“SHIT, EVIE!” HE shouted as the bullet smashed into a tree beside his head. “What the fuck are you doing?”

I stood panting with the gun in my hand until it began to feel too heavy and slipped from my fingers. The instant it smacked heavily against the ground, I started running.

I hurtled toward Clay and leaped into his arms.

“I got him,” I murmured. Then my voice increased in volume as the truth in my words echoed through me. “I got him. He’s gone.”

“Christ, Evie, did you go after the shadow on your own?” He clutched me tightly.

“I didn’t mean to, I wasn’t going to, but he was here, Clay, he was here.” The stress left my body in shuddering sobs. I buried my face in his neck to hide the tears. “I couldn’t let him get you.”

Clay’s body was rigid. “How could you be so stupid!” he snapped.

I stepped away from him. “W—What?”

“You can’t just run into these things blindly. Some things can’t be killed by bullets or by knives, or by any manmade object. There are creatures that are impervious to all manner of weapons. Others would even laugh in the face of your fire. You have to know what you are fighting.”

“I—I got him. He’s dead.”

“Where’s the body then?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “He disappeared. But he was bleeding. He’s hurt.”

“You have to include me in your plans.” Clay growled. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to wake up to an empty bed with screaming and gunfire outside?”

I shook my head as the guilt crept in. I hadn’t even considered what would happen if he’d heard the noise. It wasn’t like I could blame the sunbird for taking control either; it was me who’d wanted to keep Clay safe. It was me who’d grabbed the gun and it was me who’d ended it all.

“I can’t go through that again. I can’t lose you, Evie. Dammit, I just can’t.”

“I’m sorry,” I murmured.

“You. Have. To. Trust. Me.” Each word issued from him in a seething rage. “If I tell you to stay by my side, it’s because I have a damned good reason for it. In there, I could have protected you.”

I shook my head. He knew no more about the creature than I did. He had no more guarantee for my safety than I did facing off with the creature alone. If anything, he might have been more susceptible because we weren’t sure whether he could even see the damned thing.

“How?” I challenged.

“What?”

“How would you have protected me? You have no better idea of how to kill this thing than I do. At least I can actually see it.”

“You can see it,” he bit back in a sarcastic tone, “because it’s stalking you. Because it wants you dead.”

Tears blocked my vision. I reached for his arm but stopped myself at the last second.

“Just go inside,” Clay’s voice flooded with disappointment.

“No!” I snapped. “You don’t always know better! You might have some training, but I have my instincts and you know what? They work. I kept myself alive for years without you by my side. I survived despite your sister hunting me. I survived despite every single damned obstacle that was thrown at me. And there were many.”

“You were damned lucky! That’s all. Any one of those things could have killed you.”

“But they didn’t,” I spat at him as I strode past, pacing toward the house with quick and deliberate steps, desperate to be away from him before my anger spiked any further.

By the time I’d reached the back garden, I was running. The stress of the hunt, the belief that I’d somehow failed Clay, and the anger that burned through me at his reaction caused my tears to flow in a rapid stream. I raced into the bedroom, slamming each of the doors shut behind me before pressing my face into the pillow to cry in peace.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. He’s meant to love me. I assumed he’d support me; that we’d help each other.

My stomach twisted as my dry throat protested in agony to the sobs that issued from my chest.

I thought he trusted me.

Sometime later, Clay walked into the bedroom and sat on the bed opposite me. He placed his hand on my side.

“Evie, I’m sorry,” he murmured.

Unable to shake the sting in my chest that his earlier words and displeasure had caused, and worried that my anger would spiral again if I tried to confront him about it all, I twisted away from his grip and pulled the pillows tighter to me.

He pulled back the blanket on his side of the bed and climbed underneath. “It just scared the hell out of me.”

I sniffed back the fresh bout of tears that were fighting their way to the surface as he rolled over onto his side, facing away from me.

“How could you be so stupid!” His words repeated themselves through my mind.

I saved his life.

I saved both of our lives.

How could he react that way?

At some point, I must have fallen asleep. My dreams were filled once more with smoke and fire, and with the mask of hatred I’d seen Clay wear before.

I woke with a gasp to an empty bed.

Did he leave?

