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“Baby?”
I opened my eyes to find Hunter in front of me. “You want to go home?”
Home…
Images of the chair embedded in the wall and documents strewn all over the place filled me. Then my empty apartment, left vacant, with the cheese now surely molded in the refrigerator. Or my childhood home. Echoing hallways and lonely nights spent studying images of young girls I’d never known…girls who shared my blood.
Where was my home?
Was it there, or at the mountain?
I didn’t know. Not anymore…
Still, I followed when he headed out, and climbed into the back seat. The wind picked up, whipping Riven’s hair as he strode toward the four-wheel drive and climbed into the passenger’s seat staring straight ahead as Hunter slid behind the wheel. Riven never spoke, never flinched. It was almost like he wasn’t even there.
He was already hunting, tracking down Hale in the dark recesses of his mind and dragging the honed edge of a blade across the bastard’s throat. The four-wheel drive backed out and headed out of the city, leaving the traffic far behind.
Still that heaviness plagued me, as did the silence in the car. No one spoke, no one made a sound, just stared straight ahead as the mountain drew closer. A brush came across my finger, slowly, controlled, comforting. I looked down to where Thomas’ hand met mine, then lifted my gaze to his. Still, he didn’t glance my way, just kept that stony stare straight ahead with his warm fingers pressing against mine, until we finally turned into the shrouded driveway and stopped at the gate.
Then he pulled away.
For some strange reason, even though I was surrounded by the men I loved and who loved me, I was lonely. The car stopped and Riven was out first, leaving us behind as he strode toward the mountain in the distance.
“I should go after him.” I yanked the door handle.
“Don’t,” Kane said quietly. “He’ll come to you when he can.”
I climbed out and closed the door behind me, watching him climb the incline where we’d trained before he disappeared. Leave him. That’s what Kane wanted and, as Hunter headed for the gym and Thomas turned toward the house, that’s what I did. I didn’t have much choice.
“Thomas!” I called, but he didn’t stop, just punched in the code and stepped inside.
I threw my hands into the air. They were all walking away from me…again. It felt like before, when we were separated and not just by distance. They’d pulled away from me and they’d pulled away from each other, which left us vulnerable.
“Not again,” I murmured.
“What?” Kane asked.
I turned to him and met those piercing green eyes. “I said, not again.”
I headed after Thomas, quickening my steps until I pushed through the door.
“Thom! Thom, wait!” The steps were a blur as I took them two at a time. I could hear him on the landing, catching sight of him with his hand on the handle as I reached the top. “Wait,” I gasped, sucking in deep breaths. His head lowered like he was consumed with pain or guilt. I stepped closer, reaching for him. “It’s okay. Listen to me, it’s all going to be okay.”
“No…it isn’t.”
The rage that rippled through those words made me freeze. It wasn’t pain he was feeling, not hopelessness or rejection. It was cold, unflinching, tearing from the deepest pits of his soul. He whirled around and met my stare.
There was no warmth there, no soft, careful comfort. There was no awkwardness either, no nervousness as he looked everywhere else but at me. Thomas was kind, careful. The closest thing we had to goodness and to salvation. But this man…this man standing in front of me not only held my stare, but he gripped hold of it, clutching it like it was his salvation.
Was that it?
He’d lost his faith?
I looked at the black t-shirt he wore, remembering his collar and jacket tossed into the trash in the corner of his room.
“They have to answer for their sins, Helene.” He took a step toward me. “I will make them answer.”
“What are you saying?”
