True Refuge

by Annabelle McInnes

And then she wasn’t close at all.

  The sound of a body hitting earth and a tiny feminine squeak of pain shuddered around them.

  Nick stopped.

  ‘Nick,’ Euan barked in warning, reaching out to grab at his sleeve, but Nick broke free.

  ‘Just wait.’ Nick’s clipped repose was surprisingly fierce as he turned and headed back towards the threat.

  Euan squeezed his eyes closed and took in a deep breath in an attempt to still the urge to simply knock the man out. Nick’s bleeding heart was going to get them killed. This was likely part of her plan. Tempt them with her fragility, pull them further into the web using prey that was pretty and blonde.

  The dresses weren’t the bait, she was.

  He opened his eyes, determined to hold fast, to do what needed to be done to keep them safe, to push past the instinct to cherish and nurture. But it was worth nothing when he discovered the woman was on her hands and knees in the dirt.

  The step towards her was involuntary. The step back was necessary.

  Nick approached her slowly, and Euan growled. At each word of comfort that was offered, Euan’s trepidation grew.

  The woman raised her gaze to her savior. She blinked at the hand Nick held out, as if suddenly she was uncertain of his intentions.

  Too late for that now, sweetheart.

  Nick pulled her to her feet with a gentle hand but didn’t move when she retreated a few hesitant steps.

  Euan drew his knife from his belt and once again scanned their surroundings. The oppressing forest encroached on all sides, the light was limited, and any escape was hampered by lush undergrowth. They were helpless, and aside from flinging Nick over his shoulder, he was unable to withdraw.

  When his gaze finally rested back on the woman, he saw her bloody knees and glassy eyes and felt a twist inside his chest. Then he saw her gun really was missing.

  God almighty. If she wasn’t a set-up for ambush, then somebody needed to turn her ass pink.

  Euan suddenly found himself looking for an authority figure instead of a trap. He observed her gaze as it flicked between Nick and himself, but despite Euan’s fears, she didn’t look to her surroundings for either support or an expected attack.

  ‘I’m alone. There’s no one else here. It’s just me,’ she implored, reading Euan’s protective stance.

  Euan tightened his fist around the handle of his knife. ‘Gotta say, just your word doesn’t fill me with confidence, sweetheart.’

  She bit her lip. ‘Well, it’s the truth.’

  Nick took a step closer to her, his height eclipsing her smaller frame. ‘Here, let me see your hands.’

  She stretched out her hand tentatively and was mute as Nick captured one fine bone wrist with his long fingers. The forest hushed, and Euan found himself held captive by the shared look that emanated between the two of them. Jade eyes held crystal, honey hair contrasted with platinum, and Euan held his breath against the onslaught of emotions that fought within his chest.

  Nick sucked in a breath when he turned her palm skyward and saw the angry, red skin. ‘Took a hard fall,’ he commented.

  The woman huffed. ‘You were very … determined.’

  Nick’s lips twitched. ‘It’s his long legs. Hard to keep up.’

  Euan grunted, ignoring their banter, but not Nick’s close proximity to the potential danger.

  He needed answers.

  ‘You expect me to believe that you’re alone out here?’ he demanded aggressively.

  The woman flinched at his tone.

  ‘Euan …’ Nick tried to intervene, still tenderly holding the woman’s hand within his own.

  Euan shook his head in disbelief. ‘Do you know what’s out there?’ he demanded from her. ‘What at your fucking doorstep?’

  The girl licked her lips, glanced at Nick before she met Euan’s gaze, her eyes were cobalt in the limited light. ‘Well, no, actually. I’ve been here the whole time. Since everything started to fall apart.’

  Euan’s stomach plummeted and he saw Nick recoil.

  His fear manifested into anger. It rose up within him like a rabid beast, biting, raging and snarling. ‘So you’ve just been waiting for someone to come calling? Putting your clothes out to tempt men to you like a bull to a red flag?’

  She cringed. ‘It wasn’t like that.’

  Euan had to turn away, his gaze lifting to the sky, where only glimpses of blue could be seen through the canopy of trees. He couldn’t fathom it. This little sun-sprite was unarmed and vulnerable. A rare and precious object, so easily destroyed.

