15. Orion
Orion
Iwrap the ribbon around my hand and use it as a storage space, feeding the ribbon out as I walk so that it surrounds the tree with a bright yellow line of fire. When I’m done, I step back, feeling entirely too pleased with myself.
“You wrapped fucking ribbon around a tree,” I mutter. “Get over it.”
But I won’t, and I know it. I also won’t make myself. Because sometimes you have to give yourself the small wins, and right now, when we’re decorating for the summer festival, I’m inclined to be a little more generous with myself than usual.
I cast a glance across the green and see that I’m not the only one.
Half the booths are already up and people are laughing and chatting like their work is done.
The younger people are flirting with each other, taking the night as a chance to get out from under their parents’ eyes, and the older people are standing in groups and gossiping.
No one is worried. No one is bored or wanting to get home.
This is exactly what I’ve always loved about this town. There aren’t that many people in Hawke’s Wood, which means everyone knows everyone else, and though that could lead to an atmosphere full of rivalries and competition, it hasn’t.
Somehow, it’s led to a town full of old friends and family, and little else.
And coming from my background, the happiness here sometimes feels like the universe trying to make up for what I went through as a kid.
There’s an electric feeling in the air, too, like the world itself is getting in on the action, adding its own sense of excitement, and I breathe in deeply, appreciating the smell of ozone and wet earth.
The sky above us is dark and clouded, but down here, the lights are bright and the laughter is plentiful.
And I sound like a fucking game show host.
When I haven’t even had anything to drink.
I shake my head and turn back to my ribbon, but before I can go another loop, a loud crack sounds out across the landscape, the sky flashes bright with lightning, and the heavens open up. The downpour is quick and cold, accompanied by wind and thunder, and I freeze in place, surprised.
Then furious at myself, because I should have known this was coming. I’ve been thinking all night about how it feels like rain and how it’s been windier than it should have been. The signed were all there. I just wasn’t paying attention.
I quickly tie the ribbon off and turn for the pile of decorations in the middle of the park, breaking into a run.
Many of the booths are secured, with their roofs already on, but anything left in the middle of the park is vulnerable to the water—and wind and lightning.
We have to get everything in the clubhouse and quickly, if we’re going to save it from being destroyed.
I want to protect the kids, too, and get any old ladies out of the rain before they catch cold. I want to—
I skid to a stop when Arden, Sammy, and Taryn twirl into my path, their arms out and their faces to the sky.
They’re literally dancing in the rain, the lunatics, and they’re laughing like they’re having the time of their lives.
Arden is actually spinning around as she moves, her steps unsteady and her path the opposite of straight.
She runs right into Taryn and nearly falls, and this just makes all three girls laugh harder.
And as Arden spins toward me, her face streaked with ran and her eyes alight with joy, I’m struck by how beautiful and alive she looks in this moment.
She’s been beautiful since the moment we rescued her, of course, all abrupt angles balanced out by a childish softness, but her beauty is so much bigger right now, so much more stark, that it actually takes my breath away. She looks alive in a way she never has.
Like someone has injected her with some sort of magic potion and she’s just figured out what to do with it.
I stare, unwilling to stop myself, and knowing that even if I tried, I couldn’t. The girl is a magnet, drawing me like the North Star. My true north, I think. The thing that draws me no matter where I am.
It’s a ludicrous thing to think.
And yet.
Since she got here, it’s become true. She’s the first thing I notice when I enter a room and the one I look for before I leave.
If she’s not around, my senses are searching for her, trying to make sure she’s near and safe, and when she smiles, the whole world holds its breath like it’s making sure I take the time to notice.
I’ve known the girl two days and I already feel more for her than I’ve allowed myself to feel about anyone in my life.
And it terrifies me. Because when you love things this hard, it hurts even worse if they disappear.
I turn away from her and her friends and stalk the other way, intent on finding anyone else to help other than her. She’s fine. She’s got Taryn and Sammy, and they’re having fun.
She doesn’t need me when she has them.
I immediately see other things that need doing, and run for one of the booths, where the ties holding it together have come undone.
If someone doesn’t tie it down, the roof is going to blow off and everything inside is going to be ruined.
I run and jump, hitting the side of the booth high enough that I can reach the first tie, and wrestle it into place, then secure it.
I slide along the wall, finding footholds in the knots of the wood, and try for the second one, but can’t quite reach the ropes.
But trying to makes me slip, and within moments I’ve lost my grip on the wall and am falling.
Instead of hitting the mud, though, I find something solid under my feet. Something secure. I look down and see a ladder there, my feet resting on one of the lungs, and I stare at them, shocked and trying to figure out how a ladder just appeared there. Was it here before? Did I just not see it?
“Get down, you idiot!” someone shouts. “There’s plenty of ways to play hero without risking a broken leg!”
My eyes slide to the right of my feet and I see Arden there, grinning at me like this is all one big game. She’s got one hand on the ladder and I realize that she brought it over and put it in my way.
She caught me when I was falling.
She appeared like an angel with a magical ladder, right when I needed her.
“Stop staring and get down!” she shouts.
I yank myself out of my reverie and look out beyond her, and seconds later I am jumping down from the ladder.
Because everything is going directly to hell.
Anything not tied down is blowing frantically in the wind, ribbons and banners and prizes swept up into the air and thrown around like kids’ toys.
