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Seth turned. The stiff lines she’d seen in his posture didn’t show on his carefully blank face. When he caught sight of her, he pasted on a smile and opened his arms. “Angel, come here. I always want your company.”
She complied, trying to decide what to say next. They should talk about his outburst. But if she pressed too hard, she’d already seen how he would react. If she went on as if nothing had happened, she might never hear the truth. She didn’t have to know everything right now…but soon. He was hurting, and getting it out could only help him manage the pain.
Seth wrapped an arm around her shoulders and dropped a kiss to her head. “If you’re coming to check on me, you don’t need to worry. I just had a moment. I’m okay now. I’m sorry for the outburst.”
The tension in his body said otherwise. Was he trying to fool her? Or himself?
“I understand.” She sidestepped the topic with a wan smile. “I just came to tell you that Beck and I packed everything up, and he’s loading the car. We thought it best if we all headed home.”
Seth blinked in surprise. “I assumed we were going to stay and help Liam clean up the place.”
If that was the case, why had Seth been out here, doing his utmost to put distance between himself and the massacre in the front yard?
“Beck wants to look in on Dean, see if he can help in any way. And we’re both a little worried about River falling apart.”
“I should have thought about that. And you’re both ready now?”
She nodded. “We just said goodbye to everyone. Beck is probably waiting in the car.”
He seemed taken aback but plastered on another happy expression and took her hand. “Okay. Let’s go.”
Inside the lodge, he bid a quick farewell to the others. Liam pinned him with a long, probing glance. Seth responded with the same plastic smile. Heavenly didn’t like it. She really hoped that getting away from all the dead bodies and settling in at Beck’s house—their new shared home—would help soothe him.
After a last wave at the front door, Seth followed Heavenly outside, wrapping an arm around her and all but dragging her to the SUV. He helped her into the backseat, then followed, planting himself beside her and shutting the door.
She frowned. “You’re not going to sit up front?”
“Is it okay that I’d rather cuddle with you?” He flashed her his most charming smile, his gaze focused on her.
To avoid looking at the corpses littering the yard? Honestly, she couldn’t blame him. They made her queasy. She especially hated knowing that every one of those now departed was somebody’s child, parent, spouse, sibling, or friend. But as Gloria had pointed out, Seth had been a homicide detective. Compassion aside, dead bodies shouldn’t bother him.
“Of course it’s okay.” She buckled her seat belt and met Beck’s frown in the rearview mirror.
He looked worried.
Seth buckled up, then took her hand, bringing it to his lips for a kiss as Beck put the car in reverse.
“Stop. There’s a pile of crispy critters right behind you,” Seth warned as he glanced out the back windshield.
A woman wearing a drab blue FBI windbreaker appeared, stepping behind the SUV and holding up a hand to protect the charred corpses. Beck stepped on the brakes, put the car in gear, then headed down the gravel road. Seth continued peering out the back window.
Clearly, bodies didn’t bother him.
“Thanks for packing up, man.” He clapped Beck’s shoulder, then sat back. “If I had known you wanted to leave, I would have helped.”
“No problem. Heavenly and I managed pretty quickly.”
Silence fell again as Beck turned onto the paved road. The atmosphere in the car wasn’t awkward…but it wasn’t comfortable, either.
From the front seat, a phone buzzed, breaking the quiet. Beck swore and unlocked the phone with his face, then passed the device back to Heavenly. “It’s a text. Would you make sure it’s not from the hospital?”
She opened his messages, then read the most recent with a sigh of relief. “It’s from River. He says Dean just got out of surgery and is heading to recovery. All went well. They’re going to keep him overnight. River will send details when he has them.”
“Thank God.” Beck heaved out an audible breath. “Tell him I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Adam’s death was probably weighing on him. Losing one person who had helped save him from his biological family’s vengeance was difficult on Beck. Losing another, especially a friend, would be almost unbearable.
“Of course.” Heavenly laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Sounds like he’s going to be fine.”