  And the simple fact that she wasn’t …

  Maybe she was telling the truth.

  He let his gaze traverse the trees one last time before it landed on the two people that still held hands. The words were out before he could pull them back. ‘What if I do believe you?’

  Her face lit up with undeniable hope. ‘I can show you if you like? Take you to the house? I’ve got coffee.’

  What. The. Fuck.

  ‘Coffee?’ Nick’s voice was strained.

  A slight crease marred her brow. ‘Um, yes? You don’t like coffee?’ she asked uncertainly, confused at Nick’s tone.

  ‘I like coffee,’ Nick whispered. His painful longing at the reminder of a time long lost was audible.

  The afternoon sun was moving westward. The light between the trees was turning gold. There was no movement; the wind was minimal, and the animals had quietened in their presence. Euan flexed his grip on his knife and focused on the woman. Christ, she was beautiful. Not just in features and form, but in her simple existence. She was the personification of beauty in a world so blackened and tarnished by ugliness. And she had coffee …

  When she met Euan’s gaze, she took a deep breath and spoke, defying every protective instinct she should have. ‘My name is Kira.’

  The pause that followed was heavy. The air around them seemed to solidify as all three waited for the expected response.

  But it wasn’t Euan who made it.

  Nick’s tone was careful. ‘My name is Nick.’

  Euan huffed out a lungful of air and looked to the sky for deliverance.

  ‘This is Euan,’ Nick continued.

  Euan rubbed his hands over his cropped scalp. ‘We’re not doing this,’ he muttered belligerently.

  Another long stretch of silence.

  ‘Are you guys hungry?’ Kira asked cautiously.

  ‘Starving,’ Nick answered, unsurprisingly honest.

  Euan caught Nick’s gaze and raised his brows in question, his ire evident.

  The young man shrugged. ‘What? I am hungry.’

  Euan shook his head. ‘You’re serious about this?’

  Nick’s lips stretched into a devastating smile, his teeth visible, the shadows in his eyes banished to the background. A small spark of hope settled in Euan’s stomach.

  He let his heart slow in his chest, forced the fear and anxiety over what they had discovered out of his muscles. He diverted his mind from clasping at all the potential threats. He had made his decision. They would stay, but he wasn’t going to take any more unnecessary risks, despite the gnawing at his conscience over what he was going to do.

  He reached the woman in three long strides and put his shoulder to her soft belly.

  Kira gasped as she was manhandled into position. Euan might have needed some meat on his bones, and his arm still ached like a bitch, but his strength had hardly waned. He effortlessly lifted the girl and practically threw her over his shoulder. He clasped one hand tightly over her shapely rump, and the other over the backs of her knees to limit her capacity to kick him in the balls.

  He couldn’t help the flash of comparison between the woman from Nirvana and the girl he now held. Or even Nick, when he’d first taken him from the dilapidated farmhouse after his attack. The man had been emotionally destroyed and physically maimed, the girl had been listless and skeletal. There were no parallels with Kira. After she pushed through her initial shock, she began to squir
m and writhe, her small body full of vigour and strength with a drive to escape. He gripped her tighter.

  ‘I wouldn’t scream, sweetheart,’ he warned, squeezing her to him. ‘Any man in the vicinity who hears a woman scream is gonna think she’s fair game. So curse my mother, swear like a sailor, kick and scratch—hell, even cry—but do not scream. Understand?’

  ‘Please …’ Kira’s voice was hoarse, her tone desolate, even as her body wriggled against him.

  Euan turned to face Nick, whose look of alarm and bewilderment he had expected. ‘Not taking the risk,’ he explained.

  Nick’s eyes flashed green and gold. ‘Not the way to go about it, big man.’

  The surprising spike of anger had Euan’s tone softening. ‘She’s good, Nick,’ he promised.

  Nick searched Euan’s face, his features pinched with concern and confusion. Eventually he conceded to Euan’s leadership with a careful nod.

  Euan understood Nick’s reservations. It was not the way he would have liked this scenario to have concluded. But he’d made too many mistakes recently to no longer be exceedingly cautious. He tilted his head in the direction of the house. ‘Before we go in, get the dresses out of sight. We’re too exposed with them out in the wind.’

