I didn’t move from my spot by the door. The longer I waited, the more my mind replayed images of the scene in the Lilin’s quarters and tortured me with thoughts of what might have happened down there.
My hands clenched and unclenched, wanting to rip apart the demon that had hurt my mate. But Beth had dealt out her own justice on the Lilin. I couldn’t conceive of how a new warrior had been able to kill such a powerful demon with nothing but a tiny shovel. People were capable of seemingly impossible feats when they were pushed to their limit, and I was afraid what had happened to push Beth to hers.
I was seconds away from knocking on the bedroom door when it finally opened. My mother stepped out and shut it gently behind her. I tried to read her expression to be prepared for what she was going to tell me, but I was too wound up to think clearly.
“She has some cuts and bruises, but otherwise she’s unharmed,” she said, placing emphasis on the last word.
I sagged against the wall as relief coursed through me. It was a minute before I could speak. “She’s talking?”
My mother smiled. “A little. She’s going to be okay.”
“When can I go in?” I asked roughly.
“In a few minutes. You should use that time to clean up. At least, change out of those clothes.”
I looked down at my black-stained shirt and jeans. I didn’t want to spend a minute away from Beth, but I couldn’t go to her like this.
“My duffle bag is in her room. Can you get it for me?”
My mother went inside and returned with my bag. I used Mason’s bathroom to shower, and I was back at Beth’s door just as it opened again and Rachel came out, followed by my mother.
“She’s asking for you,” Rachel said quietly.
I entered the room, and my eyes immediately found Beth lying in the middle of her bed. Her eyes tracked me as I crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed. Anger boiled in me when I saw the bruises forming on her jaw, but I pushed it down. The last thing she needed now was to see me getting upset.
I wasn’t sure what she needed from me, so I took one of her hands in mine. “Are you in pain?”
“No,” she whispered. “Will you hold me?”
I lifted the comforter and slid in beside her. I lay on my side facing her, and she came into my arms with her head tucked under my chin. Closing my eyes, I struggled with the sudden onset of emotion at having her safe and in my arms.
Over and over, I found myself thinking about what she must have endured the last five days. Captivity, even for a short time, took a mental toll on a person, even a warrior. Beth’s physical injuries would be gone long before she recovered emotionally from her ordeal.
“Chris.”
I kissed the top of her head. “Yes.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too, Dove.”
I rubbed soothing circles on her back, and she let out a little sigh.
“At night…I imagined you holding me like this,” she whispered.
A lump lodged in my throat. “You’ll never have to imagine it again.”
She fell asleep a short while later, but I lay awake for a long time, not willing to give up a second of feeling her beside me. The sky outside was turning pink when I finally gave in to my exhaustion and joined her in sleep.
Beth
“How can you say no to a boot sale, Beth?” Jordan demanded incredulously. “You love boots more than I do, if that’s even possible.”
I tucked my feet beneath me on the couch and lifted a shoulder. “I’m just not in the mood to shop.”
Her gasp was a tad melodramatic. “Okay, who are you, and what have you done with my BFF?”
Mason chuckled from the other end of the couch where he was eating his way through his second bowl of popcorn. We were having a movie day, and I’d let him choose the movies. We’d just finished Blue Crush, and we were starting Point Break. Surfer movies weren’t really my thing, but I had to admit, it didn’t get much better than Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze.
Chris was supposed to be here with us, but he’d left two hours ago to meet with Nikolas about something. Not that I minded. He’d been pretty much glued to my side since I came home a week ago, and he could probably use some guy time.
Things had been quiet here since the Lilin was killed. Most of the warriors who had come to Los Angeles to join in the hunt had left, including Chris’s parents and Rachel. Slowly, life for everyone at the command center had gone back to the way it was before the Lilin had arrived in town. Well, for almost everyone.
I was finding it a little harder to get back into a normal routine. My injuries had healed after a day, but I was off active duty for a month. Council’s orders. Chris was on leave, too, and we spent our days training and hanging out together. At night, he slept in my bed, but all he did was hold me. I wished he’d kiss me again, but I didn’t know how to tell him that.
I’d told him some of what had happened in the Lilin’s lair, but I hadn’t been able to bring myself to talk about Adam’s plans for me or my last night there. I didn’t know how to tell him about Adam feeding me his power, or the attraction for him that had grown stronger every day. How did I tell the man I loved that I hadn’t been strong enough to stop myself from having feelings for another male? That I’d kissed another male? Just thinking about it made me want to throw up.
Chris never pressured me to talk about my ordeal. He told me we had all the time in the world, and he was here when I was ready. The Council wanted to know the details of the Lilin’s death, but Chris had asked Lord Tristan to get them to back off. The demon was dead, the girls were all safely back with their families, and the threat was over. He told them they’d have to be content with that for now.
“Are you even listening to me?”
I gave Jordan a sheepish smile for having zoned out on her. I’d been doing that a lot lately. “Sorry. What were you saying?”
She huffed. “I said if you don’t go, I’ll have to drag Sara with me, and you know how much fun she is to shop with.”
Mason snorted, and Jordan smacked him on the back of the head.
“Keep that up and I’ll make you go with me.”
The door opened, cutting off Mason’s retort, and Chris entered the guesthouse. He came over to me and surprised me by taking my hands and pulling me to my feet.
“What’s up?” I asked, puzzled by his actions.
He smiled. “How would you like to go on a little trip?”
My stomach fluttered with excitement. “Where?”
“It’s a little place by the ocean. My parents have a house there.” He brushed my hair back over my shoulder. “Unless you’d rather stay here.”
“No,” I said quickly, already imagining Chris and me alone in a house by the ocean.
His smile widened. “Good. Go pack. We’re leaving in an hour.”
I hurried to my bedroom and stopped in the doorway to turn back to him. “Do I need to dress for warm or cold weather?”
He thought for a moment. “Colder than here.”
I waited for him to say more. When he didn’t, I frowned. “Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”
“Nope,” he said with a mischievous little grin.
Jordan helped me pack, and an hour later, Chris drove us to a private hangar at LAX where one of the Mohiri jets was waiting for us. We took off, and I still had no idea where we were headed, even after we’d stopped in Chicago to refuel. All I knew for sure was that we were heading east.
It was early morning when the plane began to descend. We landed at a small airport, and the first thing I noticed as the plane taxied to a hangar was the Canadian flag. It took me a few seconds to recognize the second flag from my world studies.
I turned to Chris and found him watching me with the same pleased smile in place.
“Your parents have a house in Newfoundland?”
I’d always wanted to visit Canada, but I’d thought I would start out west, maybe go hiking in the Rockies. I didn’t know that much about the East Coast, but now that I was here, I was eager to explore it.
“They bought it years ago, and they used to visit around once a year. But they haven’t been back since they moved to Germany. It’s a great place, and a local couple takes care of it for them.”