PRESENT DAY
Clarity returns slowly, and with it, searing pain and fuming anger.
Where the hell am I?
The throbbing in my head is only eclipsed by the agony from my left shoulder. I try to lift my right hand over to check it but something restricts my movement. Cold air surrounds me, and I can’t stop my body from shaking violently.
What the fuck is going on?
My arms are stuck behind my back. I tug again and white hot pain radiates through my left arm.
“Fuck!”
Shuffling noises come from my left, and I turn my head toward them.
I open my eyes, or at least attempt to, but warm, thick blood flows down into them and obscures my vision. All I get is flashes of light and movement and extreme dizziness as everything I can see swirls around me like I’m trapped inside a tornado.
“You’re awake. Good. That will make this much more enjoyable.”
The voice isn’t familiar.
I’m wet. I’m cold. I’m bleeding.
And I’m pretty sure my shoulder is dislocated.
The sound of rain pounding on a roof and wind howling and rattling the windows registers.
There was a storm…I was driving in it…where was I going?
Brief flashes of washed-out streets and flooded roads come to me.
Then in a split second, my brain finally comes back online and everything clicks into place.
Skye.
Lucas.
The cabin.
I made it through the woods. I found the cabin. I saw him.
What I don’t remember is how the fuck I got inside.
“That lightning sure saved me a lot of effort. If it hadn’t struck next to you and knocked you out, I would have had to fight you. Something tells me I probably would have lost that battle. You are one big dude. It was hard enough dragging you in here.”
Fucking lightning.
Even Mother Nature seems to have it out for me. Maybe it’s karma for the way I treated Skye. I guess I probably deserve it.
I twist my right hand around and reach my fingers up to feel my wrists. My arms are pulled between two slats in the back of the chair and some sort of rope binds my hands together behind me.
Something cracks me on the side of the head and it snaps back. I breathe deeply and absorb the pain. The room spins when I try to open my eyes. I don’t know what he hit me with, but it certainly wasn’t his fist. The familiar metallic tang of blood fills my mouth.
“Now, do you want to tell me who you are and why you’re here, or do you need some more motivation?”
My only motivation is Skye and getting her out of here safely. I listen to his heavy, ragged breathing and search the room for any sounds to indicate where in the cabin he’s keeping her.
He slams something down and grasps my hair, jerking my face up toward him.
“Open your fucking eyes and answer me.”
Although it kills me to give in to his demand, I need to see what I’m dealing with. This time, enough of the blood has dripped away from my eye that I can actually see him, although he’s fuzzy, and I can’t get my eyes to focus.
His snarling face is mere inches from mine and there’s just enough crazy in his eyes to renew my fear for Skye’s safety. But giving him my name won’t benefit me, or her, in any real way.
After a few moments, he grins, one of those creepy smiles you always see in photos of serial killers before they were caught.
“No answer? Well, maybe you thought I was going to be an easy target—all alone out here during a storm. But with the damage the lightning may have done and that dislocated shoulder, not to mention the probable concussion, and the fact that you’re probably borderline hypothermic in those wet clothes, I doubt you’ll make it much longer before you go into shock without proper medical treatment. So, you’re going to need to rethink your plans.”
No shit.
He’s not wrong about my predicament. There’s definitely something wrong with my shoulder, and I’ve had enough concussions in my life to recognize that the agonizing headache, memory loss, blurry vision, and a spinning room aren’t a good sign. I’ve also been in these wet clothes for hours, and I’m shivering so hard, my teeth are chattering. Who the fuck knows what being struck by the lightning did to me either.
He yanks on my hair again but the pain rippling across my scalp barely registers in comparison to my arm.
“I said, who the fuck are you, and why are you here?”
My eyes lock with his, and I grin. He has no fucking idea who he’s messing with.
I clear my throat like I’m about to speak, then spit blood directly in his face.
Red looks good on him. I can’t wait to see him covered in it.
FALL 2004
Gabe glances at me in the rearview mirror for the tenth time since we got Star in the car. She’s already fast asleep with her head in my lap. I run my fingers through her hair and rub her back.
My stomach hasn’t settled, but it’s no longer from the boozy twin connection. Now, the discomfort is from knowing Gabe wants to say something and anticipating it.
We stop at a red light, and his eyes find mine in the mirror again.
Jesus.
“What? Stop looking at me like that. If you have something to say, just say it.”
His lips press into a thin line. “We’ll talk when I get you home.”
Home?
“No! You can’t take us home. Mom and Savage will fucking kill me for letting her get this wasted. Can’t we crash at your place?”
