“She couldn’t understand why I’d just left. She tracked me, the same way I tracked you. Apparently there is some CCTV on the roads near the warehouse, something to do with increased security around the airport. She found me from there.”
“Is she going to try to find me now?” I asked, unable to hide the quiver in my voice as I thought about the danger she and the rest of his family posed. I didn’t ask the more accurate question—is she here to kill me?
He brushed my hair out of my face and frowned. He swallowed heavily and then shook his head. “She has no idea that you’re here. She doesn’t even know that I still have feelings for you. I never told her the reason you disappeared. I promise I’ll keep you safe from her—from them all.”
“Where is she now though?”
“She’s gone. I saw her off myself. She’s probably back in New York by now.”
“But she hasn’t just left for good though, has she?” Even from the little I’d learned about his family when we’d been at school, I was certain there was no way she leave him alone for good.
His lips mashed together, proving my concern was justified. “No. She hasn’t. But I do have a small window.”
“How small?”
“She gave me two days to return to my family.”
I couldn’t believe that I might have less than forty-eight more hours with him. My lip quivered at the thought of having to say goodbye so soon. Even though we’d only had a week together, it was hard to imagine not seeing him again. I paced the small space between him and my bed. “That’s not very long,” I muttered.
He blinked at me and then his lips tipped up into a slow smile. “It’s long enough for us to plan our escape.”
I didn’t dare risk letting the bubble of hope that was building within me get too big. “Our escape? Like together?”
He reached for my shoulders and held me to stop my nervous gait. “Why not?”
“Is this your way of asking me to go steady?” I quipped, glad for the chance to release my fear—even momentarily. It was part of the magic that Clay and I had. He could make me forget the stress I was under.
“I know it’s crazy. We still barely know each other. We only had a few months in high school, and then a few more days now. It’s completely mental, but it feels right, doesn’t it?”
I blinked in response.
“Tell me that you don’t feel this intense pain right here,” he placed his hand over my heart, “whenever we have to leave each other, and I’ll go right now, because that would mean we don’t feel the same.”
“I can’t,” I said, placing my hand over his, “because I do.”
“I hope you understand why I couldn’t risk coming until I knew Lou had really left.”
“And you’re sure she has?”
He nodded. “I’m so sorry my family has messed everything up again.”
I pressed one finger against his lips. “You’re here now.”
“I am.”
“Dad’s asleep though.”
He chuckled. “Well, I guess you’ll just have to keep me company instead.”
“I think I can do that.”
I held his hand and led him over to the single bed in my room. Sitting on top of the mussed up covers, I pulled him down beside me. “You can stay here tonight,” I said. “We can introduce you to Dad tomorrow and see where we go from there.”
His face remained stoic as he assessed what I’d said, and I worried I’d overstepped some invisible mark.
“That is, if you want to?” I added.
“Are you kidding me?” The corners of his mouth lifted into a grin. “I’ve had two weeks of sleeping either in cars or in a sleeping bag on the cold, hard concrete floor. A bed is a dream come true. Getting to sleep beside a breathtaking girl as well? How could I even try to refuse that?”
After kicking off his shoes and socks, he wrapped his arms around me and dragged me down onto the mattress. A few lazy kisses later, I eventually succumbed to sleep. Truthfully we didn’t really fit side by side on the small bed, but the lack of room was a small sacrifice when it meant knowing that he was safe and that we were together.
During the night, his lips pressed against my shoulder and throat, causing me to shift in place and move closer to him until our bodies were wrapped tightly together. His arm wrapped around me and his face pressed against the back of my neck.
“Hmm, Evie,” he mumbled before his breathing evened out again.
When I woke the next morning, his arms were still wrapped around me. The fingers of one hand had found their way up underneath my top to caress the skin just below my breasts. I was lying there, trying to will his hand higher—or maybe lower—when my curtain was drawn with a whizzing noise. A sudden influx of sunlight blinded me temporarily.
“Get the hell away from my daughter, and get the fuck out of my house!”
CHAPTER EIGHT
“GET OUT of my room, Dad!” I screamed in response to the threat in his voice. I sat up and tried to force my eyes to adjust to the morning brightness. When I could finally see again, the sight horrified me.
Dad barely acknowledged me as he stood with his rifle in one hand, aimed squarely at Clay. “I said get away from her!” he growled.
“Dad, stop it!”
“Evie, come over here.” Without taking his eyes off of Clay, Dad nodded his head to indicate he wanted me to get behind him. “He has three seconds to get out before I pull the trigger.”
“Don’t do this,” I warned, wondering where the easy-going man from yesterday had gone. The man in front of me now was someone new—more extreme than even I ever imagined he could be. “You’re making a fool of yourself.”
“He’s Rain,” Dad hissed.
I turned to Clay, wondering how my dad could so easily tell his history. There were no outward signs of his past, at least none that I could see. Aside from a scar that ran over the length of his left bicep and the hint of another couple of scars that the inch or two his shirt revealed on his stomach, he was just an ordinary young man. In fact, his hair was almost laughable, with each strand of the dark chocolate mess sticking up in random directions, and it hardly screamed danger. A thick gold chain hung loosely around his neck, the circular gold pendant attached to it lying on the pillow near his head.