Cold fingers reached into my chest and strangled my heart. Had I driven him away with my choice to try to save him and free us of the relentless pursuit? Had the silent treatment I’d given him the night before been too much for him to handle?

A whimper escaped me at the possibility that I’d driven him from my life again.

So many stupid choices!

I sat up and looked over to the corner of the room where we’d dumped our backpacks. If he’d left, he would have taken that with him.

They were both gone.

My fingers twisted into the blanket that covered my lap, and it heated rapidly.

“Good morning,” Clay’s warm voice said hesitantly.

“Clay,” I breathed as I turned toward the sound. A smile touched the corners of my mouth and my fingers loosened their strangle hold on the blanket, saving it from combustion.

He stood near the bathroom door watching me carefully, fresh from a shower and clean-shaven. Losing the beard had knocked at least five years off of his appearance and made him appear almost boyish again.

“I thought you might have left,” I admitted.

He leaned against the door jam. “It’s going to take a hell of a lot more than one silly fight to drive me from your side.”

He crossed the room and sat in front of me.

“I am sorry about yesterday,” he said, brushing my cheek lightly with the back of his finger. “I was an ass.”

“You were an ass, but you were right too.”

He raised an eyebrow at me.

“I didn’t know what I was fighting. I rushed headlong into it, and it could have gotten me killed. It didn’t,” I added before he could claim too much of the victory. “But it could have.”

“I need to trust you more too,” he said. “I left you once because I was certain you could look after yourself better than I could protect you. I guess seeing you in the hospital, twice, made me realize you aren’t invincible.”

I frowned. I hadn’t even considered that he’d come so close to losing me before. Between that and his training, the desire to protect me was only natural.

“I’m sorry too,” I whispered.

He leaned into me, brushing his smooth cheek against mine. “It’s been a hell of a week.”

A sarcastic bark of laughter left my lips. “You can say that again.”

“I think you’re right though,” he said. “I think you might have got it. There was a lot of blood on the bracken down there.”

“We can only hope. When should we check in with Ethan again?”

“If you see it again, we’ll call him. Until then, it’ll just be us. Eth doesn’t need to know where we are or the direction we’ve traveled.”

I nodded. “Just us? I have to say, I like the sound of that.”

His eyes trailed my body. “I thought you might.” His hand caressed my cheek and he tilted his head slightly to brush his lips over mine. When he shifted, the towel that had been wrapped around his waist fell away.

I hummed. “I really like the sound of that.”

 

 

I WAS JUST finishing dressing after a shower when there was a knock on the front door. Almost in the same instant, Clay charged into the bathroom and threw my packed bag at me.

“Evie, we gotta go,” he whispered, his tone full of urgency. “It’s the police.”

We crept to the back of the house with as little sound as possible, peeking out the window to ensure the police weren’t in the yard yet. When we pushed the door open, shouts of surprise indicated that someone was watching for us.

“Just run!” Clay cried out.

“You don’t need to tell me twice.”

I wrapped my fingers in his, and we rushed into the forest, heading past the place where I’d fought the Shadow, racing ever deeper into the gloom until it looked as though we’d wandered into the middle of a fairyland. I could almost imagine the fairy rings that Aiden had shown me during my time at the court bringing them to places like this.

They’d sure come in handy right about now.

“Through here,” Clay said, indicating a darker patch between some trees.

We rushed toward it, running as fast as possible until the shouting and clamor behind us started to die down and eventually fell away. Even though the sounds of pursuit had disappeared, we continued to run, climbing over rocks and boulders that rose randomly throughout the forest.

“I think we need a car. They’ll have the dogs out for us soon.”

“You think they were there for us?” I asked. “Because of Zarita?”

“Who knows? It’s more likely to be to do with the gunfire and screaming, but maybe. If they’re not, it won’t take them long to realize it’s a stolen vehicle. Even if Zarita hasn’t been found yet, it won’t be too long before she is.”

We slowed down a little in order to save our legs and breath in case the police caught up with us sooner than we expected. Eventually, we left the confines of the forest, near the small village of Ottenhöfen. Locating a car on a quiet street, Clay set to work getting it started while I kept watch. As soon as the engine was purring, I climbed in and threw my backpack onto the backseat.

