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Before she got a step away, he grabbed her rope bound wrists through her jacket. “You think I missed this too?” His attention was on her. Being just that good at what he did was an understatement. He really saw everything. Using his curled forefinger, he moved her chin to tip her face toward the light. “Who hit you and where can I find him?”
“Baby,” she said, under the pressure of urgency. “I really have to go. Are any of my things upstairs?” Much as she didn’t want to, she forced herself to look at Leonard. “Leonard’s armed by the way. I’m guessing he won’t be out for long.”
“He’ll be out for as long as I want him to be out,” Daire said, the direction of his voice betraying that he’d gone toward the Beast. “You going to tell me what the fuck is going on?”
“I can’t,” she said, noticing her letter on the ground. “The clock is ticking. I really have to get out of here fast.”
Creeping around Leonard, she crouched to pick the letter up, almost dropping her jacket in the process.
As she straightened, Daire snatched her arm. Typical, she hadn’t heard him approach. “Long way to come for a letter,” he said, tossing her jacket over his shoulder to cut through the rope with the knife he’d obviously retrieved from the now open Beast. “He find out we were writing?”
“What?” she asked, enchanted by the length of his eyelashes.
Noticing such a ridiculous thing in such a crucial moment felt equal parts insane and vital. In London, she’d been sure they would see each other again. After leaving there, she wasn’t so sure they would.
“Zeus,” he said before putting the knife to his mouth and curling his fingers around her wrist to run the others up her arm, maybe checking for injuries.
The knife was in his teeth. Oh, wow, she closed her eyes, failing to believe she’d forgotten how proximity to her Heart aroused her. Every little detail. Every part of him. She’d missed him so much. Having him back, even for a brief spell was a fantasy come to life.
“Stop,” she whispered. The pressure in her chest increased when he put her hand on his hip and stepped closer to inspect the other arm the same way. “Oh, God, Daire, please…”
He released the knife to let it drop into his hand. “Please what, baby?” he murmured, his fingers floating down her cheek. “What does my Temptress need?”
Without thought, her eyes opened, her head swaying loose on her neck. “Only one thing in the whole wide world,” she whispered. Grief wet her eyes again and sharpened her next inhale. “The one thing I can’t have.” Against every instinct, she took his hand away from her face and lowered it to his side. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.”
With the letter still in hand, she snatched her jacket from his shoulder and turned to dash into the house. Whatever of hers that was left would cover her needs for a few days. It would be too dangerous to stay in town, and too dangerous to be seen in stores or obvious places where Z might find her.
Working around Harry’s things in the master closet, she stuffed her piled-up clothes into a gym bag. There were a bunch of bills in a drawer too. Her father might be mad at her for stealing from him, but she had no choice.
Making sure to put Daire’s letter and her jacket in the bag too, she caught sight of herself in the mirror and paused. The redness on her cheek was growing, it would bruise for sure. Swelling at the corner of her eye didn’t bode well… Except the blur in her vision wasn’t caused by any kind of pain. Not physical pain anyway. Saying goodbye would be torture. She couldn’t stay. She just couldn’t. Zeus could come for her… or he’d make the men there pay for harboring her.
Rushing back down the stairs, she went to the kitchen and grabbed some bottles of water from the fridge and power bars from a drawer. God only knew when she’d be able to stop again. Leaving Daire was bad enough; doing it without answering questions was almost cruel. Loitering could cost them all. If Harry came back and decided to talk it out with Zeus, she’d be found out.
Zeus thought the keys were there, he’d tell Harry that. If she had to admit that they weren’t there and never would be, the next step would be telling them who really had them. She wouldn’t do it and definitely didn’t want to put her father in the position of ordering his men to torture her. And Daire, how would…
What the…? On entering the garage, tossing the strap of the bag over her head, she expected to see Daire. And Leonard. And the Beast. She was oh for three.
“What in the…” Crossing the space, that was so much bigger without the Beast in it, the glint of silver on the street brought her attention around. “Oh my God…”
Striding down the driveway, she held up her arm to shield her eyes from the sun, ignoring how her ribs ached. There it was, the Beast, on the street, attached to the truck that Daire was leaping out of.
“We said early!” he called out, smirking.
Glad that someone could smile, she stopped to shake her head. “No,” she said. “You can’t.”
“I say what I can do,” he said, coming over to take her hand. “We in a hurry?”
“What about Leonard?”
“Bagged and tagged,” he said, leading her down the driveway and around the hood of the truck.
“You killed him?”
He smiled but seemed to be watching her feet… or maybe her legs. “No, just tied him up and put him in an empty closet. Harry will find him eventually.”
“Eventually,” she muttered as he opened the passenger door and gestured for her to get in. “We can’t… You can’t…”
“Remember what happened the last time you tried to ditch me?” he said, taking the strap of the bag off over her head. “Didn’t regret that did you?”
