Shattered (The Protectors 11)

“Did you see Silver at the lodge?” I asked Caleb.

“Yes,” he said softly. He came around to stand at my side. “But he went to his room right away. I tried to talk to him, but he asked me to leave him alone. Do you think he’ll be all right?”

I shook my head because I just didn’t know. The young man had clearly been traumatized and I had no clue how to help him.

“It was a beautiful service, Jace. She was well-loved.”

I nodded. Many of Maggie’s friends had attended the funeral and said really nice things about her.

I stared at the row of five headstones.

“I need to make sure she’s always a part of Willa’s life,” I said. “Will you help me do that?” I asked.

Caleb nodded. “She’ll always be with us, Jace. We’ll make sure of it. And when Willa’s ready, we’ll bring her back here and show her where she comes from. The lodge, the gift shop, the dreaded bunny hill…”

I smiled and tightened my arm around him.

“Let’s go back to the lodge,” Caleb suggested.

I nodded and dropped my hand to search out his. He linked our fingers and led me to the waiting car. I was glad to see he had two of Ronan’s men with him.

Once back at the lodge, we ran into Dalton, who was making his way through the lobby, his bag in hand. He was moving slowly, which meant he was probably in a good deal of pain.

“Are you heading out?” I asked.

He nodded. “It’s a long drive.”

I wanted to tell him he shouldn’t have come, since I knew how hard traveling was on his body, but my argument would have fallen on deaf ears. “I could find someone to take you home,” I offered, though I knew what his answer would be.

He shook his head.

Yep, it was exactly the answer I’d expected.

Dalton was a man of few words.

“Thank you for coming. Will you let me know when you make it home?” I asked.

Dalton nodded. I didn’t try to embrace him, because he wasn’t a big fan of physical contact. I shook his hand.

“You two take care,” he said, then pushed past us.

“He hates me,” Caleb murmured.

“He hates just about everyone,” I said. I knew Caleb thought Dalton had feelings for me, but I wasn’t so sure. I’d known Dalton long enough to suspect what the issue was. Just like he’d been my only friend, I’d been his only link to the outside world. He’d known just from the way I’d talked about Caleb two years earlier what it would mean when the day came that Caleb came back into my life.

And he’d been absolutely right.

I’d been able to spend a few minutes with Dalton the night before and had told him that I was making the move to Seattle a permanent thing. He’d already suspected as much, but when I’d asked him to consider moving himself, he’d almost instantly shot me down.

“He doesn’t do change well,” I said to Caleb. “It took him a long time to get to where he is and he won’t give that up for anyone – not even if it means he’s going to spend the rest of his life alone.”

Caleb sighed. “We’ll keep working on him,” he said, his voice ringing with determination. I looked at him and he smiled. “He’s your family, Jace. That makes him my family, and he should be with his family.”

I brushed my mouth over his. “You’re an amazing man, Caleb Cortano.”

“Let’s go collect some more stories about your sister to share with Willa,” he suggested.

I sighed and followed him to the room where the wake was being held. The hour that followed was bittersweet. I got to hear a lot about my sister that I hadn’t known, but the ache in my chest that came along with knowing she wasn’t going to walk through the door at any moment and announce it had all been a mistake was profound. By the time the wake ended and Caleb and I were back in the room, I was completely worn out.

But just as Caleb and I were getting ready to lie down, Ronan came to our room to tell us that Silver was nowhere to be found. Ronan had gone to check on him and when there hadn’t been a response, he’d grown worried that the young man had passed out because of his injuries. He’d gotten the manager to open the door for him, but there’d been no sign of Silver, and the few belongings we’d gotten for him, including some toiletries and a couple of changes of clothes, were still in the room.

“Let’s search the lodge,” Ronan suggested. “I’ll have my guys head toward town to see if he went there for some reason.”

My phone rang before Ronan even finished. Seeing that it was Dalton, I answered. “Hey, you okay?” I asked.