“—your fault!”Jeremy’s voice carried through the night air, raw with grief and rage.“Lydia.My dad.Everything goes back to you.”
Noah’s blood ran cold.He crept closer, trying to get a clear line of sight, but the sun had fully set now and the moon, which should rise soon, sat below the horizon.
Almost total darkness.Just starlight.Not enough.
“I tried,” Meg said, her voice steadier than Noah expected.“I did everything I could for Lydia.The damage to her chest was too severe?—”
“Liar!”Jeremy whirled on her.“And then you left my father to die in the cave.”
“Your father was already dead before we left the cave,” Meg said, and Noah could hear the tremor in her voice now—the fear she was trying so hard to hide.“He tried to shoot us and Noah stopped him, but it was his own gun that shot him.”
“You kill everyone you touch, and you need to pay.”The words were ice.Flat.Final.
Noah’s hands clenched and he started to move forward, but Teague’s hand shot out, stopping him.
Not yet, he mouthed.
They needed to be closer.Needed a clear opening.One chance to get this right.They maneuvered to the left, but it was so dark.Too dark to see clearly.
His grandfather’s voice echoed in his mind.The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Lord, You led us out of the cave when I was a child.You helped Teague find us in the cave last week.I need Your light to shine in the darkness again.
“I’m sorry about Lydia,” Meg said quietly.“I’m sorry about your father.I’m sorry you’re hurting.But this isn’t going to fix anything, Jeremy.”
Just like that, a sliver of the moon crested the canyon’s edge.Not a lot, but enough for Noah to catch the glint of the gun.The outline of Meg.Her silhouette against the sky.
Meg moved then, so fast Noah almost missed it.Her hand that had been resting on a ledge behind her swung around with a rock in its grip.Fist sized.Heavy.And smashed it into the hand holding the gun.
Jeremy howled in pain as the gun dropped and Meg ran.
She made it three steps before Jeremy lunged forward, his hand fisting in her hair.Meg cried out as he yanked her backward, and she fell hard, hitting the ground with a sickening thud.
Noah broke into a sprint.
He didn’t think, didn’t plan, ignored the screaming pain in his side as he launched himself forward.All he saw was Meg on the ground, Jeremy standing over her with his fist pulled back, and something primal and fierce roared to life in his chest.
But Teague had moved too, and without ten stitches in his side, he was faster.He collided with Jeremy’s side and the two went rolling.Then Liam was there and the two guys were pinning Jeremy down.Knees in back.Arms twisted.
Noah dropped to his knees beside Meg, his hands shaking as he reached for her.“Meg.Meg, are you okay?”
She looked up at him, her eyes wide with shock and fear and something that might have been hope.“Noah?You’re supposed to be…you just got out of the hospital.You shouldn’t?—”
“I’m fine.”He helped her sit up, his hands gentle despite the urgency screaming through him.“Are you hurt?Did he?—”
“I’m okay.”Her voice cracked, and then she was crying, her hands fisting in his shirt as she pulled herself closer.“I’m okay.I’m sorry for what I said.I’m sorry for leaving you.I’m so sorry?—”
“Shh.”Noah wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his chest.“You have nothing to be sorry for.You were so brave.Meg, you were so brave.”
Behind them, he could hear Teague holding Jeremy down while Liam secured the kid with zip ties.Nimue and Eden were calling the police.
But Noah couldn’t focus on any of it.
All he could do was hold Meg, feel her breathing against him.Alive and warm and real.
She pulled back just enough to look at him, tears streaming down her face.“I had decided to find you.Before all this.I was going to tell you…”
“Tell me what?”His hands came up to cup her face, his thumbs brushing away her tears.
