Page 24 of Guarded By the Golem

“What if you’re in danger now?”

He looked at me. “Maya, I can take care of myself. And I will take care of you. Do you trust me?”

I bit the inside of my cheek, hesitating. Not that I didn’t trust him. I didn’t trust the authorities to understand what had happened at the mansion and in that basement. And I’d just seen Victoria Lockwood, my captor’s mother, escape in a red Chevy. She was an eyewitness, and Mason had done nothing to stop her.

“I trust you,” I said.

He smiled at me, and like the heat of his body, his smile warmed me down to my core. I relaxed and let my head fall against the seat. It was so big that it was almost like a single bed.

I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep.

Chapter Fifteen

Mason

The sun was up when we arrived at my brother’s house. The children were having breakfast as Kara prepared their backpacks for kindergarten. I felt bad for interrupting their routine and bringing chaos into their peaceful household, but this was the only place where I was certain Maya would be safe. For a while, at least, until things calmed down, and we knew where we stood.

Goliath opened the door when he heard me pulling up into the driveway. He smiled and waved when he saw me get out of the truck. I nodded at him and went to the passenger’s side to get Maya. She was too tired to walk, and even if her initial reaction was to protest needing help, I took her in my arms and carried her to the house. At the sight of her – more specifically, the state she was in – Goliath’s smile faded. He moved out of the doorway to let us through.

“Good God, what happened?” Kara came running from the kitchen, kids in tow. “You poor thing, are you okay? Come, lie down on the couch.”

She didn’t know who Maya was, yet didn’t hesitate to adopt her in an instant. It was just the type of person my brother’s wife was – warm-hearted and compassionate.

“I’m okay,” Maya chuckled, trying to sound brave. “I’ve been worse.”

She was shaking all over, and it dawned on me that she was just starting to process everything she’d been through. Being stuck in that basement had disconnected her from the world and from the normalcy of it, and now that she was surrounded by people again – Kara being human and her two kids hybrids – she was being hit by the realization that what had happened to her was completely and irreparably wrong. Her chin trembled andher eyes filled with tears. She quickly swiped at them with the back of her sleeve.

“Do you think I could take a bath?” she asked.

“Oh my God, of course. Anything you need. Here, I’ll help you up.”

Kara hooked an arm around Maya’s waist, and together, they ambled upstairs. Since my brother had lost his leg, they’d done work on the house, and now he and Kara lived downstairs, while the whole second floor was Xavier’s and Nira’s. I was grateful Kara had taken Maya to the upstairs bathroom because that meant I could have a real conversation with Goliath before I had to show Maya the file I’d taken from Lockwood’s study.

“Does this mean we’re not going to kindergarten today?” Xavier asked, hope twinkling in his dark eyes.

“Absolutely not,” my brother said. “I will take you right now. Are you all packed up?”

The children groaned but went to get their backpacks.

“Ten minutes,” Goliath said to me. “There’s coffee in the kitchen.”

I nodded. I was grateful to have ten minutes to myself, to think about everything that had happened and anticipate what consequences I might have to suffer. When my brother returned, I’d have to break it to him I’d just burned down my client’s house with him inside it. And I needed him and his family to be my alibi. Involving them in this was selfish of me, but what other choice did I have? Maya was my mate. Every time we touched, my body and my soul burned for her. I only hoped my brother would understand that.

I poured coffee into a mug and sat at the kitchen table. From here, I could see the driveway and pretty far down the street. Upstairs, I heard Kara run this way and that, probably retrieving towels and other things Maya needed. I took out the file and placed it on the table. I’d read it all and knew the most importantdetails by heart. Maya had been through so much already, and I hated I had to give this file to her and disrupt her life even more. On the one hand, she would find out things about herself and her family that she’d never even imagined, but on the other hand, I knew that knowledge would change her forever.

I saw my brother’s truck pull up next to mine. The fact that he was in a wheelchair didn’t stop him from doing most of the things he’d done before, and he didn’t like getting help when he didn’t ask for it, so I patiently waited for him. When he’d needed to adapt his truck to accommodate the wheelchair, I’d insisted to finance it. We had a huge fight, and in the end, we went fifty-fifty. Above all, Goliath was proud. I couldn’t blame him, since I was proud too, and if I sometimes had to fight him to make him accept my help, I was happy to do it.

“Coffee?” I asked as he entered the kitchen.

“Sure.” He eyed the file as I poured him a cup. “What’s this?”

I ignored his question for now.

“Goliath, what I’m going to ask of you is huge. Before I do it, I need to tell you that Maya is my mate. She has stirred the Mating Fire within me.”

“Maya is the girl?”

“Yes.”

---