Page 13

Chapter

Thirteen

GRACE

T he rain had returned, the soft patter of it added to the soundtrack of the old farmhouse. The air inside was still thick, the walls practically sweating with all the unsaid things after I suggested that they use me as bait. None of them liked the plan, but not a single one shot it down.

Not even Bones.

I wasn’t sure what made them more unhappy. That I suggested it or that they didn’t have a counter argument for it. Instead of pressing on from there, though, the whole tide of conversation shifted until the decision to call it a night had broken us up.

Laying on top of the covers, I stared up at the ceiling. It was too warm to crawl under them. I wanted to crack the window, but the guys would probably deem it a security hazard so I’d left it alone. As tired as I was, my mind would not settle down. Every creak in the hallway made my heart jump.

It seemed even stranger to be in the room by myself.

For the past few nights, Bones had always been within reach and closer still for the last two.

Heat swept through me at the memory of the way he’d stroked me to distraction.

While I had no regrets, I did have questions.

Questions I wasn’t even sure I should ask.

His silence left me wondering if he just didn’t want to discuss it or if it was just simply that he had nothing to say at all.

We had enough issues right now? Didn’t we?

Rolling onto my side, I stared at the window. The darkness outside, the flicker of exterior lights visible through the sheer curtain, the spatter of rain against the glass should all lull me into sleep. Or at least, I thought they should.

But the silence pressed in like a second skin, weighing so heavily it should crush me all the way through the floor. Yet, no matter how many times I told myself to sleep, I couldn’t even bring myself to close my eyes.

A soft knock brushed against the door. So soft, it took me a moment to recognize it as a knock and not another creak of the floor in the hallway. Had I heard it? Then it came again. Not urgent. Not hesitant.

Just… intentional.

I sat up and then slid off the bed. Opening the door, I stared up at Voodoo. He leaned against the frame, his dark eyes unreadable.

“Can’t sleep,” he said simply.

“Me neither.” I pulled the door wider and backed up a step to let him come in.

He followed, slow and quiet and then closed the door behind him. I half-expected him to scoop me up, but he didn’t. All he did was stand there, watching me.

“This plan—” He seemed to consider his words. “The next stages of this are going to be messy.”

“Is this your way of saying ‘you might not come back’?” Because the “plan” was still in the building stages.

“Firecracker…” The sigh as he exhaled my nickname seemed equal parts exasperation and affection. Thankfully, when I held out my hand, he glided his palm over mine. “I try not to say things I don’t mean.”

When I tugged, he followed me easily back to the bed. Without waiting for me to invite him, he dropped his hands to my hips and just picked me up to put me on the bed. These men were so damn tall. I was used to being short, but they made me feel so fragile.

“Whatever happens, whatever plan we go with…” And no, I didn't miss the stress on the “whatever plan”, but I let it go. “Believe me when I say you will make it out.”

“I know,” I said, not letting go of him. Thankfully, he slid onto the bed with me. When he stretched out, I curled up to him and hooked one leg over his as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “Bones told me you all had contingencies for when things went wrong.”

“Did he?” The soft question made me smile. “Good.”

“I just—I don’t want to be the reason something happens to any of you.

Or that the plan to make sure whoever is closest to me gets out with me while everyone else covers means that you’ll be down a man who might make all the difference.

” I’d been turning that one over in my head since Bones’ reveal.

He was right to remind me that every moment I argued then might cost them something, I could argue against it now.

“Knowing you weren’t in the middle of that,” Voodoo murmured before he pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “Knowing Bones already had you out, he just had to keep going—that did help us. We focused on what was in front of us and not on who or what might get past us.”

I made a face. “I hate that that makes sense.”

His chuckle was delicious and low. “I’d say sorry, Firecracker.”

“But you’re not,” I finished for him and he just let out a hum of agreement. His breathing deepened and his heart beat steadily beneath my fingers. When I tipped my head back, I had to smile. His eyes were closed and his breathing deep and regular.

Settled, I snuggled closer and told myself to drift. If he could sleep, maybe I could too.

It was almost three when I slipped out of my room and left Voodoo still sleeping. I’d dozed, but worry continued to nibble away at me. About Lunchbox, Alphabet, and Bones? Yes. About Amorette? Also, yes. Worry about where we were and what came next?

