Chapter 5
KIERA
“Iknew where you’d be and when you’d be there,” Sean said, turning off the kettle, “because I saw your note with the details.”
He didn’t look at me as he said this, though I stared at him, not comprehending. How could he have seen my note? Did dryads have X-ray vision?
“No, you didn’t,” I said. “I covered it up so you couldn’t see.”
Sean reached up into one of only two cupboards. The T-shirt he was wearing rose above the waistband of his thin gray running pants, exposing the smooth skin of his toned lower back.
“I mean…” He took down a mug. “I saw it later.”
I still wasn’t following. “When later?”
“When you were sleeping.”
“But…” My mind might have been working slower than normal—another effect of the tilt?—but I knew for a fact I hadn’t slept a wink last night.
Sean scooped hot chocolate mix into the mug, then dumped in a fistful of mini marshmallows.
“You’re lying,” I said, supremely confident.
He looked up in surprise.
“You’re lying because I didn’t sleep last night. I couldn’t sleep. I was too nervous, so I was up all night.”
Sean shook his head while pouring boiling water and stirring the mix. “You thought you couldn’t sleep.”
“I know I couldn’t.”
As he stirred, a couple of marshmallows rolled over the rim and onto the counter. He removed the spoon, licked it, and slid the mug across the island to me. I didn’t pick it up.
“You got at least two minutes of sleep last night,” he said knowingly, “because when I tilted back into your apartment, you were out cold on that fancy couch.”
At that pronouncement, a chill swept down my arms. The idea of some man—even Sean—in my apartment when I was vulnerable and alone scared the living daylights out of me.
“You tilted back into my apartment?” I whispered, praying I’d heard him wrong. “When I was sleeping?”
His face softened. “I just said that. Now, drink your cocoa.”
“That’s trespassing!” I accused, as if that were the worst of it.
“Trespassing,” he said with—in my opinion—an air of unearned impatience, “would be if you told me not to come back, and I came back anyway. You never told me to stay away.”
“Semantics! Or is this some crazy supernatural dogma?”
His eyebrows shot up. “Come again?”
“Like vampires having to be invited in before they can cross a threshold. Or how, like, you’re never supposed to tell a faerie your full name. You’re saying dryads can trespass in people’s apartments unless they’re specifically told not to?”
He sighed wearily, and I knew why.
Since the assimilation of the supernatural world with the human one, long-standing human myths were frequently shown to be unfounded. Still, if anyone deserved to be feeling impatient or weary in this moment, it was me. Not him.
“Do you have any idea how scary that is for a woman?” I asked, really ramping up now.
“I wasn’t trying to scare you, Kiera. I kept quiet so you wouldn’t be startled.”
“And that’s supposed to make it better?” Oh my god. He was insane. “It was incredibly invasive.”
“Fine. I’ll give you that.”
“Well, thanks. That’s mighty magnanimous of you.”
He gave the hot cocoa another irritated glance. The marshmallows were melting, and I still hadn’t touched it.
“I only did it,” he said, “because I was worried about you.”
That was sweet. Under normal circumstances, I would have liked that. But it didn’t excuse what he’d done. “You don’t need to worry about me.”
Now, he looked more than impatient, weary, or irritated. He was nudging up on angry.
“You were on Caspian Street,” he reminded me. “Alone in the dark. With an armed assailant who was pissed because you let a hundred thousand dollars in cash get stolen.”
“I didn’t let it get stolen, Sean. I locked my car.” Yes, my sarcastic tone was an escalation in hostilities, but he’d broken into my house. While I was sleeping!
“You thought locking your car doors would be a sufficient deterrent in that neighborhood?”
“Well, apparently it was a completely insufficient deterrent, but how was I supposed to know that?”
“That guy pulled a gun and fired,” he said, his own temper bubbling over, “and you don’t think I had reason to be worried?”
“You didn’t know anyone was going to do that when you broke into my apartment,” I reminded him, “and if you recall, he didn’t pull a gun on me. He pulled a gun on you. He took you as a threat. If you hadn’t shown up, I would have been able to talk him around.”
“Are you insane?” Sean’s green eyes flashed at me from the other side of the island, and his body went as straight and as solid as an oak.
I will admit, in that moment, I may not have been thinking as clearly as normal, but—besides the “talk him around” part—I was only speaking facts. “Those are the facts, Sean. The guy didn’t pulled a gun on me. He pulled it on you.”
“And if I wasn’t there,” Sean said, “he would have pulled it on you. Do you really think he was going to let you go your merry way? If he didn’t shoot you on the spot, he’d hold you for ransom so he could get his money back some other way.
Do you have family with the kind of cash to pay a ransom, Kiera? ”
I gulped, because I did not, and it worried me that Sean may have already learned that about me and my family.
“Or maybe he was just sadistic enough to punish you for your naiveté.” Sean’s face was getting red. “Torture you in some basement…”
“Stop,” I said, because I couldn’t take it anymore.
Sean stopped.
“You could have just asked to see the note,” I said. “You didn’t need to break in.”
“I didn’t break in, and I did ask to see the note. You wouldn’t let me.”
Right. That was true. But I was too hot to concede. “Because I didn’t want to involve you in my brother’s mess.”
“Kiera, I am involved.” He didn’t sound angry or impatient anymore. His voice was soft and soothing. “I’m involved because I was there, and I saw the bag. But even before that, I’m involved because I like you. I want to get to know you better. And I want you alive so I can do that.”
Well.
That was also kind of sweet.
