CHAPTER EIGHT
KNOX
“Three.”
I waited until I couldn’t see Felicity's stumbling silhouette any longer, letting her just trip inside the tree line before I opened the door and strode out of the house after her. Where was the fun in taking her down so easily?
Younger me had been too enthusiastic, catching my prey within a few steps. Sure, that had been fun, but I’d always wanted to play out the chase. Back then, playing out what I wanted had seemed a taboo fantasy, something I couldn’t do with so many people watching us. Waiting to tease her afterward.
Flick might have thought I didn’t see or hear what they said once we were back home, but I’d always known. And I wished even then that she’d come to me. Back then I’d done what I could to protect her.
Those fantasies roiled about in my mind for years, each one more prominent than the last. And every one featured the woman panting along the cabin path.
Younger me might have tackled her where she paused, for the barest fraction of a second. Where once, she might have glanced over her shoulder to check if I was coming for her.
Tonight, she kept running.
Tonight, I had no such reservations.
For giggles I flicked the lights off, and the area went black. “Run, Flick. Run,” I murmured. My voice carried through the otherwise silent woods that surrounded the house.
I stopped at the edge of the tree line. No sounds. Interesting. Part of me thought she’d keep running, put as much distance between us as she could. But perhaps Flick was smarter than that. I leaned against a tree trunk, my back to the house, and waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness.
The woods had never been as terrifying to me as they were to her. Even when we’d hosted parties out here on summer breaks, she refused to come for walks at night, staying at the house under the guise of reading each time, or sleeping.
And almost every time I’d found her right where she’d been standing tonight, in the portrait gallery, facing off against some aunt or great grandmother of mine, wondering about their history.
Watching her face as she realized I’d replaced each with her own portrait, the shock that had encompassed her before acceptance set in…That had been one of the purest pleasures of my life. Close to waking her earlier this morning with my tongue, and knowing she wouldn’t push me away.
My chest tightened at the thought of having her back in my arms. I pushed away from the tree, uncaring if my steps were too loud. Perhaps I should have caught her earlier. “Come out and play, Flick. Do you remember the rules?”
Nothing. It was as though she hadn’t entered the woods at all. Clever girl. I raked my nails against a tree trunk, tapped the next with my knuckles. The sound echoed dully. A crackle drew my attention deeper in the trees, then a thud.
“There you are.” I pivoted in the direction of the sound. A few steps took me to her location, and I found her on the ground.
In a ball.
That had never been a part of the game.
“Felicity? Flick?” I eased her over, sliding my hands beneath her body. Warm and soft, but unresponsive. No slicked areas where she might have hurt herself, but she didn't fight me off, either. One of our favorite moments was that instant before I claimed her. But this—
The version of my girl in my hands was lackluster. Still.
I swore, twisting her in my arms. The woods were dark as fuck, and I cursed my lack of foresight in turning the lights off. Not that anything would have penetrated this far into the woods. I fumbled for my phone, and flicked on the flashlight app.
Felicity's eyes were mostly closed, her lips parted and swollen, as though she’d bitten them. And around her throat—
A deep growl erupted from deep in my chest as I clawed at the single black strand looped wrapped around her neck twice.
“Fucker,” I rasped, pulling at the tie at the side of her neck. It was set just far enough back that she wouldn’t have been able to undo it easily herself but the slipknot came undone in my fingers with the right set of tugs.
The cord fell away. I ran my fingers over the indent, the light marking her perfect throat. “Flick,” I whispered, rubbing at her lips. “Pretty girl?” My voice broke on a crack. I pressed a hand to her lips, then her chest, desperate.
My heart stalled, then her chest rose under my hand. She coughed, weak. I rolled her onto one side. Felicity coughed again, then sucked in a breath.
“Jesus, Flick.” I lifted her into my chest. “You scared the shit out of me.” My thumb hit call on my phone as she burrowed into my shirt, deep shudders wracking her.
The woods' silence told its own story as the call connected.
“Yeah?” Valentine's groggy voice drew me back. “This had better be a fucking emergency.”
“Get your ass out to the cabin I told you about. Bring Hux. Ward, if you think this is worth it.” I snapped a picture of the marks around Flick’s neck, and the cord.
“Damn. The boyfriend?”
I rubbed her cheek gently. “Can you talk?”
