Chapter Five
Rosalie
The nights here are different.
The silence is so loud, it’s almost deafening. It’s the kind of quiet that makes me hyper aware of every tiny sound—the hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen, the distant chirping of crickets. Even the sound of my own breathing seems amplified.
It’s unnerving.
A little surreal too. At this hour, the room is steeped in darkness. The only light comes from the glow of the moon outside, casting long shadows across the walls and furniture and painting everything in shades of gray and black.
I turn to Beau, soundly asleep and completely oblivious to the chaos boiling in my mind.
His breathing is slow and even, that rugged face relaxed in rest. A knot of anxiety tightens in my stomach, a familiar ache that’s been with me all day.
I try to push it away, to focus on the comfort of his presence, but it clings to me like a shadow.
“What are you doing, Rosalie?” I whisper to myself as I stare at the man I’ve not only allowed into my body but my heart as well. I trace the lines of his face in the dim light. He’s so handsome, even in sleep, his features relaxed and unguarded.
How selfish. How completely and utterly selfish is it for me to enjoy the company of such a man while my best friend has suffered in the hands of monsters for three days? Three days.
God.
I don’t deserve this.
I don’t deserve to know the pleasure given by these beautiful, rough hands or to feel anything for this man.
I turn my gaze to the window, drawn by the sliver of light. The curtains are closed, but not completely, leaving a gap through which the night sky peeks. I stare through it, wondering if Kristin is somewhere out there thinking of me too.
“Please keep her safe,” I plead to whichever deity is awake to hear me, pulling my knees to my chest and laying my head over them.
I start to close my eyes when suddenly, Beau bolts upright, his movement so abrupt that I jump, my heart leaping to my throat.
His eyes are wide, scanning the room with a frantic intensity that instantly brings me unease.
I reach out and smooth a hand over his shoulder. “Bad dream?”
“No,” he says sharply, a palpable sense of alarm radiating from him. “Something’s wrong.”
Before I can form a question, his hand is there, pressing firmly but gently against my mouth.
His fingers are spread, and I can feel the slight tremor in them.
My own breath hitches, trapped behind his palm.
It’s then, in the sudden stillness, that I notice it—a shift in the air, and it’s not just Beau who is alert.
I watch as the shadows of two dogs that snuck into the room with us move to the door, standing alert, ears perked.
“There’s an intruder.”
Beau’s words are enough to send a chill rolling down my spine. I try to speak, but with his hand still over my mouth, it all comes out as a jumbled mess.
A dog barks from the living room, and then another joins. The two by the door make a deep, growling sound that reminds me of the first night they rescued me in the desert. The kind of sound that would scare the hell out of me if I didn’t know these dogs.
“Don’t make a sound,” Beau directs when he finally releases my mouth. I sit in panicked silence as I watch him climb out of bed. He pulls on a pair of jeans, then opens a drawer in his nightstand. I watch with alarm as he takes out a gun.
He grabs his phone, quickly dials a number, and speaks into it as he walks to the window, careful to stay out of sight as he peers outside.
“There are three of them, armed,” he says into the phone. “No, I don’t have twenty fucking minutes to wait. I’ll take care of this myself until you get here. I have someone to protect, goddamnit.”
I wait until the call ends before speaking. “Beau, what are you planning to do?” I ask, terrified of the danger I read in his eyes when he walks back to me.
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of this,” he says, taking my hand and pulling me off the bed before leading me across the room. “You’re going to stay put and let me take care of you, okay?”
“You can’t be serious! There are three—”
“I know this property like the back of my hand. I will not let some fuckers ambush us here.” He yanks open the closet door, and I watch him shove the clothes to one side to reveal a wooden wall.
He presses his palm to the wall and slides it to the side, revealing a narrow crawl space hidden behind the closet wall.
It’s barely large enough for a person to fit inside. “Get in.”
“W-what?”
He turns me to face him, impatience written in those beautiful eyes.
He takes my chin, leaning down so our noses are touching.
“If I’m out there worried about one of them getting past me and reaching you, then I will make a mistake.
I can’t be distracted, Rosalie. Not when it could make me vulnerable.
