“Eddie.”
“Something. . snapped inside me. I can’t even tell you. I’ve never. . never felt anything like that. I mean, I always ran hotter than other kids, and sometimes I’d get these fevers. When Matthew would hurt me. . my skin would tingle, pins and needles. I blamed it on the abuse, but now I know differently. It was all just building.
“But right then. .” He shook his head, heart beginning to pound. “The fire broke inside me. And Matthew’s brother, who was standing closest. . he went up in flames.”
Eddie could still hear the man’s screams. He would always hear his screams.
“Matthew couldn’t put his brother out,” he whispered. “He stayed, trying — and that’s what got him arrested. A neighbor heard the screams and called the police. When they arrived, they found my sister’s body and. . other evidence of the murder. At trial, it was revealed that she was pregnant. That’s why he killed her.”
Lyssa was so quiet behind him. Then, softly: “What was her name?”
“Daphne,” he breathed.
“Daphne,” she repeated.
Eddie closed his eyes. “That’s the first time in years I’ve heard anyone say her name.”
She propped herself up on her elbow and slid her hand beneath her cheek. She didn’t try to make him look at her, but he did, anyway. It was difficult. He was afraid of what he’d see in her eyes.
What he found, however, were tears. . and a compassion that was raw and grim, and solely for him.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he whispered.
“Like what?”
“Like I did nothing wrong. If I’d talked. . if I had told my mother, or someone. . if I hadn’t been so afraid of making it worse. .” Eddie choked on those words and dug his palms into his damp eyes. “How could it have been worse? I was so stupid.”
“You were a kid.”
“My father taught me better.”
Lyssa pressed her lips to his cheek. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“My mother taught me not to be a coward. But what have I done? Spent ten years running, tail between my legs.”
“You were just a kid when you lost your family. No could have expected you to start a war.”
Lyssa’s mouth softened. “Yeah?”
He shook his head. “Don’t use logic on me.”
“Logic doesn’t exist, times like these. You react from the gut, then pay for life.” She lay back down again, snug against his side, naked and warm. “So. Based on the way you spoke to your mom on the phone. . that man, Matthew Swint. .”
“Is out of prison.”
“And you’re here with me. Jesus. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. If I had stayed. . I think I might have killed him. It could still happen.”
“You’d be justified.”
His smile felt crooked. “No warnings to be a better man?”
“No.” Lyssa stared him dead in the eyes. “You’re already the best man I know. You can take a dent and still be the best.”
Her words almost killed him. A hot bolt of tenderness and wonderment shot straight through his raw, broken heart.
“But I’m the only man you know,” he said.
Lips quirked. “Don’t get uppity.”
Eddie leaned down and kissed her — gently at first, then deeper, harder, overcome by desire for this woman who could listen to his darkest secrets and just. . take them. He could hardly believe, or trust it. . but when he pulled back just enough to look at her. .
Lannes can go to hell, he thought fiercely. She’s no demon.
Lyssa paled. “What?”
He hesitated, taken aback by the shock in her eyes, “I didn’t say anything.”
But I thought something, he realized.
She struggled to sit up, movements jerky, rushed. He held out his hands. “Hey.”
Her gaze refused to meet his. “We should probably find some clothes.”
Eddie gripped her shoulders. “Can you read my thoughts?”
She tensed and gave him a reluctant look. “Sometimes.”
“Well,” he said, then stopped, staring at her. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“Like what?” Lyssa batted him away with her left hand while keeping her right tucked in a fist against her stomach, a return to her defensive posture. “No one wants to hear that their mind is. . exposed. Besides, it only happened a couple times.”
“A moment ago?”
Her mouth tightened.
“Listen,” Eddie began, but she stiffened, then swung around to stare at the partially open door behind them.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Someone’s coming.”
He pulled away. “Stay here.”
“Like hell,” Lyssa muttered, standing with him and searching for clothes. Not much was still intact, except for his jacket. She slid it on and wrapped the remains of a charred blanket around her hips.
Eddie didn’t bother with clothes at all. He crept to the door, listening as gravel crunched. Light footsteps, careful.
But Lyssa suddenly made a small, pained sound — and ran past him, out the door. Eddie couldn’t catch her in time, and chased her.
Only to find himself staring at Jimmy.
The boy stood at the bottom of the stairs, clutching a flashlight in both hands. Huge eyes, as he stared at Lyssa. When he saw Eddie, his mouth dropped in shock — but that lasted only a moment. He was trembling, his hair stuck to his sweat-soaked forehead. Eddie saw a dark smear on his cheek.
Blood.
Lyssa crouched and grabbed his shoulders. She didn’t seem to notice or care that her right hand was exposed, and Jimmy fell into her arms, hugging her with a choked sob. She sat back on the step, holding him tightly, silent and tense.
“Tell me,” she said. “What happened?”
“They took my mother,” he whispered.
Eddie went back inside to find clothes. His options were limited. He jammed his feet into his boots and found another blanket that he wrapped around his waist. While Lyssa went to dress, he sat with Jimmy on the stone steps.
“Details,” he said.
“We got to the airport,” he whispered, and Eddie heard a whimper beneath the boy’s sweatshirt. “Private plane, like you promised. We drove up, and some men were waiting. They had g-guns, and they sh-shot the man dr-driving us. And my dad.”
Jimmy’s voice choked, and he drew in a shuddering breath. Hands shaking, he fumbled beneath his sweatshirt. He wore a T-shirt underneath, tucked into his jeans, and there was a squirming bulge against his belly.
He pulled his T-shirt free, and Icky tumbled into his lap. Eddie bowed his head, rubbing the back of his neck as the boy hugged the panting dog. Tears streamed down his face.
“Jimmy,” he said, as softly as he could. “What else can you tell me?”
“They put us in a car,” he said haltingly. “And took us across the river out of the city. There was a big house in the middle of trees, and it was quiet.”
Lyssa emerged, dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. Her left hand was full of a fluttery pale scarf that she wrapped around her neck. On her other hand, a glove — and his jacket.
Jimmy twisted to look at her, and his face crumpled. Lyssa tried to smile for him, but Eddie could see the strain on her face. She sat down beside the boy and wrapped her arm around his shoulders.
“Icky,” she rasped, as the dog whined.
“I hid him,” he whispered, and dug into his pocket for a piece of paper. “I was told to give you this.”