Prime made a small sound like he knew I was right but wasn’t admitting it.
We went up the stairs, and I didn’t know where to look.It was absolutely insane the things that Pearl was able to do with paint.A demented nursery, a dungeon room, and don’t even get me started on the realistic blood drips and spatter.
We made it back downstairs and then out the front door.
We circled around the back and followed a narrow dirt path that led toward the cabins.Lost kept pace far enough behind that he blended into the trees, but close enough that I could feel him the way you feel a security blanket draped over your shoulders.
It wasn’t suffocating.
It was safety.
The trees opened ahead of us, and sunlight hit the lake in a blinding silver wash.
I stopped again.“Oh…”
Prime stepped beside me.“Yeah.Gets you every time.”
The lake stretched out, serene and endless.The sunlight making tiny diamonds dance on the surface.The breeze carried the smell of pine and fresh water; cleaner and brighter than any lake I’d ever been near.
“It’s really pretty here,” I murmured.“Even with a giant haunted house behind us.”
Prime laughed quietly.“You get used to it.”
I turned to him.“You love it here.”
He didn’t pretend otherwise.“I do.Been with the club fifteen years.Never got sick of waking up on this shoreline.”
I could see it in his eyes.The belonging, the loyalty, the anchor this place gave him.For someone like Prime, who seemed carved from steady stone, it made sense.
“I can understand why,” I said.“It feels peaceful.Like the world forgets to be loud.”
He nodded.“Exactly.”
I stepped closer to the water and felt the gravel shift under my shoes.Prime followed, standing just behind me.Not touching.Not crowding.But present.Solid.Like if the earth split open beneath me, he’d catch me before I fell.
Lost stood a few yards back and leaned against a tree in that quiet way of his.Watching.Guarding.Blending.
I hugged my arms loosely around my waist and let the wind lift strands of my hair.“I didn’t think I’d ever feel calm today.It’s almost like the past few days have been a dream.I’m almost afraid I’m going to wake up and be all alone again.”
“You don’t have to be alone,” Prime said.“Not anymore.”
My throat tightened.He didn’t say it softly.Or romantically.He said it like fact.Like law.Like a promise.
I stared out across the lake and let the words settle inside me.“You do that a lot,” I said after a moment.
“Do what?”
“Make impossible things sound easy.”
Prime stepped closer, just enough for his arm to brush mine.“Only because I know I can back it up.”
I looked at him, really looked.
His jaw was tight from lack of sleep.His brow furrowed from stress.His eyes were sharp from vigilance.He looked like someone who carried the weight of his entire club on his shoulders and would do it again tomorrow.
But to me?
He seemed softer.