But still! Not enough to cut through the fact I was seriously mad at him. Maybe he didn’t literally break down the door or bust up a window, but he sure as hell broke into my house. And he broke my trust.
“Kiera...”
He sounded disappointed. This was probably because he’d just made a huge declaration, and I had yet to respond. I also hadn’t touched the cocoa.
“Please, take me home,” I said. I had cocoa at home. I could make my own. And I had things to do. Like keep my brother alive.
“That’s not the safest place for you right now,” Sean said.
That sent another chill down my arms. “What do you mean?”
“That bag is in the wind.”
“I know that,” I whispered, though the fight hadn’t left me yet.
“And your brother not only gave them your name and your phone number, but…and Kiera I hate to remind you…he gave them your address.”
I sucked in a breath, realizing all that he was implying and pissed that he was going there. Did he think I hadn’t realized the danger my brother had put me in? Did he think I didn’t know how little my own family cared about my safety? Trust me, this wasn’t news.
But there was no way I was going to admit that to Sean. The last thing I wanted was for him to have an even bigger glimpse into the dysfunction that was my family.
Besides, all of my things were at my apartment. I’d already been wearing these same clothes for over thirty hours.
“I still want to go home.” Then I demanded, “Take me home.”
“You can’t go home,” he said, clearly trying for patience but losing the battle.
“Then I want to go to Elli’s.”
The words surprised me as they came out of my mouth. Until I’d met Elli Rogan, I’d always kept my friendships superficial. Elli, however, didn’t allow it. She took an interest, and she didn’t judge. She made sure everyone felt seen.
“Kiera, you can stay here,” Sean urged. “It’s safe here. Only a few people even know this cabin exists.”
Oh my god. He wasn’t serious. I was already teetering on the brink of emotional disaster when it came to him. There was no way I could stay at his cabin. Nope. Uh-uh. No way.
I needed an excuse.
“I can’t stay here!” I explained. “I barely know you, and this cabin, it’s…it’s… It’s too primitive.”
He stared at me for a long time, a muscle clenching and unclenching in his jaw. Eventually, without taking his eyes off me, he pulled his phone from his pocket, hit a button without looking, and put the phone to his ear.
When whoever he was calling answered, Sean said, “Yeah. Are you at home?”
I held my breath, thankful that he’d listened to me because—though it was faint—I recognized Lukas Bakken’s voice on the phone. Sean was going to bring me to Elli.
“Kiera needs a place to stay for a while,” Sean explained.
Pause, then… “No. She’s not a big fan of my cabin.”
For some reason, the resigned disappointment on his face made me regret my reaction to his offer. I hadn’t meant to sound judgmental. Or even ungrateful. But he couldn’t seriously expect me to stay here.
As far as I could see, he didn’t even have a bathroom, and I was getting to the point where I really, really needed one.
“There’s been some trouble,” Sean said. “She—”
“No!” I cried, comprehending the trajectory of the conversation.
His eyes flashed in my direction, and I rushed him, crashing my palms hard against his chest.
“Please,” I whispered. “Don’t.”
Okay, yes, I wanted to stay with Elli. But that didn’t mean I wanted her to know about this morning’s scary run-in. Not one stitch of it. Not ever.
If Sean told Lukas, Lukas would so totally tell her. After miscommunications nearly ruined my girl’s shot at happiness, she and Lukas were cruising along on Open Honesty Highway. They confessed absolutely everything to each other. Elli had told us so at our last girls’ night.
Sean dipped his chin and looked down into my eyes. His lips thinned, then he said, “Kiera had a pipe burst at her apartment. Water everywhere.”
Oh. I drew in a breath. Wow. That was a good cover story. Totally believable and quick, too. I wish I could do that.
I let out a relieved sigh and sagged into him, grateful.
Sean slid his arm around my waist, holding me to him for only a second, then let go.
I took a step back, immediately missing his heat. It occurred to me I’d been cold since the moment I’d accepted my brother’s call at the bakery.
“She’s gonna pack a bag,” Sean said, “then I’ll bring her over.”
Another pause, then…. “Thanks, man.”
Disconnect.
We stared at each other for a few heavy seconds. The residual tension from our argument hovered around us like a thick fog trapped by the cabin’s low ceiling.
Then Sean broke our connection and strode into the bedroom area without looking my way. He grabbed a quilted flannel jacket off a pile of clothes, and while he might not have done it angrily, he didn’t seem too happy either.
“This might be a bad idea,” I said, already second-guessing myself. It was too late to keep Sean out of this mess. Why was I now involving Elli and Lukas?
“It was your idea,” Sean said, “not mine.”
“I don’t want to bring danger to Elli’s door.”
“You won’t be,” Sean assured me.
“How do you know that?” I asked.
“Because Lukas lives there, too. You and Elli will both be safe.” He came to me and helped me into the quilted jacket. It hung to my knees.
“Are you going to tilt me out of here?” I asked because we hadn’t arrived by car, and though I had no idea where his cabin was located, I assumed it was miles from civilization.
Sean’s head jerked. “No fucking chance. We’re taking the bike.”
“Bike?”
“Motorcycle.” He walked across the cabin toward the front door and opened a narrow closet.
I followed him only halfway, not sure that a motorcycle was any safer than tilting.
He reached up into the closet and retrieved a helmet.
“Catch.” He threw it at me—two handed like he was shoving it through the air—and though it wasn’t the smoothest of catches, at least I didn’t drop it.
“Put it on,” he said. “It’s time to go.”