I don’t know how I kept the tears at bay. My body was cold. I was in shock. That scraggly man. I remembered him, quiet, watching us from a distance that night. I shivered.
“You got what you came for. Now leave,” Nico said in a stern, jarring voice.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“The only other person who knows about this is Marcel, and he’s like a father to me,” Nico said.
I nodded, and I got up and left the room. My legs felt like spaghetti, my mind was all over the place, and I was nauseous. I took deep breaths and went straight to my car, not looking left or right. When I got to my car door, bile surged up my throat and I retched on the floor. My throat stung as I heaved. I looked around frantically and got into my car and drove straight back to Maple Valley. What Nico revealed was a reality far darker than I could have ever imagined. Nico killing Sophie’s murderer didn’t make me feel any better. My hands shook on the steering wheel. My chest hurt. When I pulled into the parking space close to my cabin, I barely turned off the engine before climbing out. I wasn’t thinking straight. I was only moving toward Asher. His cabin light glowed softly. I knocked once before pushing the door open. He turned at the sound.
The second he saw my face, everything in him changed. “Claire?”
I crossed the room and collapsed into him. His arms wrapped around me instantly. And I finally let myself cry.
CHAPTER 27
Asher
The knock came hard and fast, and then my cabin door pushed open. Claire practically fell into me. Her shoulders were shaking like she was trying not to fall apart completely.
“Claire...” I caught her by the arms. “Hey. Hey, look at me.”
She didn’t. She buried her face against my chest and clutched my shirt like it was the only thing keeping her upright. Fear punched straight through me. “Claire, tell me what happened,” I said, voice rougher than I meant it to be. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head but didn’t answer. My hands moved over her arms, her shoulders, checking instinctively despite her silence.
“Talk to me,” I urged. “You’re scaring me.”
Her breath hitched again, and another sob broke loose. I wrapped my arms around her tighter, guiding her toward the couch. She collapsed beside me, still shaking. I grabbed a blanket and draped it around her shoulders.
“Hey,” I said softer this time, brushing damp hair away from her face. “You’re safe. Whatever happened, you’re here now.”
She tried to speak, but the words wouldn’t come. My chest tightened. It took several long minutes before her breathingslowed enough for her to look at me. Her eyes were red, mascara smudged beneath them.
“I... I went to see Nico,” she said finally.
Her words made my stomach sink. I swore under my breath and stood abruptly, pacing once before forcing myself back down.
“Damn, Claire.”
She flinched.
Guilt hit immediately. I rubbed a hand over my face, trying to rein myself in.
“I should’ve been there,” I muttered. “You shouldn’t have gone alone.”
Her eyes flashed despite the tears. “You would’ve stopped me.”
“Yeah,” I said flatly. “Because it wasn’t safe.”
She looked away. Silence stretched between us. I could see her trying to hold herself together.
I softened my voice. “Did he hurt you?”
“No,” she whispered quickly.
That didn’t make me feel better. I leaned forward, elbows on my knees, trying to stay calm. “Then what happened?”
She swallowed hard, fingers twisting in the blanket. “He told me what happened to Sophie.”