Through the Fire (Daughter of Fire, #1)(17)

“Evie!” Clay’s urgent whispers accompanied a renewed tapping.

Lifting the curtain away from the window again, I glanced around to ensure he was alone and then pushed the window open. I was equal parts thrilled to see him and cautious about the reason for his late-night visit.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. I was unable and unwilling to fight the grin that stole across my face at the sight of him.

He climbed in the window. “I said I’d come didn’t I. I was just . . . delayed.”

At the word, my smile slid into a frown. “I know. Why is she here? Where is she now?”

“She couldn’t understand why I’d just left. She tracked me, the same way I tracked you. Apparently there is some CCTV on the roads near the warehouse, something to do with increased security around the airport. She found me from there.”

“Is she going to try to find me now?” I asked, unable to hide the quiver in my voice as I thought about the danger she and the rest of his family posed. I didn’t ask the more accurate question—is she here to kill me?

He brushed my hair out of my face and frowned. He swallowed heavily and then shook his head. “She has no idea that you’re here. She doesn’t even know that I still have feelings for you. I never told her the reason you disappeared. I promise I’ll keep you safe from her—from them all.”

“Where is she now though?”

“She’s gone. I saw her off myself. She’s probably back in New York by now.”

“But she hasn’t just left for good though, has she?” Even from the little I’d learned about his family when we’d been at school, I was certain there was no way she leave him alone for good.

His lips mashed together, proving my concern was justified. “No. She hasn’t. But I do have a small window.”

“How small?”

“She gave me two days to return to my family.”

I couldn’t believe that I might have less than forty-eight more hours with him. My lip quivered at the thought of having to say goodbye so soon. Even though we’d only had a week together, it was hard to imagine not seeing him again. I paced the small space between him and my bed. “That’s not very long,” I muttered.

He blinked at me and then his lips tipped up into a slow smile. “It’s long enough for us to plan our escape.”

I didn’t dare risk letting the bubble of hope that was building within me get too big. “Our escape? Like together?”

He reached for my shoulders and held me to stop my nervous gait. “Why not?”

“Is this your way of asking me to go steady?” I quipped, glad for the chance to release my fear—even momentarily. It was part of the magic that Clay and I had. He could make me forget the stress I was under.

“I know it’s crazy. We still barely know each other. We only had a few months in high school, and then a few more days now. It’s completely mental, but it feels right, doesn’t it?”

I blinked in response.

“Tell me that you don’t feel this intense pain right here,” he placed his hand over my heart, “whenever we have to leave each other, and I’ll go right now, because that would mean we don’t feel the same.”

“I can’t,” I said, placing my hand over his, “because I do.”

“I hope you understand why I couldn’t risk coming until I knew Lou had really left.”

“And you’re sure she has?”

He nodded. “I’m so sorry my family has messed everything up again.”

I pressed one finger against his lips. “You’re here now.”

“I am.”

“Dad’s asleep though.”

He chuckled. “Well, I guess you’ll just have to keep me company instead.”

“I think I can do that.”

I held his hand and led him over to the single bed in my room. Sitting on top of the mussed up covers, I pulled him down beside me. “You can stay here tonight,” I said. “We can introduce you to Dad tomorrow and see where we go from there.”

His face remained stoic as he assessed what I’d said, and I worried I’d overstepped some invisible mark.

“That is, if you want to?” I added.

“Are you kidding me?” The corners of his mouth lifted into a grin. “I’ve had two weeks of sleeping either in cars or in a sleeping bag on the cold, hard concrete floor. A bed is a dream come true. Getting to sleep beside a breathtaking girl as well? How could I even try to refuse that?”

After kicking off his shoes and socks, he wrapped his arms around me and dragged me down onto the mattress. A few lazy kisses later, I eventually succumbed to sleep. Truthfully we didn’t really fit side by side on the small bed, but the lack of room was a small sacrifice when it meant knowing that he was safe and that we were together.

During the night, his lips pressed against my shoulder and throat, causing me to shift in place and move closer to him until our bodies were wrapped tightly together. His arm wrapped around me and his face pressed against the back of my neck.

“Hmm, Evie,” he mumbled before his breathing evened out again.

When I woke the next morning, his arms were still wrapped around me. The fingers of one hand had found their way up underneath my top to caress the skin just below my breasts. I was lying there, trying to will his hand higher—or maybe lower—when my curtain was drawn with a whizzing noise. A sudden influx of sunlight blinded me temporarily.