Then Wolf’s voice again.
“Blaze!”
“I’m coming.”
I kept my eyes on Flick another second.
Rain pounded the windows behind her.
Thunder rolled low across Eagle River.
And standing there in oversized borrowed clothes with fear still lingering in her eyes, she looked way too breakable for the kind of danger headed our way.
“You lock the door behind me,” I said.
“No.”
The answer came instantly.
Stubborn as hell.
Some things never changed.
“Flick—”
“I’m not hiding in a closet while you go downstairs with a gun!”
“You’d rather stand in the middle of a firefight?”
“I’d rather know what’s happening.”
Jesus Christ.
Sixteen years later, and she could still push every button I had.
I stepped closer before lowering my voice.
“If something goes wrong down there, I need to know you’re safe.”
The fight in her expression faltered slightly.
Because she heard what I didn’t say.
I can’t lose you again.
Her throat moved hard.
Then finally?—
“Okay.”
Barely audible.
I brushed my thumb once against her wrist before stepping away.
“Lock it after me.”
This time she nodded.
