Page 26 of Betrayed

Lighting the battery torch I’ve brought, I move through the space like a predator, eyes sweeping everything.

The boots I bought her—gone.

Her coat—gone.

A forgotten breakfast on the kitchen table.

She left in a hurry.

There’s a knife on the small table by the front door.

The rage detonates in my chest.

She plans to kill him. With a knife?

Like I thought, she thinks she’s hunting.

I leave the front door partly open so she can see it’s me here if she returns, not him.

I sink into the chair by the fire, gripping the arms so tightly that my knuckles turn white. The absence of her surrounds me, haunting and maddening.

My men lost sight of her somewhere on a train platform. If she doesn't show up soon, I’ll check every inch from here to the last place they saw her.

I stare at the crackling fire, teeth clenched, blood pressure climbing.

I hear her before I see her.

The front door creaks further open behind me.

She’s on the porch, wearing her coat, a backpack, and a shocked expression.

“Lucian…”

God. The first thing I hear is the heat in her voice saying my name, and it lays me bare. I back away as if I’ve been burned.

My fists clench. My blood boils.

I stand, crossing the room to face her, letting her see the beast she awakened when she ran away from me.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Erin

When I return to the cabin from the train station, the door is open. He’s here. Lucian is here. Sitting by the fire like a lion ready to spring.

I swallow the tightness in my throat, opening the door the rest of the way, and say his name like a prayer. “Lucian...”

He flies from his seat, filling the doorway.

Tall. Towering. Rage in motion.

He looks… feral.

Like he hasn’t slept in days. Eyes dark. Jaw unshaven.

He wears jeans and a rumpled flannel shirt, the color of summer sunsets over the moor. A heavy green coat hangs over the back of a chair. It’s like he’s dressed for the place, for this cabin.

Like he belongs here. With me.