“We’re just like a modern day Bonnie and Clyde,” I remarked as I twisted my head to see whether there was anyone watching us.

“Don’t.” His voice was harsh.

I turned to meet his eye.

“Just don’t compare us with them,” he murmured. “Their story doesn’t exactly have a happy ending. Besides, we’re nothing like that. We’re not just doing this for shits and giggles.”

“I know,” I said, brushing my hand across his cheek. “I was only joking.”

His mouth pressed into a hard line.

“Let’s get out of here,” I said.

We didn’t stop for anything but gas. We turned away from the country roads, heading first for Stuttgart and then north until we eventually found ourselves in Hamburg with a choice, continue north to Denmark and Sweden or turn east toward Poland. Either way, it was a risk. Either way, we could be caught.

Eventually, we decided to risk heading toward Sweden, hoping to find somewhere completely secluded. We drove without a specific city in mind, just an idea of finding absolute seclusion; somewhere we could hide for a few months until we were ready to decide our next step.

Unlike our last reunion in Detroit, when we’d tried to settle among the masses, we were determined to find somewhere so remote, so isolated, that we’d be able to see and hear anyone coming long before they arrived. We wanted to find a hideaway where we wouldn’t need money or jobs to survive. Somewhere defensible, just in case the shadow wasn’t dead and came back to haunt us, or the Rain found us.

After days of driving and searching the Norrland area, we found the perfect place. It was a tiny, abandoned log cabin nestled upon hectares of forested land about fifty miles from Kiruna.

It was clear from the first glimpse at the dwelling that it was totally ramshackle and falling to pieces, but it had promise. Even without a detailed inspection, the repairs required were obvious. They would take weeks of hard work to make it even barely habitable. By the time we really comprehended the work involved, we were already in love with the character of the place and the land surrounding it. It was worth whatever effort we needed to make to make it ours.

During the first few days, it had done little more than provide us with shelter from the elements, but we knew we’d have all the time in the world to fix it up. During the daylight hours, we sawed wood and painstakingly repaired all of the damage caused by the years of neglect. The tiny cottage would never be five-star accommodation, but it was everything we needed.

 

 

“DID YOU mean what you said back in Charlotte?” I nestled my head against Clay’s chest as I asked the question. “About teaching me self-defense?”

“Of course. Why?”

I rolled onto my stomach so I could see him better. “I just thought while we’re here . . . alone.”

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me onto his chest. “I can think of better things to do with our alone time.” He kissed my forehead.

“I bet you can, but I can’t exactly use those skills if I’m threatened.”

He chuckled. “It might be interesting if you tried.”

“You say that now but you’d sing a different tune if it actually happened.”

His brows furrowed as my words registered with him. He hummed. “You’re probably right about that. You’re mine, I don’t want to even think of anyone else being that close to you.”

“I don’t want anyone else.” I kissed the corner of his mouth before peppering light kisses along his jaw.

“Okay, we’ll start your training tomorrow.”

“What’s wrong with today?” I asked, kissing his neck just below his ear. I’d made the mistake of “one day” with Dad; I didn’t want to do the same with Clay. “Isn’t there some saying about today and tomorrow and stuff?”

“I have other plans for today,” he growled before flipping us both so I was on my back and his body pressed against mine.

“Tomorrow it is then,” I murmured moments before he claimed my lips.

 

 

“GET UP.” Clay’s voice was unrelenting and unrepentant.

I groaned. Every part of my body ached, even the parts I didn’t know had existed until they’d begun to protest against having to work so hard.

“Get off the ground and attack me again.” He didn’t seem to care that I was in agony on the floor.

“Just give me a minute to catch my breath,” I begged.

“Do you think any of the Rain will give you a time-out if you’re in the middle of a fight?”

I dragged myself to my feet. “No, but I don’t see any of them around here right now. All I see is you.” Being an ass, I added silently.

He narrowed his eyes at me. “You asked me to train you, and I am, but you have to take it seriously.”

“I did ask you to train me, and you’ve been doing a damned good job of it.” I moved away from him. “Too damned good,” I murmured under my breath.

He was overly demanding, training me for hours at a time every single day. We barely spoke lately outside of his barked instructions. I brushed the dirt off myself and turned back toward him, immediately falling into the defensive position he’d shown me.

