The next morning, Sienna was still struggling to maintain her sanity, and her cool. At least she was getting used to the early morning start. Chico was sitting at his post near the coffee machine when she walked into the restaurant. He looked up from his paperwork when she swung the door open. “What are you doing here?”

“What do you mean? I’m on the breakfast shift again.”

“Not today.” Chico motioned toward the cook, who refused to meet Sienna’s eyes. “John told me what happened yesterday. If I don’t give you the day off, you’ll probably stab one of the customers, and I don’t have the insurance for that.”

Sienna gritted her teeth. Shit. John and his big mouth. The trucker was gone, it was over, and she needed the tip money more than she needed a fucking day off. “I’m fine.”

Chico waved toward the door, but his eyes were kind. “Go be fine somewhere else. I’ll see you tomorrow, bright and early.”

She spun on her heel and walked back outside, accidently-on-purpose kicking the door closed on her way out. It was barely even morning, the sun just starting to rise. If she was going to be forced to skip a shift, the least the universe could have done was give her a damn sleep-in! The cool morning brushed at her skin. Crap. She was tired. Tired to her bones and tired of being so mad all the time. Jace had tried to help her yesterday and she’d nearly bitten his head off. How could she tell what was safe to do and what wasn’t? As if she needed anything more to drive her insane wondering. There wasn’t even any point trying to go back to bed. At this point, her racing mind wouldn’t let her get any sleep anyway.

If she couldn’t sleep, and she couldn’t work . . . fuck it, she needed to relax. If she wasn’t going to wait tables for the next eight hours, she could drink herself under one instead. After stopping in her room only long enough to change and fish out her keys, she jumped in the car, slamming the door. There was a convenience store only a few miles down the road, and she was willing to bet they sold liquor. She raced down the interstate, the orange glow in the sky helping chase away any memories of what had happened last time she drove down the same road. The trucker had been a wake-up call. She had to keep focused and keep watch at all times, wherever she was.

A shiver ran through her again at the thought of the giant man, towering over her, and then Jace pulling out his gun. She didn’t even know how to fire one, hadn’t ever even held one. Her mom hadn’t even let her join a dance class growing up, let alone any sort of martial arts or self defense class. She’d told Sienna that the two of them together could conquer the world. They were all each other needed. Only now her mom was dead and Sienna didn’t have the first clue as to what she should do next. The truck stop was all just one big holding pattern, somewhere she thought she’d be safe. Only her mom also hadn’t told her enough to know whether what happened on the road the night before was something to be scared of, or just another random idiot. Sienna thumped at the steering wheel. Why had her mom kept her so in the dark?! All the secrets hidden away. What else had Maggie been hiding from her?

Jace . . .

She’d made a mistake talking to him yesterday. He could be as sincere as he appeared, or he could be trying to worm his way in, to get to her like they got to her mom. Talking to him had been a huge mistake, and she was going to have to pull away before she ended up any deeper involved with him. But damn, that smile.

What was she thinking?! It couldn’t go anywhere. Even if he was one of the good guys, she couldn’t start anything. There were more important things she had to deal with. She didn’t even know if Sienna was her real name! Until she figured out who had hurt her mom, and what—if anything—they wanted from her, then that’s what she was going to do. That’s all she was going to do.

She peeled into the parking lot of the convenience store and bought herself the smallest, cheapest bottle of the strongest stuff she could find. Until she had stocked up a few more tips, it was going to have to do. Stashing the bottle inside the car, Sienna turned her car toward the hills. She wasn’t ready to go back to the truck stop, but she needed to find somewhere to hole up for awhile. She might be in the middle of crazy, but that didn’t mean she was about to drive drunk. She’d find somewhere she could sit for at least a couple of hours.

As she drove, memories of her mom washed over her. Thoughts, little snapshots she’d long ago thought lost, popped into her mind. Sitting on the rug as a little girl, drawing crayon pictures, racing home to show her mom her report card. In every mental picture, it was her and her mom, just the two of them. There had never been anyone else, and with her mother gone, there was a hole left inside Sienna, a part of herself that she was never going to get back.

Sienna pulled over before she got into an accident, breathing deeply to try to force herself to calm down and push the memories away. All the cowboys in the world couldn’t fix the gaping hole caused by losing the only parent she’d ever known. Finally, the pressure on her chest eased and she could pull the car out onto the road again. She drove slowly, until a road leading through the mountains caught her eye. It was paved, but small, like it had been placed there just for her. She turned onto it, driving faster as it straightened out through the desert, before winding through a pass. Higher up on the mountain, the pass bottomed out until she was driving along the edge of a cliff. The desert stretched out before her, a barren landscape in the sun’s heat, dotted with buttes and hills that stuck out of the ground like the earth’s appendages.

A spot of green caught her eye as she finally turned a corner, the road opening up to the tree line and past that, a glimpse of forest. The shades of green were soft on the eyes after the harsh tones of the hills. This was it. She’d get out and explore, find a place to sit in among the shady branches. She’d loved the mountains as a child. They’d go hiking together—she and her mom—exploring places just like this, where magic seemed real and fairies were hiding around every corner. Until she’d driven here, she’d had no idea how dry she felt, how much she’d needed to get out again among the trees. Of course, today there’d be more drinking than hiking.

