Page 35 of Fence

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Fence

I didn’t saymuch as we rode in the taxi, Ciera’s bags in the trunk. I hadn’t told her yet that she probably wouldn’t see her apartment again. Not that she’d be missing much. The place was a closet. There was no way we could’ve shared that creaky old bed without breaking it.

One of those bags held her research. My heart clenched when I imagined how she’d react when I told her what needed to be done.

I’m so sorry, my love. I took her hand, and she squeezed, not knowing what I was thinking.

What was she thinking? A look at her from the corner of my eye revealed little. She was excited—being told to pack a bag and rushing out onto the street was exciting, I supposed. She was tired, for certain, and I could identify with that. She was uncertain. But she was there, with me, in that car. She hadn’t asked any further questions. She was willing to follow my lead. That had to say something about her feelings, didn’t it?

I could only hope I did them justice.

Miles had already informed the hotel staff that I would have a guest in my room, so they didn’t bat an eye when I walked in with her and two pieces of luggage.

Our ride on the elevator was silent, too. She looked around, taking it all in, keeping her thoughts to herself. I had never appreciated silence more than I did just then. There was too much banging around in my head to leave room for conversation. How was I going to break it to her?

As it turned out, I didn’t need to worry about it. My brother was more than willing to do it for me, the clumsy oaf.

“You told her she’s coming with us, then?” he asked, eyeing up her bags as we rolled them into the room where he was waiting with Miles.

I winced, closing my eyes briefly.

“I’m what?” Ciera looked up at me, eyes darting back and forth over my face. “What did he just say?”

“You dumbass,” I hissed at my brother.

“Oh. I’m sorry.” For once, he accepted that he’d said the wrong thing, and his face darkened.

“What did he just say?” she repeated, this time more pointedly.

“Sit down, please,” I replied, attempting to steer her to the armchair by the window.

Miles stepped aside to make room.

“Don’t coddle me.” She shook me off, whirling around to glare at the three of us. “I’m pretty sick of this three-against-one bullshit, to be honest. Just come out and tell me what it is I need to know, instead of glancing at each other and wondering how to break it gently.”

It fell on my shoulders, and that was as it should’ve been. I owed her that much. “You need to come back to the States with us for your protection.”

“Like hell, I do,” she said, tossing her head defiantly. “You’ve got another thing coming if you think I’ll drop everything and run off with you, just because you said so.”

“Ciera, please.” Miles was much more level-headed than the rest of us just then, the way he normally was. “Let me explain. Gate and I went back to the cave last night to do some more exploring. We found the place where you fell and hit your head. I’m sure you remember that.”

She touched the bump on her head, which I hadn’t realized until just then had been artfully hidden by her hair. “Yes. I do.”

“Do you remember how the wall looked when you woke up?”

“I dented it,” she grimaced.

“What else?”

She blinked. “Um… there was blood.”

“Right. Only there was no blood last night.”

I watched closely as she processed this. She frowned. “I don’t understand what that means.”

“Somebody else was there—likely after we left, since I’m sure we would’ve sensed an additional presence. They could’ve been watching to see whether any stragglers from the clan would return to the cave. They removed your blood from the wall. There’s no way of knowing what they did with it.”

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