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I can’t protect her here. I need to go home. How am I going to get us out of here if the death spreads? I need my husband. I trust Jay… I mean, I’m pretty sure I do? No, I do. But where is he? Did he touch the blackness? If he’s been with Cas, he could already be dead. Dammit! I knew coming here would end in disaster.
The blackness in the middle of the wall opens and JJ appears. Is he real? He walks toward me and crouches down in front of me. I wish I could bring my knees up to my chest to hide from everything, but I can’t. The second I feel his warm hand on my knee, I plead, “Please, take us home.”
I fear the tears streaming down my cheeks. What if the death clings to them and seeps into my skin? I quickly wipe them away, willing myself to hold it together.
“I can’t do that, babe. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t understand… I can’t stay here.”
“I know you can’t. I’m going to take you somewhere you and the baby will be safe.”
“You are? Where?”
“It’s a hospital with some of the best doctors who know how to keep you safe.”
I shake my head so hard, I feel my brain rattle. Cas said something about a place called Red Thorne. Is that where he’s taking me?
“You’re going to leave me, leave us, aren’t you?”
I struggle to breathe around the pain of my heart shattering. I couldn’t bear it if he left me. The thought is bad enough. I don’t think I could live if it became reality.
“No! I’m doing everything I can to bring you home to me. You’re more than my wife, Harper. You’re the most important part of me. I won’t be able to breathe properly until you’re at my side again.”
He kisses my forehead before I can shrink back, and I quickly scrub at the spot where I can still feel his lips. I can’t let the stink of the death from this place latch onto me.
“When you’re ready to come home, I’ll be there to pick you up. We’ll buy all the baby’s furniture, and we’ll write a list of names we both like. We’ll get ready to meet our baby, together,” he promises. And when our eyes meet, I see his future, feel his truth. Reaching out, I take his hand and let him help me up to my feet. When he wraps his arms around me, for a fleeting moment, the death surrounding us fades away.
“I love you so much. I just want you to be better,” he murmurs into my hair.
I keep my eyes closed as we leave the room. The need to look back and make sure the death isn’t following us is too overwhelming.
The only person untouched by death is the man I’m clinging to.
Jay keeps his arm around me as we walk through the bar, and I keep my eyes down. When we step outside, the fresh air hits me, and I inhale deeply as Jay opens the car door. I see Cas standing by the garages, and suddenly, the mania creeps back in. I climb into the car and sigh in relief when Jay closes me inside.
Just to be safe, I lean over the driver’s seat and make sure his window is rolled up tight before checking mine.
Cas can’t get me in here.
He can’t touch me.
Jay rounds the car, but is stopped by Myles and a brother I haven’t met before. Outside, it’s harder to see the death, but I know it’s there, hiding from me, waiting to collect me and my baby to claim for itself.
A knock at the window startles me. When I turn, I find Mason motioning for me to roll down the window. Making sure Cas isn’t any closer, I do as he asks. Mason keeps his distance, but I keep my hand on the button in case I need to shut him out.
“Hey, you. How are you feeling?” he asks.
“I’m fine.”
Fine is the perfect, unemotional answer that most people are happy to hear, and the one I stick with.
“Did JJ tell you where you’re going?”
I nod.
“You want me to keep an eye on him for you while you’re gone? We both know he can’t look after himself.”
The twinkle in his eye, and the slight smirk on his lips, has me giggling, easing the weight of my mind. I’ve always liked Mason and his twin brother, Myles. They don’t treat me like I need protecting, or like I can’t think for myself.
