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There was a rattle at the back door, and he looked up to see Lucas and Bella walk in. As soon as he saw them, he closed his eyes and surrendered himself completely to Phoebe, trusting his siblings to keep watch for a moment. Lucas and Bella could be his eyes and his guardians while he grounded himself in the angel that he'd allowed into his life.
His siblings didn't say anything, but he felt them standing nearby, waiting until he was ready. Always, they gave him the space he needed. Always, they accepted him for what he needed and who he was.
Jacob suddenly felt the enormity of his life. Of the people he had in it. Of the family who were his real family. Of the way they had protected him all these years, his shield against the world when it became too much to handle.
Silently, he held out one of his arms, then almost laughed when Bella and Lucas exchanged surprised glances.
"This might be a one-time thing," Jacob said. "You better take advantage."
Bella burst out in delighted laughter and threw herself into his arms, putting her arms around him and Phoebe. It took Lucas only a moment to pivot, and then he too walked over and slung his arms around the crew.
They stood there like that for a long moment. Jacob had never been in the middle of one of his family's group hugs before, and it felt…stunningly good.
There was a loud thud on the front door, and then his father shouted, "I'm going to shoot out the lock. I know you're in there!"
Jacob stepped back, and the three others dropped their arms. He gave his siblings a smile, Phoebe a quick kiss, and then said, "I'm going out the back door. I'll circle around and come at him from the side." There was no way he was opening the front door, and giving the man a clear shot at his family.
"I'll go with you," Lucas said.
"No. I want you here with Phoebe, Annie, and Bella."
Bella and Phoebe held up their guns. "We got this," they said at the same moment, then looked at each other and burst out laughing.
Laughing. There was laughter in his hallway when the monster from his childhood was literally beating at the door. Jacob never would have believed it possible. "I want to go alone."
Lucas and Bella looked at each other. "The man is a monster," Lucas said. "You don't get to go alone."
"I need to go alone." He set his boundaries, as he always did with his family, and then headed toward the back door. As he stepped outside, Lucas walked out behind him and shut the door.
Jacob stopped. "No."
Lucas faced him. "Since we've known you, we've all respected your boundaries, Jacob. Because we love you, and we do our best to understand you. But the reason you have those boundaries is because of the guy banging on your front door. There's no fucking way you're walking out there alone, and I frankly don't give a shit what your boundaries are right now. Family is family, we claim the right to protect each other. I'm claiming that right now, so deal with it, and let's go talk to him before he breaks down that front door and gets to the girls."
Jacob stared at his brother in surprise. It was the first time any of his siblings had ever refused to respect his boundaries. He waited for the instinct to get angry and push him away, but it didn't come. All he could think about was his sister, and the trio in the bathroom. He couldn't do it alone, and he didn’t want to. "Okay, let's go. You armed?"
"Hell, yeah." Lucas put his hand on Jacob's shoulder, then the two brothers headed around the side of the house.
Jacob paused at the corner of his house, listening to his father talk with the men who had accompanied him. The men's voices didn't sound familiar, but it didn't matter. It was the same men from his childhood, maybe in a different body, but the men were the same.
He looked at Lucas, and his brother nodded. "We got this, Jacob. It's time."
Jacob took a breath, shook out his shoulders, then walked around the corner.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
His dad was standing with his back to Jacob, so he didn't notice when Jacob walked around the corner.
Jacob felt a jolt jar through him when he laid eyes upon his father for the first time since he'd run away when he was twelve. This was the man who'd haunted him for so long, who had lived in the shadows of his mind and soul all this time. The monster who had loomed so big that the shadow cast Jacob's whole world into shades of gray.
But as his dad stood there talking with the other two, Jacob suddenly, startlingly saw that his father was simply…a man.
A man who was shorter, leaner, and less-muscled than Jacob was.
A man whose name was no longer Dad. It was Ivan Denman, criminal, convict, and loser.
Ivan's buddy looked over and saw Jacob and Lucas. He leaned in and spoke to Ivan, who turned around. His eyes were still blue, but they were like ice. Cold. Heartless. Nothing human in them at all. Nothing like Jacob's family, or Phoebe.
Jacob put his hands on his hips as Lucas came to stand behind him, mirroring his offensive stance. "What do you want?"