  Nick gave the woman one final sweep before sharing a meaningful glance with Euan, who understood his hesitation.

  ‘I got her, yeah?’ he reassured him.

  Nodding, Nick replied, ‘Yeah.’

  ‘But wash your hands first. Don’t want your paws dirtying up that beauty,’ Euan ordered.

  Nick’s lips tilted into a small smile, the worry easing from his brow before he turned to do as he was bid with a mock salute.

  Chapter 12

  The late-afternoon sun streamed through the large, timber-framed windows, highlighting the sheen on the oak floorboards. The interior of the house was a mirror to its external façade, a mix between old and new and untouched by the ravages of time. The hardwood floor contrasted with the white plasterboard walls. The useless light fixtures, switches and power points were brass, their gold gleam echoed in the caramel swirls through the wooden and dark leather furniture. The aesthetic encouraged clean lines and little clutter.

  They sat in the cosy open-plan kitchen and living area at a mahogany table for four. The kitchen cabinetry was white, with accentuating brass taps and handles, the benchtop a similar-coloured wood to the table.

  It was nice to look at, beautiful in fact, but it was bare. Not a dirty pot, or coffee cup in the sink, no throw pillow or blanket—which Euan knew women loved—on the dark leather three-seater lounge. Not even a rug on the floor. Euan suspected if he opened the kitchen cupboards, they would be devoid of plates and cutlery, most certainly food and beverages. It was obvious Kira didn’t live here, or hadn’t in a long time.

  Euan was uneasy, his nape prickling. Even in the house, he felt exposed. Suddenly having a woman in his care made his anxiety spike, his protective instincts surge. He wanted to get inside wherever she hid herself at night, but the spitting little kitten was as tight-lipped as Tom Thumb’s ass.

  He’d acted rashly, and now he was paying for it.

  Despite Euan’s warning, Kira had struggled and screamed the entire journey back to the homestead. Her hair was a mess and her clothes were rumpled where he had been driven to use brute strength to hold her to his shoulder. Any of his exposed skin was bloody from tiny female claws.

  When they’d reached the kitchen, Euan had regretfully tied her to a kitchen chair so she didn’t escape. He didn’t like it, Nick didn’t like it, and Kira certainly didn’t like it. He’d asked Nick to search the house, but as he’d suspected, not only was the place devoid of all evidence of habitation, he couldn’t find even a trace of the entrance to her little hidey-hole.

  Wet tracks ran down her cheeks, and her blonde eyelashes clung together from her tears. Her crystal-blue eyes shone with a mixture of anger, despair and fear.

  Nick sat tensely beside him. He’d tried cajoling her, crooning to her, flirting with her, even begging her, but Kira had remained stalwart.

  Now the three sat in uncomfortable silence—Kira watching Euan, Nick watching Kira and Euan eyeing both of them, racking his brain as to how to alleviate this stalemate.

  Finally, he sighed in resignation, put both hands to his knees and heaved himself to his feet.

  ‘Nicky, pack up our things and move them to one of the bedrooms,’ he ordered. ‘We’ll sleep up here tonight.’ He turned to Kira, her eyes wide, her face disbelieving.

  ‘I’m sorry Kira,’ he conceded. ‘I am. But I had to make sure you were telling the truth.’

  She blinked slowly and stayed mute. She flinched when he raised his hand, but settled as he took hold of her chin with his thumb and forefinger, forcing her to meet his determined gaze.

  ‘It’s not safe. Not for you, not for any of us. Anywhere,’ he added, his voice determined.

  He held her gaze, her blue eyes as clear as the darkening sky outside. He saw truth there, resignation, but as he looked past those, he saw through her bravado and determination. She was uncertain, scared. Her desperation and desolation had forced her to take a terrible risk. It was the look of hopelessness that she hid behind a curtain of iron that had coerced her to take the gamble. Now, as her wrists were bound behind her, each ankle tied to one front leg of the chair, Euan suspected she believed the payout hadn’t been worth playing the game.

  So he would play it for her.

  Euan took a deep breath. What he was about to say wouldn’t help his end game, but might get his team over the line for their first points on the board.

