"Then why is she here?"Vaughn asked.
He didn't understand it himself.She'd stepped through the glitch like it had been waiting for her.On this side, the way the air had shifted before her arrival told him she was on her way.The town seemed different now, as if it were listening and testing each of them.
Boone stepped forward."This place isn't for kids.You know that."
"She's sixteen," Finn said.
There were things he'd done at sixteen that classified him as an adult.He had no idea how long ago that was, but things couldn't have changed that much.
"Jesus."Moe ran his hands over his face."That's worse.A girl her age?In a place full of men like us?You think that's safe?"
He understood what Moe wasn't saying.None of them had had the soft touch of a woman in a long fucking time.Kallie's arrival reminded him that he hadn't felt any sexual desire during his stay in Everstill.It was as if all the other emotions had been stripped from him.
Kallie put all kinds of thoughts back into his head.It was hard for him to think about the others when she was with him.In his house.Depending on him to help her.
Finn's jaw tightened."She's in my house.Nobody will get past me."
"That's not the point," Boone said."The glitch doesn't bring people here unless they're broken.Unless they're meant to stay."
That was only a theory.A common denominator amongst them all.But no one knew for sure why they were here.
Finn's stomach twisted.Kallie was grieving her mother's loss, but she had her whole life ahead of her.As a teenager, she hadn't had time to fuck up her life the way each of them had.
Kallie wasn't meant to stay.
"She's going home tomorrow," he said.
Griffin raised a brow."You sure about that?"
Finn didn't blink."Yeah."
The men exchanged suspicious glances.There was a darkness that had come in with Kallie, and they could all sense it settling down on them.
Moe stepped forward from the back of the group, eyes softer than the others but no less worried."Finn...the town feels off.You feel it too."
Finn looked at the street."It'll be okay, Moe."
The glitch had been unstable for weeks.The air shimmered more often.The road grew thinner.Time passed without notice.If it wasn't for him marking the wood, he would have no idea how many days had passed.
Levi crammed his hands in the front pockets of his jeans."Let me talk to her."
That's exactly what he didn't want to happen.Kallie was still a child, despite looking like a woman.
Finn's voice dropped, low and dangerous."She's not your concern."
Levi narrowed his gaze."She's everyone's concern if she changes the rules.If there's a way out of here, we have a right to know.We've never had the option to leave before."
Finn refused to budge.He wouldn't allow any of them around her.
Just because Kallie walked through the veil didn't mean any of them could walk out of Everstill.
The men stared at him, waiting for him to crack, to explain, to justify.His muscles tensed from the added stress.A stress he never felt unless Kallie was here.
Movement out on the street drew all his attention.Copper walked toward his house and stopped behind the others without stepping onto the property.
"Finn, you've got until morning, and then she needs to go.After that, we talk," said Copper.
With his declaration, the men took it as law and drifted away, one by one, their voices fading into the quiet.
