Page 50 of Drowning in Darkness

SEVENTEEN

JAMES

Serenity isn’t found in a location. It’s found in the one person you trust to destroy you.

Fourteen hours, and all my fears and suspicions turn into reality as the silent alarm flashes on my phone, warning me of impending visitors. I swipe a hand down my face. This is either supremely stupid or ingenious. Probably a combination of both.

The unmistakable sound of a car rumbling toward my home reaches my ears as I glance around my immaculate home about to be invaded. I discount ten alternative plans in the space of thirty seconds. To survive under Jonathan’s rule, I had to become a master of strategy in pressurized circumstances, which is how I know I’m fucked.

There is no alternative course of action that doesn’t put Stephanie in even more danger. The number of people Camryn trusts has tightened to almost none. I can’t believe I missed the link to her direct supervisor, but sometimes these connections only make themselves known once they’re trying to prove something.

There’s more than enough room in this lodge for us to keep the distance I need to stay sane. That’s my mantra as the car engine switches off and two doors open. I close my eyes and cling to this last moment of peace where I’m not being tested for my past sins and the future ones I want to commit when I even think about this woman.

I rise and shake off the thoughts before swinging the door open and coming face to face with the blue-eyed, dark-haired beauty. Every time I lay eyes on her, she knocks me back a step. It’s as if I can’t fully memorize every facet of her beauty, or maybe it’s that I try not to so I don’t have more ammunition to torment myself with in the depths of the night.

But now, I look my fill, reassuring myself she’s here and whole. Almost whole, I’m reminded by the angry slash of red at her temple. Too close. Far too fucking close. And what would that mean to Christopher? Absolutely nothing. He wouldn’t even miss a beat before selecting his next victim.

She cocks her head. “Is there a secret password, or are you going to let us in? Because if not, I need somewhere to squat because this pee isn’t staying in if I even breathe heavily.”

I step back, creating space for her. “The guest room is down the hall, the second door on the right. There’s an adjoining bathroom for you.”

She skips off with a smile that no one who has been subjected to the evil in the world should still possess. She’s a walking miracle, and a reminder that it doesn’t break everyone. I still want to murder the guys who hurt her, over and over and over.

I fold my arms and raise an unimpressed brow at Camryn. She strides up the steps, favoring her right side, and the dark circles under her eyes tell of the recent battle of someone who has lost her footing in the world. I can’t fix that for her. I already know that betrayal and deceit run deep in the veins of those in power.

“Don’t start,” she mutters. She drops a brown duffel bag on the floor and moves past me to plonk herself on the sofa, head back, eyes fluttering closed. I close the door and eye the empty hallway.

“What are you thinking?” I whisper as I join her.

She pops one eye open. “I was thinking there is nowhere legit that woman is safe.”

“But here?”

“Here is off the grid, and no one knows about it.”

Which begs the question... “But you do.”

“I’m your handler. It’s my job to know where you are.”

“But this place isn’t listed. It doesn’t even exist on a map.” Not to mention my sister runs great interference for any satellite images. All anyone would see is a clearing surrounded by trees, rolling fields, and endless, inaccessible rocky terrain.

“I’m very, very good at my job.”

I stiffen when the guest room door snicks open. “Who else knows?”

“No one. It’s not in my notes or my files.”

That seems unlike her. Deep down, she must have known one day she might need to utilize somewhere like this.

We clam up as Stephanie glides into the open-plan room.

She wags a finger at the pair of us. “Don’t do that. It’s triggering. I spent far too long having the grown-ups whisper about me and my future without actually sharing it. I won’t go back to that ever again. I will walk my ass out that door and down this freaking mountain if you don’t keep me in the loop about things that involve me.”

I catch Camryn’s gaze. She isn’t surprised, having learned about Stephanie’s quiet yet unmistakable strength in the space of a few days.

Fine, cards on the table.

“I can’t always be here to protect her,” I snap. I have appearances to keep and demons to catch.