With a concerned expression on his sleep-strained face, Clay held his hands up in surrender before pulling himself up to a sitting position. Then, taking care to move slowly, he grabbed the loose pendant and slipped it under his shirt before giving me an apologetic smile. Seemingly unwilling to make any sudden moves, he climbed off the bed with extraordinary care, his hands held high the whole time.
“No, Clay. You’re not going anywhere.” I moved to stand between them. “Dad, put the gun down before you hurt somebody.”
“I’ll hurt someone all right,” Dad hissed.
“Dad, this is the boy. I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t think you’d understand that he’s different until you actually met him. That’s why I wanted you to meet him yesterday.”
“You mean to tell me that you know he’s Rain?”
“He’s the boy,” I clarified. “The one from Ohio. And I love him.” I slapped my hands over my mouth, and my face flushed red the moment the words came out. I’d never meant to add that because it was crazy—as Clay had pointed out, we’d only really had a few months in high school to get to know each other. Even if we’d slipped almost straight back into that same relationship like a pair of comfortable shoes, I couldn’t love him yet. Regardless, I cared for him a lot and didn’t want him riddled with holes.
As if my confession spurred him on, Clay came and stood by my side before wrapping his arm around my shoulder. “Sir, I care for Evie very deeply as well. I couldn’t imagine ever hurting her. The reason I was waylaid yesterday was because my family learned that I was in Charlotte, and I didn’t want to tip them off. I couldn’t bear it if they found out Evie is here.”
“Where are they now?” I could see in Da
d’s careful assessment that he was taking the time to consider what he saw in front of him, but was also ready to react if it was necessary.
“It was only my sister who came, and she left in a mood last night after I refused to go with her.”
My Dad lowered the gun a little. “Why are you still wearing the pendant then?”
“Pendant?” I asked.
“That thing around his neck.”
“It’s a symbol of the oath I made to the Rain,” Clay explained to me. “But it’s also a family heirloom. It originally belonged to my great-grandfather. Nana Jacobs had my name engraved on the back when she gave it to me for my sanctification.
“So you won’t get rid of it?” Dad challenged.
Clay pressed his hand against the pendant beneath his shirt for a moment before sighing and looking toward me. “I will if Evie wants me to.” He clearly didn’t want to if he could avoid it though.
Both Dad and Clay stared at me, and I shrunk back a little. It was clear they each wanted me to take their side on the issue, and although I didn’t want to hurt either of them, my next statement would have to go against the wishes of one or the other. There was nothing else to it, I would have to try and be as diplomatic as possible. “I don’t care what it means to some organization,” I said thoughtfully. “I only care about what it means to you. If you want to keep it, I understand.”
As I was talking, Clay’s hand had shifted from my shoulder into my hair. For a moment, I was lost in his eyes.
“Thank you, Evie,” he murmured. “I promise you that the Rain dove on it means nothing to me anymore.”
“I don’t believe it,” Dad said finally. “A sympathetic Rain. I never thought I’d see the day.”
I smiled because that was his way of giving his approval.
“Pack up, honey,” he said to me. “We’re leaving today.”
“But—”
“It’s a good idea,” Clay said, seemingly unaware that he’d both cut me off and sided with my father. “Lou only gave me a small window of opportunity, and the longer we stay, the more likely it will be that she’ll find out about you.”
Dad gave Clay a thoughtful look. “I’m not inviting you to come with us.”
Before I’d even opened my mouth to argue, he stopped me with a glare.
“But I can’t stop you from following us either, can I?”
“No, sir.”
“I guess it’s probably better if I keep you where I can see you.” He lifted the gun to demonstrate his point.
“Yes, sir.”
“We leave in an hour.”
“Thank you, sir.”
The moment my bedroom door clicked shut, I blew out the breath I’d been holding in while I waited for Dad’s response. With my exhale, I released my stress over Clay’s safety that had been a palpable lump in the back of my throat.
“You don’t know how close you were to having to spend the rest of the day picking shot out of your body.” I laughed.
“I’m glad you find it funny!” he said in response, with a playful growl as he reached his hand around my waist to tickle me. I collapsed against the arm around my back in an attempt to get away from his roaming fingers, but he shifted and allowed me to fall onto the bed instead.
With his hands free, he assaulted my sides relentlessly until I squealed with the delicate balance of pleasure and pain. Just as I was becoming breathless from the constant giggling, he stopped and, with a contemplative look on his face, shifted his body over mine and claimed my mouth roughly. His body settled between my legs and the sensation sent me to the same pleasurable place his fingers had so often lately. Hooking my legs around his waist, I arched my hips to create the most wondrous friction between us. I tugged at his hair and pulled his lips closer to mine to stop myself from moaning out in pleasure.
“As much as I’d love to keep doing this all day, and I really would,” he said in a breathless murmur. “I wouldn’t be surprised if your dad dragged you from here in exactly an hour whether I was ready to go with you or not.”
I laughed because it was true. “In fact, he might be happier with not.”
