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“Damn it, Gwen.” He crushed it in his fist and growled before stomping back. “Esther, I–” His fist with the vine shook, but she wasn’t going to comfort him. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry I involved them without your notice. I was just…”

Esther shook her head. “I’m not ready for this conversation.”

“Right.” He met her gaze a second longer before turning back to the car.

They returned to August’s place, and she went through the motions of showering, borrowing a large shirt to sleep in, and crawling into bed. A few minutes later, the door creaked open, and someone crawled in with her.

“Hey there, friend,” whispered Uther. “I heard you came to my rescue.”

Despite all her anger from earlier, it all washed away hearing her friend’s voice. She wrapped her arms around him, letting him be her little spoon. “I love you, Uther.”

“I know.”

She held him tighter, trying to hold in the tears. “That tough guy Star Wars nonsense will not be accepted here.”

“I know,” he repeated then chuckled. He took her hand in his and kissed a knuckle. “I love you too, Esther. I’m sorry you’re hurting.”

She snuggled into his neck, and they lay in silence for a while.

“I shouldn’t have given up the necklace,” she said. “This is all my fault.”

“It didn’t help that my car and phone both died at the same time. I swear I charged it. It just died out of nowhere. August says it wasn’t my fault, so I’m going to have to get that in writing when he’s not as huffy. The whole thing really did a number on him.”

“Yeah, I saw that.”

“I think he has a crush on me.”

“Oh, you think?”

They both laughed, but there wasn’t any real heart to it.

“If it counts for anything,” Uther said, “I think you made the best choice with the information you had.”

Esther didn’t believe that for one minute, but it was nice to know at least one person wasn’t disappointed in her. “Where’s your boyfriend now anyway?”

Uther shifted and pulled the blanket over his mouth before answering. His words were mumbled but clear enough to understand. “On his way to the island.”

“He’s still going through with it.” It wasn’t a question.

“After what you two gave up? Yeah, he’s going to see this through.”

“They told us the vampires had you. They took advantage of that missing person situation you were looking into to scare us into acting. What makes him think they wouldn’t trick him again?”

“Because it’d all be for nothing if we didn’t try. And if he’s there, he’ll make sure they do it right. That it’s safe. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt Ashley.”

“We already did.” Esther swallowed back a sob as she recalled Ashley’s closed-off expression, standing over her in the water. “I’m not letting my choices hurt anyone again. I’ll buckle down and mind my own business like I should have from the start.”

“Doing nothing is still a choice.”

36

Esther

Esther hit send, her computer made a swishing sound, and that was that. Her final project was turned in. Provided everything was there and looked good, she would receive her Master’s in Library and Information Science come graduation.

Sitting back in that creaky chair, she let the moment sink in. Physically, she was relieved. If she could melt into a puddle, that was exactly what she’d do.

Through the window, the sky lit blood-red as the sun sank below the horizon. She relaxed her shoulders, tensed from days of tunnel-visioning through the rest of the Platt collection. She was mid-stretch, her guard completely down when everything from the past week swept back in.