Page 41 of Hiding for the Holidays
“Oh.” I don’t know what else to say. The things Scott said in my nightmare, mixed with my thoughts before I fell asleep, have me feeling confused and out of sorts.
He pulls back and cups my face, his eyes bouncing between mine. “Are you okay?”
“I—I think so,” I whisper, licking my dry lips.
He nods slightly before hugging me again. “Okay, let’s get you out of here.”
“What do you mean?” I ask as he helps me stand, his eyes taking in my bare legs as if he can’t look away.
“You’re not staying here anymore,” he finally says, his angry eyes meetingmine.
“Where am I supposed to go?” It's the middle of the night, and I’m still disoriented, so I can’t make sense of his words.
“Clara,” he says in exasperation. “You’re coming to stay with us.” He grabs my backpack and looks around for my other stuff, frowning when he finds nothing else. He sees my phone plugged in on the floor on top of my mattress, so he grabs it and the charging cable and shoves it in the bag before his eyes return to my legs.
He glances around and sees my yoga pants on the desk, so he grabs them and passes them to me. “Put those on.”
I do as he says as he lifts my blanket and checks for anything underneath. “You don’t want to keep this bedding, do you?” He asks with a look of disgust.
“Umm, do you have some I can borrow?” I ask, feeling awkward.
He nods, zipping up my bag as he answers. “We have everything you need. And if we don’t, we’ll get it.”
I frown, trying to make sense of his attitude and actions right now. This is what a big brother would do if his sister was in trouble, right?
“Clara.”
“Hmm?” I look up at him and realize I missed what he said.
“Put your boots and coat on.” He gestures to my boots, which he seems to have placed right in front of me. He offers me a hand to hold while I balance on each foot, pulling my snow boots on one at a time, then holds up my jacket. I give him my back, letting him slip it up my arms and onto my shoulders. I do up the zipper, then he helps me put my backpack on.
He must be here on his bike. We both take one last look around, then he grabs my hand and quickly leads me out of the room. There are a few people in the hall, eyeing us suspiciously. Asher pulls me to his side, wrapping his arm around myshoulder in what feels like protection as we make our way out of the building.
“What time is it?” I ask when I see the moon shining brightly overhead.
“One a.m.”
My head reels back in surprise as we stop at his motorcycle and he starts to put the helmet on me. “One? In the morning?” He doesn’t say anything as he tightens the chin strap and turns to climb on the bike.
“Wait—” I grab his arm and pull him back to face me. “What are you even doing here? How did you hear me?”
He pauses for a moment as if weighing his words, then he looks over my shoulder and frowns. “I promise I’ll tell you later. Let’s just get you somewhere safe, okay? My nerves are on edge being out here right now.”
I glance behind me and see a few people doing what I would guess is meth or some other hard drug that involves a spoon and lighter.
I nod, and he turns and jumps on the bike. I climb on behind him, and he quickly pulls away from the curb.
Chapter 14
Rosalie
The town is silent at this time of night, and as if to add to the eeriness, it starts to snow. It’s slow at first, but after ten minutes on the bike, it comes down faster. I have no idea where they live, but when he pulls onto a residential street, one lit with well-placed lampposts and cute mailboxes at the end of the yards, he starts to slow down.
The street dead-ends on a circle, and he pulls into the driveway of the house at the very end. I see Grant’s blue Dodge Charger in the drive, so I know this is where they live.
The garage door opens, and Asher pulls in beside Leo’s truck. As soon as he switches the motorcycle off the garage door closes.
I climb off the bike, and Leo’s voice surprises me. “What’s going on?” I glance up to see Grant and him standing in the doorway to the house, watching me with curiosity on their faces.
