Page 108 of Beneath the Mountain Sky

The noise outside.

My back stiffens.

I had almost forgotten about it.

“You think a bear would come onto the property while I was here?”

He stiffens behind me, then drags his lips across my collarbone slowly. “I don’t know, but I’m not going to take any chances. And I don’t want you alone with Raven in town. I want you with Liam, Connor, or me at all times.”

The way he says it, the tension in his voice and arms, makes me turn and look up at him. “Why?”

Killian takes my face between his palms and suddenly looks very serious. “Because that was a human in the woods. Someone was watching us by the fire.”

Acid churns in my stomach and starts to crawl up my throat. “Are you”—I swallow—“are you sure?”

He nods. “We’ve suspected for a while that you were not alone on the mountain. Then we went up there to the area where we found you, and suddenly, someone’s in the woods on my property? It isn’t a coincidence, Honeybee.”

“Shit.”

Someone followed us…

I start to tremble again, and he drags me against him fully, until every single inch of our bodies touches.

“It’ll be okay. I promise. We’re going to figure this out.”

“How?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll find a way.” His voice doesn’t waver. It never breaks. The steely determination lives in each word. “I’m not going to let this drag on anymore, not going to leave you to be a victim to these flashes of memory and not knowing what happened to you.”

Over the past couple of weeks, he’s promised me answers, and he hasn’t been able to deliver, but this time, I believe him.

I feel his resolve.

If there really was someone in the woods tonight watching us, if it really was someone who might have answers about where I was and what happened to me over the last year, Killian will burn down the whole fucking mountain to find them. He will eviscerate anyone who played a role in my missing time. He will do it all without regard for what it might cost him.

And that’s what terrifies me.

He’ll destroy his home, the only place he’s ever loved, for me.

Anyone on this mountain who gets in his way is going to be collateral damage.

14

KILLIAN

The signs are everywhere, readily apparent to anyone who knows what to look for—like me.

A snapped twig.

Deep boot impressions in the soft soil in several places.

Disturbed leaves in the underbrush.

From where I squat, examining the area where I heard the noises from last night, I can see it all with vivid clarity.

This is the spot where whoever was in the woods watched us from.

I glance over my shoulder to the fire pit and the surrounding chairs visible through the trees. A clear line of sight to anything happening on that portion of the homestead. From this position, he could’ve seen everything. And more disturbingly, he was close enough to have heard every word I shared with Connor and Liam and what Willow and I said to each other before I forced her inside the cabin.