Page 78 of A Light in the Darkness
“He’s valuable to me, Rhea.” I tell her honestly. “But you matter more. Please, treat him well.”
“Of course.” She smiles, rolling her eyes just a little.
“But not too well.” I add, as an afterthought. I don’t know the depth of whatever it is between them, and I don’t much care at the moment. I do know that Dimitri isn’t the sort of man who I can see giving her the life I want my sister to have… a life without worry or decay.
She’s laughing as she turns to go, but it slips when she sees Claire rising from the chair. It’s strange, sometimes. She’s so strong and powerful in her own ways, that sometimes I forget how small Claire is. In moments like this one, it takes me by surprise again.
“I’m sorry.” Claire tells her, crossing the distance to her best friend. “For… running headfirst into brick walls.”
Rhea opens her mouth, and I’m not sure if she’s going to say something back or if she’s just surprised that Claire’s relenting. But Claire doesn’t give her a chance to say anything if she’d planned to. “I can’t explain why I needed to do it. Maybe I never will be able to explain why I needed to. But you’re right. I wasn’t thinking about you.”
“You don’t have to think about me.” Rhea sighs. “But I wish you would. Claire, I can’t lose you, but I feel like I am right now and it scares the hell out of me.”
I turn my back to them, offering them a little privacy. Their friendship was a thing long before I came into the picture, so I guess the least I could do is let them work out their problems in peace. I don’t leave the room entirely, finding my phone and looking down at the messages I’ve yet to acknowledge.
It’s been nearly a week since I iced Kent out, telling him that I wouldn’t prioritize the rest of them over Claire anymore. I don’t expect to see a missed call from him, but it’s there, his name red on the screen. A glance at the girls assures me they haven’t devolved into screaming or hair-pulling, so I hit the redial button,expecting to hear him launch into a monologue about how disappointed he is with me.
Instead, when he answers, he greets me coldly. “Boudreaux.”
I didn’t realize we were back on a last name basis, after everything we went through together. But I guess I can’t fault him for being upset with me. “Kent,” I say. “Is something wrong?”
“No.” His voice is terse, impatient. I can tell he didn’t want to answer, and he probably wanted to call even less. “I need a favor.”
I almost laugh at the irony of him asking for a favor after pouting because I told him I was done doing favors for others. I don’t laugh, though, because his next words chase away any of the irony or humor of the situation.
“I found her.”
Chapter forty-seven
Claire
I honestly never expected that I’d return to Costa Rica again, but as we land at the airstrip and are greeted by a small group on the ground, something about it feels right. Michael is the only one I recognize from when he attended dinner with us. I don’t think I even said two words to him that night and yet, he regards me like a dear friend he hasn’t seen in a long time. He’s already wrapping me in his arms, nearly crushing me against him as he lifts my feet off the ground before Remy’s have even touched it.
“Knock it off!” Remy chides. “Or I’ll send you back to Holland with one less hand than you started with.”
Michael snickers, setting me down and grinning conspiratorially as he steps away. My head spins a little at the sudden rush of his affection, but the grin on his face makes me crack a smile, too. It fades when I get a look at the guys standing together behind him.
They’re huge, tall and muscled, imposing with their thick arms crossed over their chests in similar fashion. Other than the heavy attitude and their obvious irritation, they don’t share many physical similarities, so I assume they’re not brothers, though the way they mirror each other tells me they must be close. And the way they glare at Remy tells me they must not be happy with him.
“Kent, Rich,” Remy greets them with a simple nod.
“Boudreaux.” Only one of them speaks, the other nods in return.
“This is Claire. She’ll be staying with us for a bit. Claire, that’s Kent, and this is Rich.” He indicates the dark-haired one as Rich, and he at least manages a charming smile for me. I don’t doubthe’s great at melting ladies with a smile like that, but as soon as he switches his attention to Remy, the hostility is back.
Nobody does anything to ease the tension until Michael opens the door and gestures me into the back seat with a grin.
“I’m sitting beside the pretty girl.” He says, like he’s calling dibs on shotgun. I can’t help but laugh just a little at him. Maybe I’m just so absurdly tired, or maybe being back here, where I was the woman I want to become again, has me feeling lighter than I have in ages. Either way, I slide into the center seat and Remy follows, sandwiching me between him and Michael, who comes around to let himself in on my other side.
Before he shuts his door, I hear Rich say, “I’d give it all up for a girl like that too.”
I’m not sure what he means by that, but it’s obvious the words were meant for Kent, who cranks open the passenger side door and climbs in without saying another word.
The ride back to Remy’s home is awkward, with Kent and Rich in the front seat glowering, and me with the sneaking suspicion that they don’t like me. I’m not sure what I did to them personally, since this is the first time I’ve met either of them. I didn’t even know they existed, so I can’t imagine what I did to earn their displeasure.
Remy is silent beside me, lost in thought. He hasn’t tried to touch me since the night I helped kill Addsion, and part of me worries that he’s lost the spark for me. Part of me craves it, each time he moves his arm and I think he’s going to pull me against him or when he looks at me for a second longer than necessary, and I think he’s going to kiss me.
I’m so consumed with my own thoughts that I don’t realize immediately that this isn’t the path to Remy’s home. Anxiety rises inside of me once I do, the churning feeling in my stomach mixing with the uncomfortable awareness that I’m in the car with two men who don’t seem to have any affection for me. Remy must hear my shaky inhale as I try to stave off the memory of Jovich drivingme into the middle of nowhere, Mac’s needle in my skin. He looks up, realizing what I already have, and frowns.
