Fractured Sky (Tattered & Torn #5)(35)

Shiloh’s face completely shut down with no hint of any emotion shining through. “No, I’m fine. Do whatever you need to.”

I hated everything about this moment: The door she’d cracked open then slammed shut in my face. Knowing her expression of nothingness hid hurt. The desire still thrumming through me. All of it had alarm bells blaring in my mind.

I jerked my head in a nod. “’Night.” I was out of the dining area before the word was completely out of my mouth.

I was an asshole. But better that than someone who took advantage. Shiloh had been through so much, and this past week had been a rollercoaster. She needed a friend, not some sleaze making a move on her.

Kai didn’t follow me into the bedroom, but I wasn’t shocked. I was sure he was in hog heaven at Shiloh’s side. And, honestly, I felt better that he stuck close.

But as I closed the door to the guest room, I felt damn lonely—by my own choice. I’d walked away from what I wanted, what I wanted more than anything since I’d prayed for my freedom two decades ago.

I’d gotten it, but there had been a price for that freedom. It was something I needed to remember. There was always a cost.

I pulled my laptop out of my duffel and sank onto the bed. The knot of my hair tugged as I settled against the pillows. I pulled the tie free, and the pressure in my scalp released.

Flipping open the laptop, I tapped a key to wake it up, then opened an internet browser and got to work. Shiloh had been calm all through dinner. Hadn’t mentioned the letter once. But I hadn’t forgotten. I couldn’t.

Someone was watching—someone who knew that she was here. That was too close for comfort for me.

I opened a notes app and started a list of everyone with ties to Howard Kemper. It shocked the hell out of me to find out that his daughter, Everly, was now engaged to Hayes. But then again, I’d read an article that had touted Everly as the one who’d saved Shiloh all those years ago.

I found some articles about Everly’s brother, Ian, but from everything I could tell, he was still locked up in prison. I moved to other types of connections: Men who had worked for Howard. Those tied up in that off-the-grid world he’d been a part of. His cellmates.

My fingers froze over the keyboard as I scanned the website on my screen, one that would tell me which of Howard’s cellmates were still in prison, and which had gotten out. He’d only had three in all his time inside. Two had lasted under a year. But the third? They’d obviously been enough of a match to remain paired for the duration.

August Ernst. He’d been sentenced to twenty years for stalking and aggravated assault. But he’d gotten out early—just two weeks before Howard Kemper died. Now, he was walking free.

Maybe he had an urge to terrorize the woman his cellmate had been obsessed with.





15





SHILOH





I leaned against the rails of the round pen, and Onyx stared back warily. The session with Ramsey hadn’t gone well this morning.

“You’re certainly giving him hell.”

The mare huffed.

“I get it, more than you know. But I’ve been here longer than you. He’s a good man. You can trust him.”

The mare’s ears flicked.

I slid half an apple through the fence rails. Onyx started slowly towards me. Her gait wasn’t as hesitant as it had once been. She knew only good things came from me. I just hoped she could find that same acceptance of Ramsey.

Onyx took the apple from my hand. As she chewed, I rubbed her cheek—more progress. My gaze caught on the scars crisscrossing her side. I kept my strokes steady. “I’m so sorry he hurt you.”

Images flashed in my mind, phantom sensations through my body: The feel of Howard’s hands around my neck. The certainty that those were my last moments on Earth.

I squeezed my eyes closed, my hand dropping away from Onyx. The panic zipped through my body. I clenched and flexed my hands, shaking them at my sides, trying desperately to beat it back.

A warm muzzle pushed into my neck. My eyes flew open. Onyx was right there as if she knew everything I was feeling—she probably did. Better than just about any other being on the planet.

I dropped my forehead to hers, resting it there. One single tear slipped free before I forced the rest back. “We’re not alone. We have each other. We have Kai.”

We had Ramsey, too, but I couldn’t seem to find the bravery to say those words out loud. “I won’t let anyone hurt you. Never again.”

We stayed that way for…I didn’t know how long, simply taking comfort in each other and the knowledge that someone understood.

My phone buzzed in my back pocket, and I forced myself to straighten but not before dropping a kiss to Onyx’s muzzle. “Thank you.”

I slid the phone out as the mare stepped away.

Mom: How are you doing?

I let out a breath and attempted to rein in my riot of emotions. I tried to put myself in her shoes, but as soon as I did, the guilt threatened to drown me, and every doubt along with it. Angry voices told me that I was selfish and heartless. Said that if I cared for my parents, I would’ve simply stayed where I was and done as they asked.

Ramsey’s voice filled my head. The one that told me to focus on just one thing. I zeroed in on Onyx’s face and those dark eyes that reminded me so much of his—ones that held pain but so much beauty.