I kissed her shoulder. “I’m sorry, wildfire. It won’t happen again. I promise.”
She nodded and allowed Brooks to take her by the hand and lead her out of the room with her eyes on the floor. None of us spoke until we heard them close the door to Brooks’s room.
“What the fuck happened?” Bastian asked.
I stood and strode past him. “You were right, Theo. She hid in my closet. I shut the door when I went upstairs for the interview. She was curled up under my clothes and had thrown up. I’ve never smelled fear like that.”
“Holy—” Theo shook his head the second we stepped into my room. “You weren’t kidding.”
The scent of Trinity’s fear was now all through the room with the closet door open.
“I could have sworn the doors had handles on the other side,” I said. One look confirmed it. “Yeah. See?”
“Hold on,” Theo said. “Go inside.”
The door clicked shut behind me, and I grabbed the knob. It didn’t turn. The door was solidly latched, and without the knob turning, there was no way to undo it. I pulled and pushed, putting as much force behind it as I could, seeing if it could be overridden, but it didn’t move.
Theo opened the door again.
“The doorknob is a dummy,” I said. “It doesn’t turn, probably isn’t even attached to the mechanism. But because it does latch, there’s no way to get out. Fuck.”
Looking at the spot on the floor, Bastian frowned. “Seems like more than that, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah. It does. And I have no way of asking her.”
“I’ll grab some stuff to help clean it,” Theo said. “You need to get packed. As soon as she’s out of the shower you’re going to want to be with her and not have to pull yourself away to do it.”
“Good idea.”
We split up and went to work.
Trinity’s hair was a wild nest on the dark pillowcase. She was so asleep I didn’t want to wake her, but I’d promised I wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye, and I didn’t plan on breaking that promise.
Yesterday she hadn’t really recovered. Stayed trapped in her mind while I held her. She ate and got ready to sleep, all the actions automatic, like her mind wasn’t present, only her body.
I didn’t want to leave her, but I didn’t have a choice.
Slowly I sat down on the edge of the bed and stroked a palm down her spine. “Trinity,” I said softly.
“Hmm?” The sleepy sound of her voice made sure my dick was the most awake of the three of us.
“I’ve got to go, wildfire.”
She stiffened, waking fully before turning to look at me and seeing me dressed and ready. Both hands reached for me, and I let her pull me down on top of her.
I kissed her once. Twice. And she shuddered. Her eyes snapped shut, but not before I saw the tears there. “Rin?”
“Have a good trip,” she whispered.
“Not leaving until you open your eyes for me.”
She shook her head, so I sat back up and pulled her with me, cradling the back of her head and keeping her close. “Why are you crying?”
“I’m not,” she mumbled into my shirt.
“Sure.” I chuckled. “Please tell me. I’m only going to be gone for a couple days, then I’ll be right back with you.”
Her body shook with another tremor that made me frown, but she sounded firmer. “I know.”
