Page 97 of Kylo
And while there was no blood anywhere, I couldn’t help but fear the worst.
That I was too late.
That they’d taken her.
That they were doing to her all the awful shit they’d told her they wanted to.
A sick feeling rose in my throat as I called her name.
Then, the text.
The relief.
Finding her in a tiny hole in the wall, dirty, terrified, but unharmed.
I didn’t plan on trying to apologize, let alone get her to forgive me.
I was going to save her, get her safe, then give her the space from me I was sure she wanted.
But then she was clinging to me, talking to me, listening to me.
And when all that was done, she leaned up and pressed her soft lips to mine.
All the days of despair, of a deep, dark hole that threatened to swallow me up forever, fell away.
My hand slid to the back of her neck, gently massaging as I kissed her back, careful at first, then harder, more urgent.
Until I heard the footsteps coming down the hallway.
I pulled away first, watching the dazed look in her eyes as her lids fluttered open.
“We should get her out of here,” Huck said. “If they know she’s working with us now, they will be back sooner or later.”
Rue stiffened, but was quick to get up to her feet.
“Babe,” Huck called, nodding toward her feet.
“Oh, right,” she said, turning back to her closet and finding a pair of slides. “Should I get anything else?” I asked.
“Yeah, here,” I said, handing her one of her duffle bags. “Fit as much as you can in there. Just in case,” I added, not wanting her to think she was going to be away from her house for too long. “Unless there is something Ernest is partial to, we can get him all new shit to hold him over,” I told her.
“Wait, I heard motorcycles,” she said when she zipped her bag after shoving clothes and underwear inside.
“Yeah.”
“How is Ernest going to get out of here?”
“Eddie,” Huck said when I had no answer. “Eddie headed over with his car. Ernest is gonna have to sit in the front seat, but it isn’t a long drive.”
With that, I waited for Rue as she ducked into her bathroom to toss her toothbrush and anything else she needed in the bag, then, finally, moved out into the main area of the house with me.
I reached for her hand.
She laced her fingers between mine.
Then I gave her a squeeze as I led her through her mess of a house.
A small whimper escaped her as she glanced into the kitchen, seeing her mismatched mug collection destroyed, but she kept her head up as I led her outside, handed off her duffle to Eddie, and watched her tell Ernest she would see him in just a few minutes.