He groans and shakes his head. “No, Skye, absolutely not. No way.”
“But why? You know what will happen if I bring her home drunk. It won’t matter that there’s a good reason or that I kept an eye on her. They will just see it as another reason I can’t be trusted. Mom will probably take my car away.”
His eyes narrow, and he curses under his breath. The light turns green and two blocks pass in silence. I’m convinced he’s going to say no. Why wouldn’t he? It’s not his job to help me deceive Mom and Savage.
“You are damn lucky I’m here and a sucker for a woman in distress.”
Did he just call me a woman?
Holy shit.
“Does that mean we can crash with you?”
Please say yes, please say yes.
He growls and grabs his cell phone from the cup holder. I don’t get an answer to my question; he just makes a call. “Hey, yeah, I know it’s late. No, everything is fine. I just wanted to let you know the girls are with me and are going to stay at my place tonight. No. I met them out for pizza, and we’re right by my place. No. They left Dana’s house earlier. Right. Yeah. Okay, see you in the morning.”
I’m surprised his phone doesn’t break with the force he uses to throw it back in the cup holder. “There, now I’ve lied to my best friend for you. I hope you’re happy.”
I don’t know that happy is the right word. I would prefer if Star wasn’t passed-out drunk. I would prefer if I were spending the night at his place because he asked me to, not because I guilted him into it. I would prefer to sleep with him instead of on the couch or the floor where I know I’ll end up. I would prefer it if he would stop seeing me as a little girl and realize I am a woman now.
Hell, I’m old enough to be married and already have kids in some countries.
I would love to say a hundred different things to him. But only two words come out. “Thank you.”
That won’t be the end of the conversation. Not by a long shot. I know he’s just biding his time until we can get to his apartment and get Star settled in. Then, he’ll unleash on me.
The remainder of the ride to his building is in silence, only the sounds of Star’s rhythmic breathing filling the car. When we pull into his parking space, he exits and opens my door.
“I’ll carry her in.”
I slide out from under her, making sure to gently lower her head to the seat. Gabe hands me his keys with a scowl before he leans in and scoops her up easily. Dejected is probably the proper word for how I feel following behind him. And maybe a little jealous of the fact Star is wrapped up in his arms right now.
We pause at his door so I can unlock it and then he leads me inside.
Gabe’s place looks exactly the same as the last time I was here several months ago. The sparsely furnished living room is devoid of any clutter. He isn’t here enough for the place to look or feel lived-in. This is only the second time he’s been home since he enlisted last summer, so he’s lived here all of three weeks in the last year. I don’t even know why he bothered to get an apartment, he knows he could have stayed at our house when he’s here, but he insisted he needed his own space, despite Mom’s protests.
Without a word to me, he disappears down the hallway toward the bedrooms. I drop down onto the couch and tip my head back.
I really fucked this up tonight.
Gabe returns a few minute later and stands in front of me. He has the distinct glimmer of disappointment in his eyes, and isn’t that a motherfucking bitch. I wait for him to say something.
Moments turn into minutes. He’s waiting for me to talk first.
“I don’t know what you expect me to say.”
His eyes narrow, and he pinches his lips together. “Why don’t you just tell me why your sister is so smashed that she passed out in the bathroom and had to be carried out of the house?”
“Her boyfriend broke up with her today and then showed up with another girl at the party. She was just trying to unwind.”
Gabe scoffs and paces in front of the couch. “And you think it’s a good idea to let Star, who never drinks, get fucking wasted?”
“I’m not her mother, Gabe. She’s a big girl. She can make her own decisions.”
He clenches his hands behind his head. “Star is not you, okay? She’s not used to indulging the way you do. You and I both know this could’ve ended very, very badly. What would you have done if I wasn’t home on leave right now? Would you have called Savage or your mom? Would you have tried to drive home?”
Gabe’s lack of faith in me is really fucking pissing me off. “Jesus, Gabe, do you really think I’d be stupid enough to get behind the wheel of a car after I’ve been drinking? Give me some fucking credit already. I’m not a total idiot.”
He gives a short, sharp laugh and tosses his head back. “No, Skye, you’re not a total idiot and that’s what makes this even harder. You’re just as smart as Star. You’re just as capable as Star. But you choose to go off on your own and do whatever the fuck you want no matter how it affects other people. No one can ever rely on you for anything.”
Ouch, that one hurt.
Tears well up in my eyes, but I refuse to let Gabe see me cry. If I start crying, he’ll only continue to see me as a child.