But before I could locate the opening she?
??d slipped through, she’d raised her arm and brought down the candlestick in a hard blow across the back of Taylor’s head.
He jerked, froze, and fell over, collapsing onto the floor, and she stood there, breathing hard and staring down at him.
In a moment, Will had shot to his feet, wiping the blood from under his nose. “Alex?” He gaped at her.
She didn’t look happy, though. “What the hell are you doing?” she snapped, whispering over Taylor’s unconscious body on the floor. “You could’ve handled that guy. I’ve been watching you get your ass kicked for days! What are you doing?”
He just stared at her, stunned. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
She paused and then said, “That’s it? That’s all you’ve gotta say?” She waved her hand at her head. “Not a word about my hair?”
I almost snorted, despite my pulse racing. I’d never actually seen them interact together. I met Alex long after Will was sent here.
She was so comfortable with him.
He blinked at her, wiping his nose as more blood dripped out, and then he grabbed her hand. “Fuck,” he cursed, swinging open the door and yanking her out of the room. “Goddamn, son of a bitch…”
He bolted with her, and I stilled, wondering if I should jump out and run with them, but I stayed in the walls, racing down the corridor instead.
I peered into every room I passed, afraid he was taking her upstairs to his room, but he wouldn’t risk keeping her out in the open that long.
I passed the drawing room, peeked in quickly and was about to fly off to the next room, but then I saw him slip inside, pulling her behind him, and close the door, securing it with a chair.
I looked through the thin slit in the bookshelf I knew was on the other side of this wall, watching as she threw her arms around him, nearly knocking him over.
I pressed on the wall, about to open it, but…I stayed, watching.
His arms hung limply at his sides for a minute, but then he snapped out of it and wrapped them around her, squeezing her tight. She sobbed quietly, pressing her lips to his cheek as he closed his eyes, smiling—really smiling—for the first time since I’d been here.
My heart ached.
“I missed you, kid,” he said.
She nodded, still hugging him. “We’re going home.”
They held each other for another few moments and then pulled away, staring into each other’s eyes.
“How’d you figure this out?” he asked, pulling off his shirt to wipe down his face and the remnants of his fight with Taylor.
“I didn’t,” she replied.
“Rika?” he asked.
“Misha and Damon figured it out, actually.”
A laugh bubbled out of him, the deep, rich sound like déjà vu. He was a teenager at the Cove all over again.
Rika. He meant Erika Fane. I’d heard she was engaged to Michael Crist, one of his best friends. Kai was married and a father, as was fucking Damon Torrance. Shocker.
Misha Grayson was his younger cousin. He went to Thunder Bay Prep, too, but that was after my time.
Alex knew all of them. She was a part of his life now. Friends with his friends.
“Damon and Misha…” Will mused. “Like in the same room?”
“There may have been blood,” she joked.