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Huck was here. He’d been here all along. Today, when I had hidden in the pantry with a knife, he’d been somewhere. Outside? In his room? Where had he been during the day? He had to have been close if he was here to protect me.
Maybe it was in the envelope. Perhaps Blaise had told me Huck was here and why. It was too thick to just be a letter, and I knew that.
I reached for the drawer, then stopped myself.
No. I couldn’t do it. Not yet. I needed more time.
Three
Madeline
The smell of bacon woke me. Not in a pleasant way. My feet hit the floor, and I ran for the toilet. The little that was in my stomach from the day before came up as I gripped the cold porcelain with one hand and held my hair back with the other. When I was finished, I stood up and flushed the toilet, then went to the sink to wipe my face.
The sensitivity in my stomach the past few days had gotten worse. The arrival of Huck had to be why it had reached the vomit stage. Having him here was a reminder of Blaise, which would now be in my face until I could figure out how to leave.
Standing in front of the mirror, I stared at the hollowness of my cheekbones and the dark circles under my eyes. I’d lost weight. I didn’t know how much, but my clothes were loose. Saxon had been worried about me not eating, and I had tried to for his sake.
The knowledge that he’d been keeping Huck’s presence here a secret hurt.
How many people would I trust and be slapped in the face with it? This would be the end of it. I was going to leave and go far away. Start a life in a place that had no connection to them at all.
Picking up my pink toothbrush that Saxon had bought me only made me think of his betrayal even more. Everything I had at the moment, he’d supplied it for me. I wasn’t going to be able to push thoughts of my so-called friend away anytime soon. Brushing my teeth made me gag a little. I needed to eat something. That would help.
I pulled off my shirt before taking the bra I’d left on the back of the bathroom door last night after my shower. No longer being alone in the house meant I wasn’t going braless. I slipped it on, then pulled my T-shirt back over my head.
I could still smell the bacon when I walked into my bedroom, and my stomach began to roll again. The trauma of last night had definitely set me off. I fought the nausea as I opened my door and stepped out.
Glancing over the railing, I found Huck standing at the coffeepot. Now that I knew he was here, I was going to have to deal with him. It seemed he wasn’t going to do me the favor of hiding.
Getting free of Blaise and his people would be my main focus until I could figure out how to do it. It wasn’t like I could walk down the mountain. The rental probably had a tracker on it. Spending the little cash I had that was mine to get an Uber or taxi to get down the mountain would leave me broke.
Swallowing against the bile in my throat, I went down the stairs. Huck looked up at me from his coffee cup as I entered.
He nodded toward the stove. “You need to eat. You look like hell.”
I felt like hell. The bacon smell was making the thought of any food sound unappealing. “Why are you in the house? I thought you would go back to being invisible,” I snapped.
He grinned. “What, and deprive you of my company?”
I rolled my eyes and headed for the door out to the balcony. It wouldn’t smell like food out there. Huck wouldn’t be out there either.
“You’re gonna eat, Maddy,” he said as I reached the door.
I ignored him and grabbed my blanket from the sofa before opening the door and stepping outside to the fresh, cool air. Sighing in relief, I took my spot in the rocking chair and curled up, wrapping the blanket around me. This was better.
The door opening behind me, however, snatched my brief escape right back. Huck walked up to me, holding a plate of food. I shook my head as my stomach turned at the sight of the bacon.
“If you don’t fucking eat, I’m gonna force it down your throat,” he told me.
I glared up at him. “If you don’t get it out of my face, I’m going to throw up, and I will aim it directly at you.”
Huck didn’t move. He frowned as he stared at me. I turned away from his appraisal to look out over the mountains. Maybe if I pretended he wasn’t here, then he’d go away.
