Chapter Thirty-seven — Logan
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
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LOGAN
Ishut off the video interview and dropped my smile. It was a good thing to be interviewed, but I was still annoyed at the change of plans when I’d already laid out time for the interview later. Still, at least it was out of the way.
Grabbing my phone, I stopped in the kitchen to grab a drink before I went back to packing like I should have been doing for the last hour and a half. Theo sat at the island on his laptop, but Rin wasn’t here anymore. Her phone sat on the counter where I’d seen it earlier.
“Where’s Trinity?”
“What do you mean?” Theo asked.
I laughed. “What tripped you up?”
He glanced up over his glasses. “She wasn’t with you this whole time?”
“Why would she be? I left her with you.”
“Yeah,” he said, “and she sprinted out of here the second after you left to go sneak up on you in some kind of surprise attack.” A chuckle. “I assumed that would turn into you two fucking.”
“I got a call from Robin. That surfing magazine wanted to change up their interview to right now. I was upstairs in the office.” We had an office that wasn’t Theo’s the rest of us used if we needed.
“In that case I have no idea where Rin is,” he said.
Something didn’t feel right about that. Trinity wasn’t one to hide for so long. And if she’d been hiding trying to scare me, she would have heard the phone call.
I went to my bedroom. Nothing had changed. Suitcase with a few things in it on the bed, lights on, closet door closed. Surely she couldn’t still be in the closet?
“Trinity?”
I pushed open the closet door and recoiled.
Dread.
Terror.
Despair.
The scent-laced emotions exploded out of the dark space along with the acrid scent of sick. I flipped on the light, clocking the wet stain on the carpet just by the door, and seeing a break in my clothes. “Trinity?”
I crossed the space before I realized I’d done it and dropped to my knees, reaching for my Omega. She was wrapped around one of my shirts, holding it so tightly she shook. Her body was rigid, and she didn’t respond right away when I touched her.
What the fuck happened?
Slowly, I pulled her out from the clothes. “Hey, wildfire, what’s going on?”
She didn’t respond.
“Trinity, sweetheart, I need to see your face, okay?”
Nothing.
I gathered her into my arms and lifted her up, carrying her out of the closet. Keeping her in there with whatever happened wasn’t the answer. I took her to her room instead, finding one of her favorite blankets and settling on the window seat with her. I purred, keeping it steady and soft.
It was clear that Trinity had things in her past that weren’t resolved. We’d been patient with her about telling us, because forcing a person to relive bad memories was rarely helpful. But this was so far beyond that. She needed to tell us what the hell happened. Because this? This was terrifying.
Her body became a little less rigid as I stroked a hand over her hair and down her back. Slowly, she pulled my shirt away from her face—just enough for me to see her eyes bloodshot from tears, and those same tears dried on her face. Her scent still contained the rancid elements of true terror.
“You came back.” The tiniest croak.
“I was upstairs in the office,” I told her. “I didn’t go anywhere.”
“You left.”
Something about the hollow words shook me. The finality in them. Like me leaving was a foregone conclusion.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for your prank,” I said softly, keeping my hand moving. “Theo told me that’s what you planned. Why did you stay in the closet the whole time?”
“Doesn’t open,” she whispered.
I froze. “What do you mean?”
“I couldn’t get out. I can never get out.”
Holy fucking hell. Did the closets lock from the inside? It wasn’t something I’d ever thought to check on. You didn’t usually close yourself inside a closet.
“You couldn’t open it?”
She shook her head.
Gathering her closer, I kissed her temple, struggling not to crush her to me. Now her terror was mine. What did I cause? “I’m sorry about that. I had no idea they locked like that. I never would have shut the door if I’d known you were inside.”
“I’m sorry I threw up. I’ll clean it.”
Trinity’s voice still came from a million miles away, which was how I knew this wasn’t about being locked in a closet. Or not only about that. Was being locked in a closet for that long fun? No. Was it scary? Probably yes.
But it wasn’t the kind of fear that caused someone to hurl up their guts and end up in the fetal position. So what the hell caused this reaction? What could I ask?
“I’m not worried about that,” I said softly. “I’m worried about you. What made you throw up?”
I shifted us just enough to grab my phone out of my pocket so I could text the group chat.
Logan
Whoever’s in the apartment, I need you in Trinity’s room NOW.
Aiden
I’m on my way back.
Aiden had gone to pick up some extra things from where he’d been living and his warehouse. Brooks and Bastian appeared in Rin’s doorway. Theo wasn’t far behind them. Their faces told me they scented the same awfulness I did.
I stroked a hand over her hair again. “Do you want to wash your mouth out?”
Trinity took a deeper breath and opened her eyes again. There was more life there than had been before. “That would probably be good.”
I glanced at Brooks as he came closer. He was still sweaty from the gym and must have gotten my text as he got back. He looked down at our Omega. “How about we take a shower?” Brooks asked. “Not a sexy shower, just a shower. You might feel better.”
She stared through me for a few seconds. “Okay. That’s fine.”
Slowly, I helped her sit up, and when she finally dropped my shirt I saw the bits of sickness still clinging to her lips and the way it had stained her shirt. This was so much more than accidentally being shut in a closet. This was a trigger that I’d shoved right at her.
I kissed her shoulder. “I’m sorry, wildfire. It won’t happen again. I promise.”
She nodded and allowed Brooks to take her by the hand and lead her out of the room with her eyes on the floor. None of us spoke until we heard them close the door to Brooks’s room.
“What the fuck happened?” Bastian asked.
I stood and strode past him. “You were right, Theo. She hid in my closet. I shut the door when I went upstairs for the interview. She was curled up under my clothes and had thrown up. I’ve never smelled fear like that.”
