Giles

We fall asleep in the small bedroom, not fucking, just wrapped around one another. Her holding me, mostly. I may be a burly mountain man by all accounts, but with Tia, I feel soft in a way I never have. She said it best.  With her, I am vulnerable. With her, cradled in my arms, the longest winter is over.

The sound of a cabin door creaking open wakes us. I immediately jump from the bed and grab the rifle I’ve stowed at my feet. Tia stirs, and I press a finger to my lips, telling her to be quiet. Her face is stricken with fear though, and I hate to put her through any more agony.

When I step from the room, I point the barrel of the gun at the intruder. “Stop, don’t move,” I say, my voice cold and clear.

“What the fuck, man,” Fallon shouts, moving his hands above his head, holding a handgun.

“Shit,” I drop my hands to my knees, adrenaline still coursing my veins. “Fucking, hell.”

“Jesus. This is where you’ve been? We thought you were dead.” He drops his hands, pocketing his gun, and then walks over and clapping me on the back hard, relief etched on his face. We give one another a brief embrace. Hell, he looks wrecked over the idea that I was dead. Being here, in this cabin has reminded me more than ever that we were like brothers, for so damn long.

Dark circles shadow bloodshot eyes. He looks exhausted.

“We only made it because I knew we were close to the cabin, otherwise we’d have frozen to death.”

“We?” Shock flashes in his gaze. “You found her?”

Tia comes around the corner, she’s only wearing a shirt, and I see Fallon’s eyes graze over her bare legs, and for a second, I think we might gloss over what happened without a fight - but this is Fallon we’re talking about. He never drops anything.

Fallon doesn’t hold back. “Are you fucking insane?” he cries, his anger directed at our wife. “Leaving in the middle of the night. Running from us... I thought... My God, Tia...”

He’s too caught up in his anger to see the way her skin has gone clammy, and she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. I know she feels guilty for leaving. I still don’t really know what possessed her to run away, but I know it wasn’t because she wanted to.  

She keeps her head down, her hair falling over her left cheek and hiding the bruise there, the small cut on her lip.

“I thought you were happy.” Fallon drags his hands over his face, then back through his hair. “Are things with us really that bad that you’d risk your life?”

“Fallon,” I warn. “We’ve been through hell and back. Look at her and be grateful she’s alive.”

He does then. His eyes travel over her body, and I know when he sees the bruises, the split lip because fear replaces his anger. “What happened?”

She takes a small step back when he stalks towards her.

“Did someone...” He reaches out and brushes her hair back, exposing the deep green and blue bruise that has only grown worse over the last twenty-four hours. “Shit.”

“I... I’m okay,” she stutters, taking another step back, and stumbling.

I’m there, pulling her into my arms just as her knees begin to buckle. I cradle her head against my chest. She lets out a deep, soul-piercing sob, one that comes from the very pit of her stomach.

We may have spent last night visiting my past, but her present is a mess. She killed a man a day ago and that reality doesn’t disappear with a few heart-to-hearts around the fire.

And maybe she’s managed to process it with me, but she has five other husbands with questions.

Husbands who will want answers.

The cabin goes silent, except for the small hiccups that come from her as she tries to bite back her tears.

Fallon holds my gaze, searching, demanding with his eyes that I tell him what happened, and seeing all the conclusions he comes to.

“I got there in time,” I say to him.

He lets out a long breath and rubs both hands over the back of his neck. There’s relief in his eyes, but memories too. The last twenty-four hours have been a brutal reminder of what we’ve lost, and what we can still lose.  

“Look, Fallon, we need to come up with a plan. People are going to start asking questions.”

Fallon’s eyes narrow. “What kind of questions?”

I glance down at Tia, tilting her chin up, and giving her a small smile. “Why don’t you go get dressed.”

She nods, casting a nervous look at Fallon before disappearing into the other room.

“What aren’t you telling me? I found your truck a few miles north of the compound. The tires were slashed, and there was blood...a lot of it.”

