urge to throw myself into the icy stream to wash off the residue of Gideon’s ruin as we made our way back through the woods.
“Pissy you missed your chance to shoot the twat?” Miller shot me an amused look over his shoulder, though his eyes glowed with dark promise.
If I lit the place, he’d help me burn it back to bedrock. There were other ways, more personal, where I could hit the asshole hard.
I glared back. “You’re picking up Mari’s terms.”
His back straightened. “Yeah?”
“Show-off.” I snorted. “Get tabs on Alan if you can. Let him know….” What? That Gideon escaped us again , moved everything off the mountain, and relocated elsewhere?
At least Mari is safe .
I sent Will out with her early in the morning after making sure the younger man knew to keep her away from the house. And now… I didn’t have a clue where the line for safe resided.
I ripped the phone out of Miller’s hand and shot a message off to Will.
“You’re welcome.” Miller twisted to face me. “You’re never this rattled. She’s in your fucking head. You know that, and it’s costing your judgment.”
“Solid assessment.” I forged onward, away from Gideon’s lair, intent on getting back to the house and washing off the sin-filled filth that coated me head to toe.
How she lived in her own body after having been stretched out there…. Bile rose in my throat. I pushed the bitter acid back by sheer will, unwilling to provide additional evidence of our incursion. My arms itched to wrap around her, crush her to me as I promised all the things that weren’t mine to give.
“He’ll wait for you to make a mistake, and given the headspace you’re in, he’s going to find one.”
“He already has.”
Miller snarked on. “It’ll cost you a life or more. Are you willing to risk that?”
I bared my teeth in a feral grimace he couldn’t see. “What do you want me to do? Send her away?” I waited, knowing we’d hit an impasse. Miller would have my back to eternity, but if I fell apart on him…. He was right about the cost, and the failure poked an already bruised heart.
“No. But you need to pull your head out of your ass where she’s concerned.” He stopped talking as the house came into view. “We all do.”
A-fucking-men to that, brother .
My pack heavier than I’d swear it’d been when we left this morning, I pushed the door open to an empty cabin and then unpacked, unable to settle until Jon appeared in the clearing. Miller’s phone bleeped. I grabbed it, looking for a message from Will, but Alan had replied in code to an earlier message.
If I barged in on Will and Mari, I could lose her, and my pride refused to let that happen. Neither would anyone else in the house. I settled in to wait.
Patience wasn’t my strongest suit today.