  He looked pointedly towards Nick, who was hovering by the door to the hallway, one strap of each of their packs slung over a shoulder.

  Euan brought his attention back to the woman bound in the chair.

  ‘I care for Nicky very deeply,’ he told her deliberately. ‘We’re more than just friends. Have been for some time. Do you understand what I’m saying?’

  Kira’s brow creased in confusion before comprehension washed over her features. ‘Oh,’ she breathed, not holding back her surprise.

  ‘Do you understand now? We’re not here to take from you what you’re not willing to give. But we’re also not going anywhere. You’re safe from us. That way, and any other way you’re afraid of,’ he told her, squeezing her chin with a gentle shake to emphasise his meaning.

  There was another long silence. Only their breaths could be heard in the darkening room as the sun returned to its nighttime retreat. Nick waited for her answer before he moved to do as he was bid, in the hope that she’d comply.

  ‘You won’t hurt me?’ she breathed.

  Euan’s chest tightened at her words, a desperate plea in the face of her reality.

  ‘We won’t hurt you,’ he promised.

  ‘You’ll …’ Her voice hitched.

  ‘You’ll help … protect me?’

  Euan told the truth. ‘We’ll help protect you.’

  ‘Promise?’ she begged.

  ‘Promise,’ he vowed.

  Eventually, on barely more than a whisper, Kira spoke. ‘Through the main bedroom.’ She blinked and two tears slid slowly down each cheek. ‘Under the bed.’

  ***

  Euan stood in the bedroom lit by waning sunshine. Red-gold light streamed through the window and his gaze cut towards the glass. Through the intact pane he saw an expanse of lavender bushes in bloom. A remnant host of bees hovered over the tiny purple flowers as they captured the last traces of pollen for the day. Beyond the flowers, the green grass stretched out before it to disappear into the gloom of the trees. Their thick trunks of grey and brown, smooth and rough, pitted and scarred created a wall of perceived sanctuary. The leaves swayed and the birds called. As he watched, a flock of starlings alighted into the orange sky. Their tiny wings were a blur as they dived and swooped to disappear into the distance, their destination unknown.

  The tightness in his chest hadn’t decreased. If a
nything, the severity of its hold had solidified. The sanctuary the barricade of woodland created was an illusion. A deception for those hidden within its confines.

  Behind him, Kira was speaking to Nick, explaining the mechanics of a hidden hatch that was supposedly under the bed. He divided his attention between her delicate speech and the dangers that lurked behind that barrier of trees. To the perils just over the hills in the distance. To the man that sat on a leather throne with an army of minions at his disposal. To the two men that had brutalised his Nick that were still free to breathe. To the countless other degenerates that wandered aimlessly, searching for sanctuary and refuge.

  He took the two steps needed to shut the curtains with a snap.

  ‘I want all the blinds closed.’

  At his bark, Nick’s gaze shot his way. They were both hyperaware. The shift from constant vigilance to possible security was unnatural. They were in a room that was untainted by dust. Robin’s-egg blue walls were not mouldy and were intact, the roof showed no signs of decay or disintegration, and the bedspread was a fresh as it had been three years ago. Impossible concepts, contrasting possibilities. His palms were damp. He rubbed them on his jeans only to realise he was covered in three years’ worth of filth and grime. Dirt stained the crevices of his hands. His knuckles were torn and still bloody. He was a barbarian in the nest of an angel. He didn’t belong here.

  But he wouldn’t leave. Kira stood with her back to the open doorway, her hands pressed together, clasped at her chest. Red bands marred her wrists where the rope had burned her tender skin. Her eyes were wide and afraid, uncertain and worried. She pressed her lips together as Nick nodded at Euan’s demand. ‘Now?’

  ‘Now, Nicky.’

  Nick dropped both packs and left with a fleeting glance towards Kira. Alone in his presence, her resolve faltered. The war inside herself between self-preservation and bravery was evident in every feature of her face. Her feet remained planted wide, but he could see her knees tremble.

  ‘I made a promise,’ he told her, keeping his voice low. ‘You can trust my word.’

  She swallowed and her pale throat contracted. The deep inhalation of breath was slow. She licked her dry lips before she nodded.