“Well then, I guess I’ll just have to win him over with my charm, the same way I did with you.”
Chuckling at the things he’d done to win me over, I said, “It would be interesting to watch his reaction to the dates you arranged for me.”
“You’re going to be trouble, aren’t you?”
I grinned at him. “Always.”
He pulled out of my embrace, leaving me bereft on the edge of my bed. “I’m going to go gather what I have at the warehouse before your Dad makes good on his promise and leaves here with you in tow.”
“You didn’t bring it with you?” I asked, confused that he wasn’t ready to go. If I’d gone to him in the same circumstances, I would have had my travelling bag waiting somewhere just outside the window.
“I didn’t think it through,” he said, before his hand reached for his neck in a now very familiar action. “I didn’t really think further ahead than apologizing.”
“Is there anything important there?” I asked. “We can always get more clothes when we stop again.” I didn’t think Dad would mind helping Clay out with a few outfits if it came down to it.
I could almost see his mind racing. His jaw ticked with the pressure he exerted on it while considering my suggestion. “There are some things I’d rather not leave,” he said. His tone had a finality that made me reconsider pushing him to abandon his things.
My gilt frame came to mind, the one link I had to my mother, and I considered how devastated I would be if I ever lost it. It reminded me that a certain degree of sentimentality was understandable, especially when leaving everything important behind.
“I’ll drive you,” I said. I didn’t want him to have to carry whatever stuff he was bringing with him back to our house, but I also had another reason for wanting to drive him to the warehouse. One I wouldn’t admit out loud.
“But you need to pack your stuff.”
“Pack what exactly?” I asked, sitting up and waving to indicate the practically empty room. “You forget. I’m used to this life. I don’t unpack. Everything I wear is washed and repacked every day.”
“What about this?” he asked, moving to the dresser and picking up the photo of Mom and Dad. His fingers brushed the now completely wilted magnolias as he reached for it and a wistful look crossed his features.
I longed to be able to know what he was thinking in that moment—was it memories of me or his mother that made that dreamlike gaze cross his features? I walked up behind him and took the frame from his hands. “It’s always the last thing I put away,” I said. “It’s a reminder that once upon a time, we didn’t have to run all the time. I want that again one day.”
“I want that for you too.” He wrapped his arm around my waist, and I put my head on his shoulder, leaning against him as the weight of the memory anchored me to the spot.
“I’ll just be half an hour,” he said. “I’ll be back before you leave.”
“How? It’s a fifteen-minute drive on the highway. It’d take you at over an hour to walk there. There’s no way you’d make it back in time.”
“I have my ways, Evie.”
“I want to drive you.”
“I don’t think your Dad will like it if I take you away right now.”
“Don’t you want me to come with you?” I huffed as I pulled away from him.
“Of course I do, I just . . .” He gave a nervous chuckle. “I’m not used to waking up with a Remington in my face, and I don’t want to push my luck with your father.”
“Dad’s a pussycat really.”
“I’d rather not see his claws.”
I laughed. The adrenaline pumping through my body from the rude wake-up call, and the excitement that coursed through my heart over the fact that Clay was going to be coming with Dad and I, left me slightly giddy and extremely playful. “I thought you were a big, bad, monster-hunter.”
As I said the last few words, I trailed my fingers up his chest and then touched his lips with my fingertip.
“You’re not going to give up are you?”
“Nope.” I grinned at him. “I’m not going to let you leave here without me driving unless you can give me a damn good reason.”
“What about Lou?”
“You said she was gone.”
“Maybe she came back?” There was no conviction in his voice as he said it. It was clear he truly believed that she’d left, which meant I had no reason to worry.
“That’s more reason I should come with you,” I said with false bravado. It was only because of his assertions that his sister wouldn’t be there that I would even dare to go. “At least we’ll be in the truck and able to make a quick getaway if she’s there.” I didn’t mention the fact that there was no way Dad’s old truck would be able to outrun her Chevelle.
He assessed my determined face for a moment before sighing. “Fine, let’s go then.”
It took a little bit of coaxing for Dad to agree to lend me the truck so that I could drive Clay to get his things, but as I’d anticipated, he had a difficult time saying no to me.
The actual drive to Clay’s warehouse was probably one of my best ever starts to an escape. Despite the need to rush to get back home as fast as we could, I wanted the journey to take as long as possible, so I avoided the highway and took the side roads instead. It was a perfect day for it. The morning sun wasn’t hot in the sky but shone through the multi-colored foliage of the trees lining the road. Clay held my hand whenever I didn’t need to shift gears. It was almost like we were driving to a date rather than planning to leave the state. We laughed and joked as a way to hide the fear that I was positive lingered in both of our minds.
“I’ll never forget your face when Dad had the gun pointed at you though,” I teased.
Clay laughed in response. “Because you were the epitome of calm: ‘Get out of my room, Dad!’” he said in a mocking impression of me.
“You’re just lucky he didn’t come in a few minutes later,” I said, remembering the way his hands had tickled across my stomach.
Through the Fire (Daughter of Fire Book 1) Page 6