So please, get in. You’ll be safe in there. Don’t come out until I come for you.”
“Promise you’ll come back for me. Don’t get hurt,” I whisper, panicking when I remember how he lost his partner. I can’t lose him in a shootout! “Please.”
“I promise,” he says quickly, brushing his lips over mine.. “Stay here, baby. And don’t come out until I come for you.”
My heart pounds as I climb into the crawl space, which is bigger than I initially thought. His eyes are the last thing I see when he closes it after me, burying me in darkness.
I close my eyes and drop my head against the wall, straining my ears, but all I catch is the loud, angry barking of the dogs. A sudden crash sends me jolting. Someone yells, the sound pained, and there is another crash and then...
A gunshot.
My heart stops. For one long second, every inch of my body freezes. My head goes dizzy as my blood seems to stop pumping, and my mind conjures the violent image of Beau lying somewhere, bleeding.
When everything snaps back into focus, I reach for the wall, desperate to get to the man I love, but stop at the memory of his words.
If Beau is not hurt, my presence would only distract him, and then we could all end up getting hurt or worse.
My heart wars with logic and loses. I sit back and slap a hand over my mouth as sobs rack my body.
I can’t lose him, too. God, not after my parents. Not after Kristin.
I can’t lose Beau too.
I’m so lost in my own panic that I almost miss the sound of sirens until they’re practically outside the house.
I sit up, heart beating fast as I contemplate leaving my hiding spot.
Then the wall slides open, and light filters in.
I blink away the tears as I try to make out the shadow of the man standing before me.
“Hey little bird, are you okay?”
I scramble out of the space and into the arms of the man I foolishly gave my heart to. I wrap my arms around his shoulders, bury my face in his neck, and sob against his skin.
“I heard a gunshot,” I sniff, pushing back to look at the man, and it dawns on me for the first time that he’s shirtless, making the injuries on his body visible. “Y-you’re hurt,” I say tearfully, brushing my fingers over the angry red mark on his ribs.
“It’s nothing,” he assures me, pulling me back to his chest, and I can feel how fast his heart is beating. For the first time, I realize he must’ve been scared too. “It’s all taken care of now, baby. The cops have them.”
“And the dogs?” I ask, panic flaring all over again. “Were they hurt?”
“One of those fuckers kicked Ares, but he’s okay.
I checked all of them myself to make sure they’re okay.
And if it makes you feel any better, Ares got his payback.
” He rubs a hand down my arm in a comforting manner.
“One of them is nursing a gunshot wound to the shoulder, and other has multiple bite wounds on his legs and arms, courtesy of Ares and Zeus. I subdued the last one, but he managed to land a punch to my side.”
“I was so worried. I’m glad the dogs are okay. I’m glad you’re okay.” I breathe deeply. “Who were those people?”
Beau goes quiet for a moment, and when he speaks, my heart nearly stops all over again.
“They were the men who took your friend.” His arms tighten around me when I gasp. “The man I shot was angry enough to admit they came here to kill the one witness. The witness that has caused them nothing but trouble, leading cops to find their hideouts and forcing them to go on the run.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Did you...”
I’m afraid to hope. Scared to my bones that he won’t have the answer I desperately need.
“Did I ask them where they were keeping your friend?”
I let out a shuddering breath, my heart in my throat as I push back to meet those beautiful green eyes. “Yes.”
“I asked them, alright.” A shiver runs through me when he reaches up and brushes a reddened hand over my cheek. From the dangerous glint that flashes in his eyes, I can imagine how the conversation went.
“Did they…tell you anything?”
Beau leans forward and presses his lips over my forehead. “Not yet, baby. The cops are taking them in now. If one of those bastards knows where she is, they’ll get it out of him.”
A little later, we’ve moved to the bed, but we’re still wrapped in each other’s embrace when Beau’s phone rings. He answers immediately, his entire body going still as he listens. “What?” he asks, voice dropping.
My heart climbs into my throat. His eyes find mine, and something in his face shifts. Relief. Disbelief. Hope. “They found her,” he says, the words rough. “One of them talked during questioning. The cops found Kristin.”