D  O V E

My everything hurt.

It was like I had spent the last couple of days in some kind of terrible movie with a B-level plot, a predictable villain, and a heroine that passed out at a drop of a hat. I had always believed I was made of stronger stuff but I had been proven wrong on that assumption, repeatedly.

I opened my eyes, it was still dark outside and the room was lit by a small lamp on the side table. The ceiling wasn't covered in stains and the bed beneath me was soft. I turned my head, slowly taking in the rest of the space around me. There was a dresser on the wall by the foot of the bed, drawers half open, overflowing with clothes. Two doors, one was a jar but I couldn’t see anything but darkness – the other was closed. I didn’t see any personal items, no pictures or decorations, no way for me to determine who this room might belong to. My heart began to beat a little faster as I came to terms with the fact that Dace had taken me somewhere. I didn’t like being in unfamiliar territory without my revolver.

I sat up, wincing at the ache of my muscles as I did so. I wasn't going to be going anywhere fast from the pain it caused to move my body. I pulled the covers back, shivering as the air in the room met my naked flesh. I had lost my towel or someone had taken it from me, either way, I didn't prefer being naked. I grabbed onto the sheet, wrapping it around myself as I got up out of the bed one foot at a time. I let out a little yelp as my right foot touched the ground, pulling back. I looked down to see it was bandaged up, a little red bleeding through the gauze. Well, whoever I was with had been kind enough to patch me up, which had to be a good sign.

"Oh good, you're finally awake." I whirled around, gritting my teeth against the stabbing pain that rushed up my leg. An older woman with coal-colored hair was walking through the door that had been closed. She was carrying a metal tray in her hands, dull green eyes surveying me before glancing down at whatever was on the tray.

"Who are you? Where am I? Where is Dace? Rhys?" All the questions tumbled out of my mouth as I backed up, knees hitting the bed. The panic slithered down my spine and made a home in my stomach, turning it sour.

The woman lifted a thin eyebrow as she met my anxious stare. "That's quite a lot of questions. Do you have any specific order you'd like me to answer those in?" She set down the tray she’d carried in with her on the top of the dresser. I peered over to see a plate of steaming eggs and a glass of orange juice. My stomach growled loudly in response to the sight, causing my cheeks to burn with embarrassment.

The corners of the woman’s eyes crinkled with silent amusement. "My name is Astrid. Currently, you are in son’s home.” Her son?

“Dace?”

“Rhys.” She corrected.

My eyebrows shot up. This was Rhys’ mother? I was suddenly more aware of my condition.

“I believe that covers the important ones. As for your other question, Dace...that boy took off shortly after dropping you here…something about cleaning up a mess he made." Astrid shrugged tense shoulders. I knew he must have gone to take care of Koldo or at least I hoped that's what he had intended to do. The last thing I needed was police getting involved.

What I needed to do was find some clothes, get back to my truck and get the hell out of this town. There was no way that Silas was going to let this go. He would come back for me and when he did I had a feeling he would be coming back with the whole legion of followers. He would raise this entire town to the ground if only to punish me because someone had stepped in to save me and, in the process, made him look even more like a fool. I couldn't handle having the blood of innocent people on my hands as much as I wanted to stay and fight. As things stood, I was probably ensuring the torture and possible death of the people who had already helped me.

"Well, when Dace or Rhys get back tell them that I said thanks for the help. And that I'm sorry for causing trouble." I limped toward the dresser, tightening the sheet around my body. The last thing I needed was to flash Rhys’ mother. I opened the top drawer, only to find boxer briefs, socks, and tank tops. I snatched a pair briefs before moving to the opened drawer below it, grabbing a t-shirt.

"And where do you think you're going?" Astrid crossed her arms over her chest, studying me through narrowed eyes.

I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. "I need to go." Was the only real response I could give her without giving away too much information. She didn't know me and I didn't know her. Dace had brought me here and he had shot Koldo in the head...well, I wasn't sure who was on my side.

"What you need to do is sit back down on that bed, eat some food, and rest. You look like you haven't slept in a month or had a proper meal in much longer than that." Her tone was much more demanding than it had been moments ago. The look in her eyes and the pinched expression on her face told me she meant business. I wasn't going anywhere without her clearance to do so.

I tightened my grip on the clothes I had gathered. "You don't understand. I need to leave. If I don't the man that did this—" I shimmied, regretting the action as pain lanced through my body. "—he is going to come back and do a lot worse to me and anyone else who gets in his way." I needed her to understand that by keeping me here with her she was putting herself at serious risk.

Astrid's expression softened into one of sympathy, before she blinked it away. Her lips lifted into a tight smile. "Don't you worry about that. You just rest and eat, build up your strength. You’ll safe as long as you are here with us." She didn't linger. She simply said her peace and disappeared from the room, trusting that I would do as she said.

I waited a moment before dropping the sheet and slipping the large shirt over my head. It took a little more effort to get the boxers on, my wounded foot forcing me to lean against the bed. I glanced at the meal Astrid had brought me, stomach growling. My body was begging me to feed it but I didn’t trust anyone at the moment as delicious as the food looked and smelled. I knew things weren’t always how they appeared, it was better not to chance it. I wrapped my arms around my stomach and sat myself down on the edge of the bed. I didn’t think leaving was an option, for now I was stuck.

Being alone in the room gave me time to think, too much time.

I kept going over all the details of the moments leading up to Silas finding me to now. I was over analyzing everything, playing and replaying it all. Certain details jumping out and becoming clearer. Like how had Dace known I was in trouble? It could have been a happy coincidence that he was in the right place at the right time but my gut didn’t believe that. And how had he been able to sneak up on Silas and Koldo? Their senses were too keen for some random human to catch them unaware. The other night Dace had been able to sneak into my room through the window without me having a single clue.

More and more the facts were leading me to have suspicions that Dace might not be human and that meant Rhys might not be human...that would account for his need to have so much privacy. Maybe it would also explain my unhealthy level of attraction to him. I had never felt such a disconnection between my mind and body. I laid myself back down on the bed, the need to rest becoming overwhelming. I had overloaded my brain and my body was too tired from fighting to have the strength to sit up anymore. I closed my eyes and dropped my head to the pillow, hoping that I was just paranoid and that my suspicions were nothing but that.