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“He’ll be okay,” Jackson called from much further down the hall. No doubt unwilling to come anywhere near invading Rey’s space, he lingered in the shadows and tried to reassure her in loud tones. “Mr. Kahler wouldn’t have sent you back if there was a problem.”
“You don’t know that,” Devin said in a broken whisper, curling around Rey’s pillow as she began to weep in earnest.
Jackson left her alone. Let her drown in her sorrows and fears. He wandered the dark rooms and kept watch in the hall, making sure the guards were at their positions and handing out any orders Rey relayed to him. This wasn’t his job, a point driven home as one of the Alphas guarding the back door growled curses at the large Beta for daring to issue commands.
Eyes red rimmed and still sniffling, Devin climbed from the bed towards the kitchen where the fast-growing sounds of violence rushed into the shadowy spaces of her home. She felt jittery, nerves raw as every hint of noise made her jump.
Neither male saw her approaching. Not until she jerked Jackson’s gun free from the waist of his pants, shoving it hard into the belly of the guard. The click of the safety as she thumbed it off was loud in the sudden stillness.
“Shut the fuck up and do as he said,” she snarled, jabbing the barrel deep into the man’s stomach once more. Meeting his gaze head on, she lifted a single dark brow as his lip curled. From this close, she knew she wouldn’t miss her mark.
Rey would be angry she shot one of his men, but he wouldn’t hold it against her once she explained.
As if the realization flipped some switch, she wanted to do it. Desperate for the Alpha to make a wrong move so she could feel his blood spilling over her hands, she ground the end of the gun into him.
“Okay,” Jackson whispered, easing his body between Devin and the guard until she had to pull the gun back or risk hurting him. “Let’s all take it easy now. Will is going to go back outside now, Devin, okay? So how about you lower the gun.”
“Not until he does whatever you told him to do.”
“That’s exactly what Mr. Rey said for him to do. Wait outside until he gets back.”
“Bullshit,” Devin hissed, firming her grip though the solid weight of the metal made her hand tremble.
“He’s just pissed it’s coming from me, honey,” Jackson murmured, giving a small shake of his head to Will’s wide eyes at the endearment. “Now let Will get back outside before he gets in trouble for not doing what he’s supposed to. Speaking of which, Mr. Rey said to make sure you knew where everything was. He’ll be pissed at me if I don’t.”
The memory of Jackson’s bruised and torn face bubbled up from the murky depths of her thoughts. Devin gasped, her arm falling straight down. As her fingers went slack, only Jackson’s quick movements kept the gun from crashing to the floor.
The guard, Will, took a slow step back and then another. When Devin made no outward move to threaten him further, he gave a tight nod to Jackson and slipped out into the darkness of the backyard. He pulled the door shut, the quiet click of the latch trembling through Devin’s bones.
“Come on, Devin,” Jackson said quietly, his hand hovering near her shoulder, but not daring to touch. “Let me show you where they put things.”
Devin nodded and turned, following him deeper into the house. She didn’t miss the fact Jackson put his gun in the front waist of his pants and well out of her easy reach.
It seemed to take ages for Jackson to lead her through each room, opening closet doors, pulling out drawers to reveal caches bristling with a small armory. More weapons tucked away behind furniture and in out of the way places. The bedroom alone seemed to be outfitted with enough firepower to stop a decent sized army.
“He’s added more,” Jackson said as he beat a hasty retreat out of the bedroom after Devin sat on the corner of the bed to stare in shocked silence at the massive rifles stored alongside their summer clothes in linen boxes.
“How do you know all this,” Devin asked, rubbing at the raw feeling lodged in her throat.
“I helped him with some of it before he brought you here, and more after. Mr. Rey told me where some new spots were when he called.”
Devin nodded again. All of this had been here the whole time. She could have used any one of these to end it all if she’d just opened her eyes and looked. It seemed so obvious now. None of it had helped Rey when Caivano came to their door with his mercenaries though.
They still gunned him down.
They still took her.
Devin launched from the bed, rushing out of the bedroom that smelled of Rey and comfort. Switching on every light as she went, she left Jackson stammering in her wake as she burst into the kitchen. Yanking pots and pans from their respective drawers, she let them clatter onto the stove.
Her resolve crumbled for a moment, dragging her to a full stop in the middle of the large space to sway, blue eyes widening against the burn of tears before she pushed herself back into motion. Slamming open the doors of the refrigerator, Devin began pulling out food by the arm load.
“Devin? You okay?” Jackson remained near the doorway, unable to hide the unease threading through his voice and pinching his features.
“Fine,” she whispered as she pulled out cutting boards and knives, laying them out on the counter with careful precision.
Each second dragged out into hours as she began going through every recipe she knew. She collapsed to the floor beside the open fridge in a flood of tears, back wedged against the unforgiving breadth of a cabinet when she realized the milk had gone bad. Before Jackson could even attempt to placate her, she was barking orders and shouting demands, vaulting up from the floor to storm around.
She knew she was being irrational. All of it was ridiculous and bordering on insane, but each moment she didn’t keep her hands in peril of being slashed open or burned was a second too long. It opened the black vault of horror waiting in the back of her mind, flashing images of Rey mutilated and broken. Even Beau made an appearance in them.
