Page 54 of Auctioned to the Devil

He stares at me.

I fold my arms.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re doing your nothing face.”

He almost smiles.

“Sounds like me.”

“That’s horrifying.”

His smile disappears as quickly as it came.

“I couldn’t bring them home.”

The words are quiet.

“They weren’t yours to bring home.”

“They were my team.”

“You didn’t plant the bomb.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does.”

“Not when you’re the one who wakes up.”

I swallow.

There he is.

Not the Devil.

Not the terrifying mountain man who makes grown men back away without a word.

Just Caleb.

Alone.

“Is that why you came back here?”

“Didn’t know where else to go.”

“What about Abby?”

“Pensacola. Married. Three kids.”

“She happy?”

“Yeah.”

Something finally softens in his face.