Page 70 of Her Faithful Protector

“I’m fine,” he answered slowly. “How are you and Camilla?”

“Not so good. She’s walling herself up and having terrible nightmares. She needs counseling, but every time I broach the subject, she just freezes up.”

He heard Raiden sigh. “Sounds familiar.”

“You’re back here in Virginia, right?”

“Yeah. Lisa’s old boss from Wilderness Trekkers finally showed up in Miami and flew back with her to Arizona, so I flew home.”

Nic didn’t respond. What could he say? Raiden’s attachment to Lisa didn’t really make sense, but when did shit really need to make sense?

“You okay?” Nic finally asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s focus on Camilla.”

“Thanks, man. I suggested counseling, but she shut me down hard. Mom made a brief attempt, but it was too much like me saying something. She crashed and burned.”

“You know who might be able to get through to her, is Carys.”

“Carys?”

“Yep.”

Nic thought about Cullen’s wife and tried to think why she could help. Granted, she was a doctor, but still.

“Think about her work with all those abused women here and abroad,” Raiden said. “I’ve talked to Cullen about her, and she’s magic. I think you should invite her over, and then get the hell out of there.”

“Ya think?”

“Yeah, I really do.”

Nic took another look at Cami’s still form in the patio chair. She was breaking his heart. “Okay, I’ll call Cullen.”

“You do that, you won’t regret it.”

* * *

When she heard the knock on her bedroom door, Camilla looked up from her new phone. She looked back down and realized she didn’t even know what book she’d supposedly been reading. She sighed.

“Come in, Nic.”

The door slowly opened. He was smiling his Nic smile and she did her best to return it. By the look on his face, she knew she’d failed.

“Cullen’s here for a visit. He brought his wife. I ordered some pizza. I made sure there were extra olives. You interested?”

It took her a moment, then she remembered Cullen as the man who had covered her with the cloth back in the jungle. She felt her eyes tingle. She forced back the tears; she was so sick of crying.

“Cami?”

“How can I resist extra olives? I’ll be right out.”

He shut the door behind him and she took a deep breath. She looked over at the bottle of pain pills and thought about taking one. Her shoulder was only throbbing a little because she’d taken a pill an hour ago so she didn’t need one, but it would take the edge off of eating with Cullen and his wife.

She picked up the open bottle with her left hand and stared at it. She really wanted to do it. Great, add drug addiction to all your other problems.

She looked at how many pills there were. She had plenty. There was another refill on the bottle.

Fuck that noise!