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Dylan just moved behind me, hugging my knees. My heart sank automatically; Nathan would have been furious if he’d seen “his son” cower. But he was gone now, and my heart lifted again at the thought.
“Dylan.” I prompted him. The more they got to know my son, the more mercy they might have. But Dylan just stared at her.
“It’s nice to meet you, Dylan,” she said seriously, then stood. “Come with me.”
She headed toward the wide stairs that led to the second floor. I caught glimpses of other rooms: honey wood floors and potted plants and cozy couches. Candles flickered on an end table, sending a nice smell through the air, before Cole caught me looking and blew them out. Apparently he didn’t trust me.
I went up the stairs behind her, holding Dylan’s hand. Art hung on the wall alongside the stairs, along with family photos. Brennan grinned out at me from one of them, and I bit my lip at a sudden surge of emotion that spiked through me.
These people were the only ones I’d ever met who might have loved Brennan too.
Too bad they hated me.
For now, I had to focus. We had reached a long hallway, lined with wooden doors, all closed.
She seemed to hesitate, then, impulsively, pushed open a door and led me in.
“Karissa,” Cole said warningly behind me. Then he sighed as if he already knew she wouldn’t listen.
A warm, musky scent washed over me. Brennan’s scent. For a second, I thought he was still here in the room with me, that he had survived, and I gasped. My heart lifted, then crashed down all over again as sense won out.
I’d watched Nathan’s enforcers drag away Brennan’s dead body.
She wheeled around, looking at me with knowing eyes, but said nothing. The next second, I had to wonder if I’d just imagined the scent at all.
We were in a large bedroom with windows that overlooked the creek behind the house. Bookcases lined one wall, with a window seat built between them. Several guitars hung on the plain white wall, though there was an empty spot. He had brought his favorite guitar with him when we ran.
The room was bright and clean, and a door led into a private bathroom. We were at the back of the house, and French doors led to a small balcony. Through the doors, I glimpsed a small bridge over a creek, and just beyond the creek were the woods.
“You should be comfortable here,” Karissa said. “Let me go get you some clothes.”
As soon as she had left, Dylan raised his face to study me. His eyes were wide, and I stumbled for something to say.
I didn’t want to tell him everything was fine. I didn’t want to lie here any more than I had when Nathan was the threat. Instead, I swept him into my arms and sat with him on the edge of the bed. “The creek outside is pretty. It would be nice for us to explore.”
I wanted to tell him that his father had listened to the same burbling creek, that he used to sleep in this bed, that he had played those guitars. But something tight pressed in my chest.
I’d never been able to talk to Dylan about his father. If he’d said something childish and innocent to Nathan… I shuddered, turning my mind away from what Nathan might have done.
She returned, her arms heaped with what had to be half her wardrobe, which she dropped on the foot of the bed. “There’s still some old clothes in the closet, but they won’t fit you. All my brothers are the size of monsters. I’ll get Cole to take them out and make space.”
“That’s okay,” I said quickly. If those clothes might carry more of Brennan’s scent, I wanted to put my face in them and breathe in the smell I’d missed for the last five years.
Heavy footsteps behind me startled me, but it was just Cole carrying a storage tote. He looked at me as if he’d seen the way my terror spiked, and his jaw worked once, but he didn’t say anything.
He dropped the tote on the rug and left, returning with another one. I tried to smile as though I hadn’t just reacted like a frightened wild bird, but I caught Karissa watching me.
She jerked her gaze away from my face and knelt to open the tub. “Come on, Dylan, let’s see what we’ve got here. Ooh, Christmas sweaters, you don’t want any of that. I remember when Mom went through this smocking phase. You should’ve seen big scary Stone as a kid dressed in a little smocked onesie . . . In fact, I might have some photos I can rustle up later.”
Some of my tension eased at her prattle. She was overwhelming, but I liked Karissa already.
Cole appeared with another tub, and he crouched to set it down while giving her a pained expression. “Karissa . . .”
“Oh, you’re always so loyal, Cole, it’s adorable.” She patted his cheek. “But Stone is my brother, and I’ll embarrass him if I wish to, thank you. That’s just family.”
Cole shook his head and sat down on the floor, pulling his legs up crisscross. He patted a strip of masking tape: TOYS was written across the top in Sharpie. To Dylan, he said, “This tub claims to be toys. Want to see what’s inside?”
Dylan just stared at him, but Cole seemed undeterred. He took the lid off the box. “Oh, wow, toy cars! This kind is my favorite. I like how you can pull it back . . .” He raked a car backward along the carpet, then let it go, and it sped toward Dylan. “And then it zooms!”
