Page 34 of Princess

He finally loosens his arms. His blue eyes search my face. “I’ll bury him as well as I can. Then we’ve got to get somewhere safer than this for the night.”

“Where will we go?”

“New Haven, I guess.” He rubs at his face and the back of his neck. “If there isn’t a bed for us, we can sleep in the barn. At least it will be safe there as we figure out what to do.”

“What did you find out?” I ask, realizing there are important things that completely slipped my mind. “Are our people safe in the bunker?”

“They seem to be. I think most of them got down there. I saw about twenty bodies.”

I squeak at this number.

“Not all of them were our people,” he goes on quickly. “Our guards took a lot of the attackers out. It looked like a Wolf Pack, but it was too big for just one. Maybe a few of them got together because it was so tempting a target. I don’t know. But I’d say we probably lost Noah and about five or six others.”

Part of me wants to ask who he recognized among the bodies, but the rest of me doesn’t want to know. Not right now. Not on top of everything else. Losing Noah is hard enough.

Grant seems to realize this because he goes on, “They’re camped out there. Right above the bunker. But they don’t have the capabilities to get into it, so I think the rest of our people are safe for now. So let’s get to New Haven tonight, and then we’ll figure out what to do from there.”

I nod, licking my dry lips and glancing back toward Noah’s body.

“I’ll do my best to bury him for now,” Grant murmurs. “And when we’re safe, I’ll come back and bury him better.”

“Thank you.” I’m not sure why I say this. Just that he made it sound like he was doing it for me.

* * *

The sun is low by the time we’re able to start back toward New Haven, and it’s completely dark when we get there.

We’re lucky their guards don’t shoot us as we approach, but one of them recognizes us. They make us wait until Jackson comes out from the house and gives permission to let us in.

I’m too tired and drained to pay much attention to what comes after. We’re invited to the house to get some dinner and explain what happened. Faith and Jackson say we can stay as long as we need to. There’s some more talk as Grant and Jackson speculate about the possibility of Wolf Packs getting together and what that means for security in the region.

Then finally Faith says, “We can talk more about this tomorrow. It’s late, and y’all have had a really hard day. Get some sleep.” She gives me a little smile. “I’m glad you two are all right.”

I smile back at her.

Grant puts his hand on my back as Faith shows us to an outbuilding where she says there’s a spare room for us. I’m not sure why he keeps his hand there—right in the middle, beneath my shoulder blades—but I like the feel of it.

It feels like I need it.

The room is very small, and it only has one cot and a small table with a washbasin and a couple of pegs to hang up clothes. Faith slants us a quick look. “Will you be okay in here?”

“It’s fine,” I tell her.

“It’s fine,” Grant says at exactly the same time.

She gives a huff of amusement and tells us good night before she leaves.

“I can sleep on the floor if you want,” Grant murmurs.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” I’m already taking off my shoes, socks, and jeans. Then I maneuver out of my bra so I can sleep in my panties and top. I peed in the outhouse not long ago, so I just splash water on my face and drop into bed.

It’s not nearly as nice as the beds in the bunker, but I really don’t care right now.

I’m vaguely aware of Grant getting ready for bed too. He leaves for a few minutes—I assume to go to the bathroom—and when he comes back, he strips down to his underwear and climbs into the bed beside me.

There’s really not much room. The only comfortable way to sleep is to scoot right up against his body. Since that’s what I want anyway, I don’t hesitate to get close. He wraps both arms around me.

“Y’okay?” he asks huskily, rubbing his jaw against my messy hair.

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