She parked on the shoulder of the road, and then grabbed her cheap bottle of fucking-forget-it-all and meandered into the forest. The pine needles crunched beneath her feet as she followed a deer trail she spotted hidden among the brush. The tiny line led her downhill, probably to a lake where she could sit and relax. The forest was different from the one near her home, the trees thicker and wilder, with plants she didn’t recognize. There were more insects, too, and she swatted them away with her hand as she walked, taking the occasional shot as she went.

As she moved further down the trail, the noise of the world faded away until all she could hear was the soft buzzing of a summer’s day, along with the buzzing in her head from the alcohol. She could totally live in a place just like this. Become part of the wilderness and cast off humanity altogether. She’d be safe—both from men trying to kill her and flirting cowboys. No one would ever know where she’d gone.

For just a moment, it all sounded like a wonderful idea. Until she wondered what there was to eat. Did it ever get cold there? She didn’t want to wake up one day and find herself sleeping next to a hibernating bear. Nope, sadly, her adventure probably wouldn’t work out. She stopped, sitting on a boulder, the sides slippery with moss, and took another drink, letting the forest spin by her for just a moment.

Hmm. Maybe getting drunk out in the middle of nowhere wasn’t such a great idea.

All she’d wanted was a time-out, a few hours where she didn’t have to worry about what happened to her mom, or who was trying to kill her and who just wanted to get in her pants.

What the hell was so special about her that she was getting all this attention?

“Fuck!”

Sienna screamed it at the top of her lungs, trying to drown out the anger surging through her. It didn’t work. She was going to die sooner or later, may as well make it easy. She was never going to be able to fight back against anyone much, let alone someone with a gun. If she handed herself over, stood in the middle of the road and yelled for them to come find her, maybe they’d go easy on her, make it quick. She threw the bottle aside and closed her eyes. Maybe she’d just have a little nap while she waited for the bad guys to show up.

Five minutes—or five hours—later, she opened her eyes. She had no idea how much time had passed, if any at all. The sun was partially hidden by the trees, but it was warmer than it had been. She hauled herself up and looked around. Behind her, the trees thinned and gave way to a meadow, illuminated by the sun like a spotlight on a stage. Tiny flowers—purple, pink, and yellow—spread out over the field. Their colors and vibrancy were so beautiful that Sienna just had to touch it. She wanted to swim through them and soak up the sunlight, getting lost in the beauty.

She stood, wobbling toward the field. A blue butterfly shot out of the trees and guided her path. She’d never seen anything so beautiful in her life. Maybe it was a sign that everything was going to be okay. Maybe there was something she could do to save her life. She took a swig from the bottle. Maybe a little more would help her figure it out. The butterfly flitted forward and Sienna followed, moving faster. She didn’t want to lose it. It slipped through a gap in the trees and she stepped after it, using her hands to part the branches. There it was! Another step forward, and another. That was when something slammed into her from behind, knocking her off her feet. She punched blindly, struggling against them like her life depended on it . . . because it fucking did!

“Stop moving! If you keep moving, you’re going to die!”

“Fuck you! I’ll kill you first, you bastard.”

“Sienna! Calm down!”

Shit, they knew her name!

“Sienna!” Arms wrapped around her, pulling her against a very hard chest. “Stop struggling. Please. For me?”

Fuck.

“Jace?”

“Shhh,” he whispered, still trying to hold her still. “It’s all going to be okay.”

The blood drained from her face as her hands trembled and all the fight went out of her. “It’s you? You were the one all along?”

He pulled her up, leaving a strong arm still wrapped around her waist. “What are you talking about? I was saving you from nearly walking off a damn cliff! What the hell is going on, Sienna?”

She turned slowly, the world still sloshing about. “A cliff?” She stepped forward again and Jace lunged, wrapping his other arm across her chest.

“Yes, a fucking cliff, right in front of you. Stop walking.”

He was right. In front of her was nothing but a drop so high she might have fallen for a mile before she splattered all over the rocks. “How the hell did you find me? Were you following me?”

“I saw your car, racing like a demon through my property. Sienna, what are you doing here? What’s going on?” He moved her to face him, his face twisted with concern.

“Nothing. I’m fine.” She looked over at the bottle lying a couple of yards away. “Maybe just had a bit too much whiskey.”

“Nope. The whiskey doesn’t explain what you were so upset about yesterday, or why you’ve looked like you’re ready to bolt ever since you walked through the diner’s doors. No more bullshit. What is going on? Is someone after you?”

She turned to walk away, but he held firmly onto her arm. “Let me go, Asshole!” She kicked him in the leg. Jace grunted but didn’t move.

“Sit down, Sienna. Just for a moment?”

She plopped back down next to a boulder and let her face fall forward onto her arms. “This is a really bad idea.”

He crouched in front of her. “I’m not walking away, Sienna. Not unless you convince me that you’re not in danger.” He took her hand in his. “You’re not crazy, and I don’t think you were trying to hurt yourself, but you can’t go wandering off fucking cliffs.”

She pulled away, but he touched her cheek, turning her face back toward him. “Please. Let me help you with whatever this is.”

“No.”

He sighed loudly. “I’ll get inside those walls sooner or later, believe me, but okay. At least come back to my place for a bit, let the liquid lunch dissipate a little.”

“Fine.” It wasn’t like she would be able to drive herself anywhere for a good few hours, and her stomach was starting to regret skipping breakfast. “But no more questions.”

His mouth thinned into a firm line. “Okay. But don’t think for a second I’m buying that story. When you’re sober, we’re talking.”