“Wasn’t mine.” I run a hand over my beard, glad Tia isn’t here to have to rehash the whole ordeal. “She was attacked on the road by three men. They had her in their truck when I caught up with them. They pulled a gun on me when I asked to see in their vehicle.”

“Shit.”

“They probably would have shot me if Tia hadn’t...”

“Hadn’t what?”

“She must’ve found a gun in their truck. I don’t think she even knew how to use the damn thing.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “She shot him. Mortal wound to the chest. Died at her feet.”

Fallon mutters a string of curses. “And the other two?”

“I fought them off, but they got away.”

He curses under his breath. “And the body?”

“It wasn’t by my SUV?”

Fallon shakes his head.

“Then either the authorities took it, or they came back.”

“Either way, there’ll be trouble.”

I let out a long, uneven breath before breaking the worst of it, “They were mercenaries.”

It takes a second for Fallon to clue into the seriousness of what that means. If Tia had shot a civilian in self-defense, it wouldn’t be as serious an issue. But protected under Universal law, even I would face charges if I’d been the one to shoot a mercenary.

Was it fair? Hell, no. But it’s the way things are now.

“If they go to the authorities...” Fallon starts pacing, echoing my thoughts. “We can’t protect her from the law. She broke curfew. Was out alone. And she ran. Those charges alone are enough to have her sentenced to…”

We both go silent as Tia comes around the corner. I know from the look in her eyes that she heard every word we said. Her expression is blank, gaze gone distant, like she’s accepted her fate.

“We need to get her to a safe house,” I say. “They can’t do anything to her if they can’t find her. We’re safe here for a few days, maybe. But once they know we’re missing, it won’t take them long to find this place.”

“You and I both know what happens to people who run,” he says, not meeting her eyes, even though the comment is directed at her.

He’s still angry, and he has every right to be, but right now she needs our strength, not our judgment.

“Then what’s your plan?” I ask.

“We go home.” Fallon locks gazes with me, and I see there’s no movement. It’s his final decision.

“If we go home, and they come for her, we won’t be able to stop them.”

“Yes, we will.” There’s determination in his eyes.

I frown at him.

“It’s their word against ours.” He holds my gaze; his look is hard.

I shake my head. “Someone had to pull the trigger-”

“Exactly... someone.”

The silence stretches between us, and I know what he means. I should have thought of it myself.

Tia frowns at us. “What are you talking about?”

“Only one person can be held responsible for that man’s death.”

“Me,” she says, her voice small. “I’m the one that killed him. I deserve whatever punishment I’m given. I shouldn’t have run. It’s my fault. If I hadn’t...” The word gets stuck in her throat.

I’m about to comfort her, but I see the war going on in Fallon’s eyes, and when he looks at me, I nod for him to go to her.

He does. Two swift steps and his arms are around her small frame, and I watch her melt against him. She doesn’t cry. Not like she did with me. She just sucks up his strength.  

What they have is special. Not better or worse than our relationship.

Just... different.

He cups her chin and forces her to look at him. “You shouldn’t have run. I don’t know why you did-”

“I was-”

“It doesn’t matter right now. I swore to protect you. No matter how stubborn and defiant you are. And I’d do it even if I hadn’t taken a vow. Because I love you.”

She pulls in a breath and tears fall then. “I love you too. I’m so sorry…”

He kisses her softly, and with more tenderness than I’d ever give him credit for.

I turn away, giving them a moment.

When they finally pull apart, Fallon says, “It’s possible nothing will come of it. Even mercenaries have rules. If they come forward, they’ll have to own up to trying to abduct you.”

I give him a side glance, wondering if he really believes what he’s telling her, and I see in the way his jaw twitches and his temple pulses that he doesn’t.

He glances over at me, and I nod. We both know what needs to be done. And if that means making Tia believe that everything will be okay, then that’s what we’ll have to do.