Absolutely, yes.

I didn’t want to wake Voodoo up since he’d seemed so exhausted. It was to let him sleep for as long as he could.

The soft spit and patter of the rain had grown fainter and fainter until it vanished altogether. The other upstairs doors were all closed. Hopefully, that meant the guys were all getting sleep. Cooler air greeted me as I descended the steps on bare feet.

A soft clink of china told me someone else was awake. Alphabet was in the kitchen, dressed in sweats and a t-shirt when I slipped inside. He was stirring something in a mug and turned at my arrival to hold it out to me.

“Hot chocolate,” he said. “Probably not as good as yours, so don’t judge me.”

A laugh escaped me at the offer. “I’m sure it’s perfect.” The smell of the chocolate was an invitation. He just gave me a faint smile before moving back to the stove and pouring more milk into a pan.

Goblin sprawled on the rug beneath the farm table. He glanced up briefly to look at me before his eyes drooped closed once more. Sipping the hot cocoa, I sighed. It was definitely made with powder, but it was double-chocolate, sweet, and very warm.

When he finished his, he waved me over to the table. It was hard to miss his faint limp as he came to join me.

“Are you really okay?”

When I nodded toward his leg, he flashed a smile. “Just sore. I get stiff, the joint can get a little raw. We pushed it. I’ll be fine.”

So matter-of-fact.

“Well, if I can help or do something, tell me.” It didn’t seem like much of an offer, but I wanted to make it anyway. “I was really glad to hear you were all fine.”

“Did we worry you?” The note of teasing in his voice seemed to be an invitation to play, but I lifted a shoulder.

“You did. All of you did. Bones because he wouldn’t let me go back. You guys because you were in the middle of it.” I ran my bare foot along Goblin’s back to pet him. “Goblin because he was covered in blood when he came racing down the street.”

Alphabet grimaced. “We were planning on the fly. We knew something like that might happen. If it did, you and Goblin needed to be elsewhere.”

“Because they could have hurt him.” Goblin wouldn’t have let them be taken prisoner.

“Yeah.” He sighed. “I’m sorry, Gracie. I didn’t think about the blood on him—it wasn’t mine. It wasn’t any of ours.”

“Well, that helps— now .” I wrinkled my nose. “But apology accepted. Even more because you guys made it back.”

“You scare me a little.” The admission surprised me.

“I do?” That was so not what I expected to hear.

“Yeah, you do.” He toasted me with his mug. “You’re stronger than I thought you were when we first met. You seem to get stronger every day. Not sure we planned for you. Not like this.”

“I didn’t plan for any of you.” Admitting that wasn’t remotely difficult. “How could I? I didn’t plan to be kidnapped or to end up in the middle of some international trafficking ring. All I planned to do was just survive. Then… you guys showed up.”

“Well, that’s not totally true,” he said, tilting his head as he turned sideways. He’d taken the seat next to me rather than across from me. “You planned to go home.”

“You did take me home though—and I know, I was a bitch about the fact you had to pull me back out and then you kept me.”

“You were not a bitch.” He scowled and when I shrugged, he cupped my chin and pulled my gaze to his “You were not. You were struggling. We weren’t really taking the time you needed and we didn’t feel like we had the time. That’s on all of us.”

“Fine, so we’re all at fault.” I didn’t think that was wholly true, but if he wanted to jump under the bus with me, I wouldn’t let him take all the blame.

“Better.” He nodded, then tapped my lower lip with his thumb. “Here’s the thing though, you haven’t fallen apart. You haven’t asked anyone to save you?—”

When I would have protested that, he pressed his thumb to my lips again. At my sigh, he nodded.

“You want to find your sister. That’s what you asked for. You wanted help finding her. You wanted help getting to her. You aren’t asking for you…”

Oh.

“I used to ask for things,” I said slowly.

“I used to want a lot of things.” Sometimes, I still did.

“I used to think that becoming a model and making it—making a lot of money, it would pay for all the things Amorette and I wanted when we were kids. I wanted to do things for our mother—buy her all the things she had to do without because our father was such a dick.”

It was the first time I’d admitted that out loud. At least to someone who wasn’t Amorette. I’d never felt so far away from her as I did right now. It was also the first time I didn’t want to abandon where I was to go to her.