Defiance (The Protectors #9)(23)

“The only way out of the house during lockdown mode is through this door,” Vincent explained as we reached what looked like an ordinary closet at first. He pushed the jackets aside and then took my hand and put it near the back wall and the panel instantly slid open. “The watch controls the door.” Vincent took me by the wrist and led me into the small space that was barely big enough for the two of us. The panel slid closed behind us and dim lights illuminated a narrow walkway that led to some stairs. “See that ladder?” I followed his finger to my right and nodded. “The closet upstairs is identical to this one,” – he motioned over his shoulder to the closet behind us – “except you have to climb down the ladder to get here. Follow this corridor and down those stairs, through the hall to another set of stairs. You’ll end up in the garage. There’s a trapdoor beneath the SUV. There’s an extra set of keys to the SUV and a gun taped to the trapdoor. The garage door won’t open in lockdown mode, but as soon as you open the trapdoor, the locks on the door will silently disengage so you’ll be able to use the SUV to break the door down-”

“Why are you telling me this?” I interjected.

“In case I’m not around to get you out,” he said simply. “If the house is breached, your only goal is to get to this door or the one upstairs, do you understand me?”

There was barely enough light to see the firm set of his jaw. “What about you?” I asked, as even the thought of leaving him behind had my mind crying foul.

Vincent maneuvered me backwards until my back hit the wall. His hand came up to clasp the back of my neck. “This is not Q&A time, Nate. This is shut up and listen time.”

“So what, I’m just supposed to leave you behind?” I asked.

“God, you’re so…” He dropped his head briefly as if trying to control himself. When he lifted his head again, I expected him to continue, but he didn’t. I didn’t need to see him to know he was looking at my mouth. And I knew why.

I couldn’t let him, though.

I just couldn’t. It was a line I wouldn’t…couldn’t cross.

But I didn’t move. I didn’t ask him to release me. I didn’t do anything except wish for the impossible.

He let out something that sounded like a mix between a curse and growl, and then he was dragging me back through the panel after waving his arm in front of it. By the time I stepped through the closet, the metal covers over the windows and doors had started to recede and I finally noticed how the house had been cleverly designed to hide their presence.

So this wasn’t just some safe house or something. It was really where he lived. Why the hell would someone have to live like this? I remembered how he’d crawled on the ground to check beneath his car for a bomb at the motel. And I started to wonder if I was really any safer with him.

Vincent didn’t speak as he led me to a set of stairs that led to the second floor. Both cats had joined us, though the boy, Mickey, was walking in front of Vincent while Minnie was trailing behind me. Brody and I hadn’t been allowed to have pets as children and I hadn’t had the time in recent years to get one, but I’d grown stupidly fond of the stray cat that had shown up night after night at my patio door looking for food. Just the thought of the poor creature’s fate had my throat swelling with sadness.

“Your room,” Vincent motioned to an open doorway. Mickey was already sitting on the middle of the bed when I walked into the bedroom. Like the living room downstairs, it had a stunning view of the backyard, which had a little bit of a nicely landscaped yard before opening up into a clearing surrounded by dense forest. I saw a small pond on the far side of the clearing. In the distance, I could see the double line of fencing and I could only assume that meant it stretched around the entire property.

I turned to ask Vincent if that were the case, but he was gone. I went to the hallway and peered down it, but all I saw was an open doorway at the end. I wasn’t ballsy enough to enter his private domain, so I returned to my room and looked around. It wasn’t overly extravagant, but it was definitely set up for comfort. Generous bedding in neutral tones, a huge bathroom with a whirlpool tub and separate shower, and a small sitting area by the floor-to-ceiling window. I put my hand against the glass to see if I could tell it was bulletproof, but it felt no different than regular glass, at least not to my inexperienced hand.

I took a few minutes to unpack my bag. I’d brought the picture taken of me and Brody at our grandfather’s cabin when we’d been kids, but somehow seeing it was a reminder of things I wasn’t ready to deal with. My conversation with Vincent in the car had brought back some ugly memories that I’d worked very hard to bury. It wasn’t that I’d forgotten them, I was just really good at compartmentalizing them so that I only had to deal with them when I was ready to. And I most certainly couldn’t handle them around Vincent. I was already feeling too vulnerable around him as it was.

My thoughts drifted to earlier that morning. I hadn’t missed the fact that I’d woken up on his side of the bed. I could only hope he hadn’t been in it when I’d migrated in that direction. I’d slept surprisingly well considering everything that had happened, but I was still wiped out. I waited a few minutes for Vincent to come and collect me so he could explain what was going to happen next, but when he didn’t show I decided to take a quick shower since I hadn’t had the chance to do it the night before. I closed the bedroom door and then went into the bathroom. As inviting as the tub looked, I didn’t have the time to make use of it, so I stripped off my clothes and got the shower going. My side was bruised, but it wasn’t hurting as bad as the night before. Since I didn’t have anything to cover the bandage on my hand with, I removed it, but left the small Band-Aids Vincent had used to cover the puncture wounds on my fingers. My palm felt like it was on fire, but I ignored the pain and climbed into the shower, closing the glass door behind me. The hot water felt amazing, and I found myself standing underneath the spray for a good ten minutes before I even started the process of washing myself.