The people are working to save everything but everyone is running in different directions and half of them are running into each other, everyone overwhelmed by the sudden wind and rain.
My feet hit the ground next to Arden and I take her hand, then run for where the pile of goods is.
We get there more quickly than I expect and I try to stop, but we’re moving too quickly and the mud beneath our feet is slick, and my momentum sends me sliding forward.
I’m still holding Arden’s hand and she’s yanked after me, but slips and hits a mud puddle face-first. I stop and look in horror, terrified that she’s broken something, and am about to help her up when she jumps to her feet.
I expect her to be angry or at least upset that she’s just taken a nosedive into a mud puddle, but instead…
She’s laughing.
Seconds later, I have a face full of mud myself and she’s screeching and running away from me like a child.
“Did you just throw mud at me?” I ask, shocked.
“No!” she shouts over her shoulder. “I smashed it right in your face!”
Her laughter is manic, and it does something to my insides. Maybe it’s the fact that she’s laughing at me, or the fact that she’s the first person in years to be brave enough to act like a kid around me, but the freedom of it, the pure joy, gets into my heart and starts… expanding.
Like a balloon.
An Arden-flavored balloon that grows and grows until it’s taken up every spare inch of space in my body and demanded that I return the favor.
I stoop down, grab a handful of mud, and fling it after her retreating form, but my aim is terrible and I hit Penny instead.
She looks at me with shock but then laughs, and moments later she’s throwing mud at me and I’m flinging it back at her, giggling like a fucking schoolboy, while the man behind her takes it upon himself to attack her from the back.
Arden shouts that I’ll never catch her, and I turn to look, mud already in my hands, to see that the entire town has joined in.
Mud is streaking through the air, people shouting and screaming and laughing, and everyone here has suddenly devolved into a child.
None of them are recognizable as adults. Partially because they’re all covered in mud.
“When in Rome,” I mutter, and charge forward, looking for Arden’s slight frame and vowing that this time, she won’t get away.
When I finally spot her, she’s got Mars cornered and is peppering him with mud balls while he laughs so hard he can barely stand up, and I slide to a stop and watch them.
Because I’ve never heard Mars laugh this much in my life, and I don’t want to interrupt them. He looks years younger, the tension melting off him like ice cream, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him let go of the responsibilities he always carries around with him.
He actually looks his age. He actually looks happy.
And for one intense, dangerous moment, I let myself wonder what would happen if we made this last. What if we made this our reality and reached for this much joy all the time?
What if we kept Arden?
Because there’s no doubt in my mind that this is her doing.
Could we be this happy forever? Could we… learn to live outside the darkness that has always colored our lives?
The sudden roar of motorcycles interrupts the thought and the mudslinging stops as quickly as it started. Everyone turns to the parking lot, where I see ten or fifteen motorcycles pulling in. And they don’t belong to us.
They belong to the Iron Saints.
We didn’t invite them to this night because they’re not part of our town.
Sure, they’ve set up residency here but that doesn’t mean they belong to us.
Sooner or later we’re going to find a way to kick them out again, and until we do, we’re not going to make them feel any more welcome than we have to.
But now they’re infringing on our town’s traditions, and that’s not okay.
Mars goes striding past me, his eyes on their leader and his jaw set, and I realize this is about to get ugly. Arden shows up at my side, her chest heaving with her breath, and I take her hand and walk after Mars.
If he’s going to confront those men, I’m going to back him up.
He stops right in front of me and I pull up next to him, then shove Arden behind me. I don’t want her out of my sight, but I also don’t want her involved in whatever’s about to happen. The Iron Saints came here for something, and I don’t think it’s good.
Behind me, I can feel the Oaks gathering, ready for the war we’ve been anticipating.
And behind them, I know the townspeople themselves are gathered.
When Bear appears next to me, furious, I don’t say anything.
He has as much reason as anyone to hate the Saints.
On his other side, though, Gunner steps up, then Gabe, and then Cameron, and I hope to God Cam told Sammy to keep her fucking mouth shut.
The last thing we need is her reminding the Saints that they already lost this battle once.
We stand there for several seconds, violence coloring the air and my mind racing through all the things I’ve seen about the Saints that makes me suspicious. Their midnight activities. The fact that they’re moving so many supplies.
Arden in a cottage on their fucking property.
I don’t like them and I’m sure they’re up to something, but I don’t have enough proof yet to go to anyone. And I’m not going to say anything until I have enough to get them kicked out of town.
But if they came here looking for a fight…
Well, that’ll do it, too.
Mars clears his throat like he’s about to say something and I stiffen, getting ready for the first punch. But then I feel something shift behind me, and I hear a gasp.
Arden.
I spin before I think about it, and see her just in time to take in a pale face, closed eyes, and her knees collapsing on her.
I surge forward and catch her in my arms, her slight frame fitting neatly against my own, and then I gather her in and tuck her against my chest. God, she’s fucking small. Too light. Too fragile.
And not conscious.
I forget everything else around us, forget the Saints and the rain and the mud and the town, and start running.
Because my girl just fainted, and I need to get her the fuck out of the rain and into someplace warm and dry.
So I can make sure she’s still with me. Because none of this matters—none of it—unless she’s okay.