“G-Garrett,” she whispered. Her voice came out clear, if a little faint.
“You hear that?” I didn’t say anything else.
“Send me the address. Do you need me to bring Cora? An ambulance?”
“Yes,” I answered for her.
“No,” said Felicity. “No ambulance. I’m fine.” She glared at me fiercely as though someone hadn’t just tried to kill her.
I stroked wayward strands back from her face. “All right. No ambulance,” I said finally, though my heart constricted in my chest at the choice. “But I'll take you to get checked out if you get dizzy or disorientated."
“Deal.” Flick bit her lip and nodded, gripping my arm tight.
Not completely happy with that outcome, but relieved she seemed okay for now I turned my attention back to the other person still a part of our three-way conversation. “Are we handling this ourselves?”
“Yeah. Ward’s on his way. We'll be there in half an hour. Find the asshole.” Valentine hung up.
I looked down at Felicity, my chest tight for failing her. For leaving her exposed and for not dealing with the boyfriend earlier. So much fucking earlier on my own. But after tonight she'd never have to worry about him again.
“You’re safe, beautiful.”
“No police, right?” Felicity seemed to get the idea pretty fast.
I nodded, cradling her against my chest where my heart beat slow and steady for her.
She leaned her head on my shoulder and cried silently.
Hux stayed in the house with Felicity while the rest of us went hunting. He argued that Garry boy wouldn’t have hung around afterward and that we’d never find him, but I knew how a stalker thought. Hell, I'd been one for years, if a little less intrusive on my girl’s life.
Or maybe not from what Garrett seemed to have said to her. Either way, I needed to find the man and end him. Apparently, the other Chimeras had experience in the matters and were more than willing to help. Valentine, I knew about. Coach—
He was present simply to keep us from going too far. When he handed me a loaded 9mm, I wondered if I’d made the right call.
“Would she be dead if you hadn’t found her within a minute?” he asked, his voice preternaturally calm.
When I couldn't answer, he walked away, checking his own weapon, and then leaned against his car and waited for me to outline a plan.
If ever there was an exception about giving my coach orders, tonight was that moment. But this was my sandpit, metaphorically speaking, and he appeared content to listen.
For now.
I gave them both everything I knew about Garrett. From how he treated Flick and through their history—an abbreviated version—to the more recent events that lead us through to tonight, the trip to the house we’d all attended notwithstanding.
“Make it clean,” was all Ward said.
The gun didn’t weigh half as heavy in my hand as Hux locked the cabin door behind us.
Then we walked into the darkness, and I hoped I was right.
Flick didn’t ask questions eight hours later when we reentered the house. Hux took one look at the silent version of each of us, and made a feral sound, kissing the top of Felicity’s head before he left.
I watched him leave, knowing the team relationship would change after this. Then my gaze returned to her.
“I missed you,” she said simply.
“Good. I’m going to shower. Then we can talk.”
She smiled faintly and held up a cup of tea. “Hux says I shouldn’t for a while,” she murmured.
“He’s right.” I looked at Ward and Valentine who each had stripped off their clothes outside and changed clothing at their cars. “Thank you.”
Valentine nodded. “See you at training.”
“I owe you."
“No, you don’t.”
Ward considered me. “Two days. We don’t have that much of a fucking luxury. Don’t ask me for a honeymoon this year. Ma’am.” He inclined his head in Felicity’s direction.
She giggled, and pressed a hand over her mouth as Ward Bishop departed, taking Valentine with him.
“He’s gone?” she breathed.
I nodded, knowing she didn’t mean my grumpy ass of a coach. “Come upstairs with me?”
Flick sat in the corner of the brightly lit bathroom while I showered the scent of death from my skin, and curled into my arms beneath a heavy blanket afterward as I burned everything we’d worn.
Her body heat sank into me, and we woke together with the rising sun mere hours later to a pile of smoking ash.
“Come on. Bed.” I nudged her gently.
Flick pressed her body tighter to mine. “I’m good here. Can we just stay? For now?” Her voice was soft and sweet with no evidence of a strain.
I traced over the red marks around her throat the cord hadn’t cut through and she seemed okay for now.
“All right. If that’s what you need.”
She hummed softly and burrowed in, tugging the blanket higher.
When she begged all pretty like that, who was I to deny her? Talking could come after.