“Ready now?” he asked with a derisive tone in his voice.

Not for the first time, I regretted reminding him of his promise to train me. When I didn’t answer, he took it as confirmation that I was ready for another round of sparring and his arm shot forward without any additional warning. I ducked to avoid his fist before reaching for it the way he’d shown me. My hands grabbed at his wrist, and I used the advantage to pull his body closer to mine. He hadn’t shown me any actual throws yet, although I was beginning to long for the day he would so I could force him onto his ass for once.

“Good,” he murmured against my ear. His breath tickled across my neck as he spoke.

Under any other circumstances, it might’ve been enjoyable, but I ignored the feeling of warmth it caused in my middle. I’d learned on day one that he refused to allow any pleasure or distraction to interrupt his training methods.

“Now let’s do it again.” He stepped away and, without even giving me a moment to reset, launched another attack.

I twisted at the last second, narrowly avoiding his fist. Still spinning, I reached for his wrist and pinned it to the side of my body.

“I wasn’t ready,” I complained.

He rolled his eyes. “You think someone attacking you is going to wait until you are ready? They’ll find a moment of weakness and attack.”

My anger spiked as he went to pull his hand back. I refused to let go, and a moment later, the scent of singed hair filled the air.

“Ow, Evie!” He yanked his hand away. “You’re supposed to be learning how to defend yourself without using that ability.”

“You think if someone attacks me, the sunbird won’t react?” I countered in the same tone he’d used on me moments earlier.

He rubbed the spot where I’d burned him and narrowed his eyes at me. “That’s not the same thing.”

“It’s entirely the same thing.”

“I thought you wanted me to teach you how to defend yourself?”

“I did. I do! I just don’t want to lose what we have in the process.”

“Lose what we have?” He looked at me for a moment, genuinely lost and confused over my words. For a moment, I felt sorry for him, until I remembered his barking instructions. “What do you mean?”

“You’re being an ass, and it makes me not want to be here with you.” I stepped toward him, reaching out for his hand. “I miss you.” I wrapped my fingers around his.

“Miss me? I’m right here.”

I brought his hand to my lips. “I miss this. Us.”

“You think I’m being too demanding?” he asked.

I barked out a laugh and immediately regretted it. “A little.”

“I just don’t want anything to happen to you. I know we’re here alone, but that could be interrupted any day now.”

“I know,” I said. “And I do get it, but you need to know when to back off.”

“Back off?” he repeated.

I nodded. “And when to let loose a little. There’s nothing wrong with slacking off from time to time, so long as we’re covering what we need to. Look how much I’ve learned already, and it’s only been a few weeks.”

“You’re a fast learner.”

I smiled and stepped closer to him. “All I’m saying is maybe training doesn’t have to be all work.”

He tilted his head as he assessed me.

“Maybe it can be a little bit of fun too?” I turned in his arms so my back pressed against his front.

“A little bit of fun?” he repeated, his breath tickling over my hair. “Won’t that be distracting?”

I closed my eyes as the warmth of his body and the delightful sensation of his soft breath against the back of my neck sent desire flooding through me. “Immensely distracting, but even that could prove to be a useful training technique.”

He pressed his lips against the back of my neck. “How so?” he murmured against my skin.

“You know, training to be prepared under any situation and all that.”

“I think you’re a little devious.”

I turned around again and wrapped my arms around his neck. “As if you didn’t already know that.”

“I’ll think about what you said,” he murmured as he kissed me. “I want you to be safe, but I don’t want it at the cost of pushing you away.”

“Me either,” I said as our kisses grew hotter. “We just need balance.”

He lifted my legs around his waist and threaded his hands into my hair. “Balance is definitely not a bad thing.”

I chuckled against his lips. “Now who’s being devious?”

With his arms wrapped around me, I stopped to breathe in the moment. For once, I didn’t need to run. Wrapped in the embrace of the forest around us, our cabin was nestled far from prying eyes. I was safe and exactly where I needed to be, tucked away with Clay in our secluded little corner of the world.

We could finally be together, alone and undisturbed.

At least for the moment.