“Holy—” Theo shook his head the second we stepped into my room. “You weren’t kidding.”
The scent of Trinity’s fear was now all through the room with the closet door open.
“I could have sworn the doors had handles on the other side,” I said. One look confirmed it. “Yeah. See?”
“Hold on,” Theo said. “Go inside.”
The door clicked shut behind me, and I grabbed the knob. It didn’t turn. The door was solidly latched, and without the knob turning, there was no way to undo it. I pulled and pushed, putting as much force behind it as I could, seeing if it could be overridden, but it didn’t move.
Theo opened the door again.
“The doorknob is a dummy,” I said. “It doesn’t turn, probably isn’t even attached to the mechanism. But because it does latch, there’s no way to get out. Fuck.”
Looking at the spot on the floor, Bastian frowned. “Seems like more than that, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah. It does. And I have no way of asking her.”
“I’ll grab some stuff to help clean it,” Theo said. “You need to get packed. As soon as she’s out of the shower you’re going to want to be with her and not have to pull yourself away to do it.”
“Good idea.”
We split up and went to work.
Trinity’s hair was a wild nest on the dark pillowcase. She was so asleep I didn’t want to wake her, but I’d promised I wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye, and I didn’t plan on breaking that promise.
Yesterday she hadn’t really recovered. Stayed trapped in her mind while I held her. She ate and got ready to sleep, all the actions automatic, like her mind wasn’t present, only her body.
I didn’t want to leave her, but I didn’t have a choice.
Slowly I sat down on the edge of the bed and stroked a palm down her spine. “Trinity,” I said softly.
“Hmm?” The sleepy sound of her voice made sure my dick was the most awake of the three of us.
“I’ve got to go, wildfire.”
She stiffened, waking fully before turning to look at me and seeing me dressed and ready. Both hands reached for me, and I let her pull me down on top of her.
I kissed her once. Twice. And she shuddered. Her eyes snapped shut, but not before I saw the tears there. “Rin?”
“Have a good trip,” she whispered.
“Not leaving until you open your eyes for me.”
She shook her head, so I sat back up and pulled her with me, cradling the back of her head and keeping her close. “Why are you crying?”
“I’m not,” she mumbled into my shirt.
“Sure.” I chuckled. “Please tell me. I’m only going to be gone for a couple days, then I’ll be right back with you.”
Her body shook with another tremor that made me frown, but she sounded firmer. “I know.”
Sighing, I held her tighter. “Please don’t make me drag it out of you, Rin. And don’t make me leave you with tears in your eyes.”
“I—” A shaky breath. “I just don’t like it when people leave.”
The way Cecil left her over and over again. Maybe it was because he often went without plans for when to return, and it was that anxiety taking hold.
“I’m not leaving you,” I whispered into her hair. “You know exactly when I’ll be back, and the others are going to keep you so busy you won’t even notice I’m gone.”
She didn’t say anything, so I pulled her back far enough to see her face, and she wouldn’t look at me. Tears leaked from the outside corners of her eyes, and another thought struck me. I stroked my thumb along her jaw. “You’re safe, Trinity. Nothing is going to happen to you while I’m gone.”
Her gaze snapped back to mine and her eyes went wide. My jaw clenched, and I shoved down the anger that swooped in. I’d been shooting in the dark with that one, wondering if I was right. Clearly I was.
Trinity hadn’t told us the full truth of why she wasn’t comfortable with her father’s pack. But I knew there was more to it than she said. And this felt less like she was upset about my leaving and more like she was afraid.
I pulled my phone from my pocket and texted Bastian. He was the only one up this early.
Logan
Get in here.
“Someday I’ll ask you what happened to make you afraid of someone leaving.”
She smiled, but it wasn’t real. “I’ll just miss you.”
“Don’t do that,” I said. “Don’t push me away.”
Trinity brushed her fingers over her cheek, removing some of the tears. “I feel silly. Like you said, you’ll be back soon. And I want you to go. It’s important to you.”
“You’re important to me too.”
That was as close as I’d come to saying how over my head I was when it came to her.
Her beautiful eyes glossed over again, and I pulled her head to my chest once more.
“When I get home, we’re going to talk about it,” I said, putting the command she needed into my tone.
“It doesn’t have to be all at once, but we need to know.
We’re in this with you, remember? We don’t want to trigger you. All we want to do is help.”
“I don’t want you to think about me like that,” she murmured. “You won’t see me the same way.”
“That’s not true.” She whined, and I wrapped my hand around the back of her neck to keep her with me. “It’s not. You are my Omega. That’s not going to change.”
“Okay.” She didn’t believe me, but she didn’t need to. Eventually she would. Trinity needed actions and not words. We would show her we were telling the truth.
“Bastian’s going to take you to his bed so you’re not alone. And if you need to cry, you cry, baby. Nothing bad is going to happen. I promise.”
As much as I wanted to take the time to pry every secret out of her right this second, I did have to leave, and teasing out whatever pain and fear this was would take time.
“Okay,” she said again.
“Come here.” I lifted her face to mine and kissed her again, purring until she relaxed, even though she still clung to me.
A soft knock came from the door, and Bastian came in. “Can you take her to your room?”
He nodded once, and I kissed Rin one final time. “I’ll be back before you know it, okay?”
Her face crumpled, but she nodded. “I hope you win.”
“If I do, it’s because I’ll be thinking about you.”
Bastian lifted her out of my bed and carried her away. Watching her disappear was like a splinter in my chest, because I knew that leaving would hurt her. I was going to strip out every unnecessary activity and get back here as soon as humanly possible. The countdown started now.