I swallow again, the lump in my throat as rough as sandpaper. “Thank you for being here with us. For doing this. You didn’t have to.”
“After everything we’ve survived, if I can in any small way help this situation, then I’m going to do it.”
Somewhere along the lines, exhaustion weighs too much for me to keep carrying it. There’s no comfort on the ground. No comfort with the vampire and her cool skin, her scent like the first snow of the season. But as I slip off into unconsciousness, her steadiness grounds me.
Whatever happens, at least I know I’m not alone.
These people have seen me. They know my secrets and have seen the worst of what I can’t hide.
And they’re still here
It counts. It has to count.
Chapter
Seventeen
Iwake before the sun does, and it’s a good thing I do.
Lacey teeters on the edge of sleep, her vigilance through the night taking her to the brink of the same exhaustion I surrendered to.
Desperation warms my muscles and forces them to action. “Lacey, wake up.”
A glance skyward shows the blistered navy and gray of night fading into plum and peach. Dawn’s approaching.
Renewed energy flares.
I seize hold of her hand to get her up, suddenly out of breath. We’ve got to hide her before the sun rises.
The hollow of the tree where we’d stopped has a small space beneath it blocked with a rock. Lacey and I push the rock aside and the space inside isn’t nearly large enough to fit her.
So I dig.
Dirt crusts beneath my nails and my lungs burn as I hollow out the space enough to fit her. My arms turn to putty.
Her shadow falls over me and blocks out the glow of dawn, fear flooding her eyes.
“It’s fine. It will do.” She stops talking and manages a nod.
I push her into the hollow.
The first rays of true light cut through the canopy when Lacey curls inside, her head and her feet touching the sides of the tree and her cheek pressed into the forest floor. Her eyes flutter shut and I roll the stone back into place, covering up the spaces around it with dirt and moss.
It’s a shitty shelter but it will do its job. The shade in the forest isn’t enough to count on as the sun arcs through the sky.
Colt and Grayson still haven’t shown up.
I push my back to the boulder and scan the woods, my stomach rumbling in protest. The last thing I’d thrown into its abyss was the junk from the vending machine and some water.
I’d kill for an iced coffee.
The woods have always been as much a comfort to me as the presence of the pack. It’s part of my bloodline to find solace in the woods, in nature, but this quiet is different. There’s no familiarity in these trees.
Only a horrible yawning emptiness where my thoughts are too loud to block out, and one name sounds on repeat.
Grayson.
Grayson.