 

 

THE END

Evie and Clay return in :

 

 

 

Excerpt:

 

We walked about half a mile from our shack, heading straight into the thickest part of the forest—moving away from the place where I’d seen the shadow . . . or something. The sun was out, but the expanse of tall pine trees in the forest blocked most of the light and gave the whole area an otherworldly feel. I’d been into the forests often enough during our stay in Sweden, but it was different coming in so soon after the possible sighting of the shadow. Sinister even. Every deepened silhouette gained new menace.

The dark patches and huge pine trees reminded me of the forest in Germany where I’d gone in, guns blazing—literally—to attack the shadow. The only difference was that then pine needles littered the ground beneath the trees and now it was a layer of powdery snow.

The deafening cry of pain and the crack of the gunfire reached to me from that time, echoing in the silence around me. The force of the thought was strong, the memory so vivid, that my heart raced and I froze in place, unable to take even one more step. My knees trembled, ready to give out beneath me.

“Evie?” Clay questioned when I came to a sudden stop.

I glanced at him, and he must have seen some indication of my concern in my eyes.

He frowned for a moment, before deciding on something and nodding to himself.

“Okay, let’s do a few practice shots here first, shall we? We can move onto hunting some deer a little later.”

I agreed, once again thankful that he seemed willing to try to take my mind off the possible threat. I tried to play along and fake it as best as I could.

“On one condition,” I said.

He tilted his head in question.

“I get to try some actual hunting before you take over and ruin it for me this time.”

“You’re just upset because I hold the record for most kills,” he said.

I gasped indignantly. “We’ve only gone hunting with the bow twice, and the first time you wouldn’t even let me touch the damned thing.”

He grinned, and I saw his devious intention. He’d clearly chosen words that were certain to gain a reaction and ignite the fire that burned within, bringing me back to the light.

“Okay, I promise this time you can try to bag us some food. But if you miss after three shots, I win.”

My lips split into a grin. “Sure, I’ll try. And if I lose, it’ll simply be a reflection on the quality of my trainer,” I teased in retaliation.

“Well then, I better make sure that you don’t miss, because I happen to know for a fact that your trainer is one of the best around.”

“That he is. He’s super modest too.”

Clay chuckled as he handed me the bow before pulling the quiver of arrows off his shoulder and placing it on the ground. Next, he threw an arm guard and shooting glove at me. After slipping them on as fast as I was able, I let him know that I was ready. He handed me the quiver, which I slung onto my back.

“Perfect,” he said. “Let’s practice nocking the arrow first. You’re going to need to learn how to do it quickly if you want to use the bow for hunting.”

“Or for self-defense,” I added in a murmur.

He frowned at my meaning, knowing he hadn’t been as successful in taking my mind off the shadow as he’d hoped.

Reaching over my shoulder, I grabbed an arrow from the quiver before pressing the back of it against the string, leaving one finger on either side of it and half-drawing the bow.

“Not bad,” he said. “But try it again. Faster this time.”

Tugging the arrow loose of the bowstring, I put it back into the quiver and tried again, striving to increase my speed. After successfully nocking the arrow ten times, getting successively quicker with each attempt, I was pleased with my progress, and Clay seemed to be suitably impressed as well.

He grinned widely. “Perfect. Now let’s try aiming. Remember, keep the shaft perpendicular to the target and use both of your eyes to sight your mark.”

Nodding, I held the bow in my left hand and placed my feet parallel to each other.

“This time, nock the arrow and do a practice draw. Keep your eyes on the target as much as you can.”

Lifting the large bow in my arms, I leveled it and lined up my shot before loosening the draw and dropping the bow. “How’s that?”

“Show me again.”

I repeated the process, and he watched closely, assessing each of my movements and studying my hands.

“Very good, but you’re aiming a little low.” He shifted behind me so that the front of his body was flat against my back before whispering, “Like this,” in my ear as he wrapped his fingers around mine and lifted the bow in front of us.

I had to take a deep breath to steady myself at the feel of his body pressed against my back. It was all too easy to get distracted when he used his hands-on teaching methods.

“You got it?” he asked, letting me hold the bow myself and tracing his hands along the backs of my thighs.

“Yep,” I squeaked, earning a chuckle from him as he stepped away to give me some space.