Page 2 of At Their Mercy: Part I

Shay was more curious than anything, but yeah…the niggling worry was there, that he’d find some things to be too much. That he’d look at us differently once he knew.

We yawned at the same time, making us chuckle.

He lifted his head and locked eyes with me.

Beautiful pup.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you too,” I murmured.

Terrifyingly much.

It could get overwhelming at times, something I wasn’t used to. What I felt for Shay, the sheer strength and force of that love, threw me every fucking day. I’d gone over forty years fully convinced nothing could ever compare to the bond I shared with Reese.

In those moments, when it was difficult to process all the changes, I wanted to close myself in with both of them. Lock out the world. And just marinate in my new reality.

I drew a deep breath and figured we should get out of here. I wanted to get back to the cabin too, where our bed waited for us. Maybe a quick shower as well. And I could mention to Reese that I was hungry so that he would tell the others to fuck off. Because once we got him alone, he’d stay. First to make sure we ate properly, and then because we were better than the rest.

“Let’s get dressed, baby.” I pressed a kiss to his forehead. “If we hurry and shut out the noise, we can be behind closed doors in under a minute.”

Reluctance was written all over him, but he knew it would be worth it as soon as we were out of here. Once we were in the shower together, on the couch together, in bed together.

“Okay, but this counts as pain,” he said and pushed himself up.

I grinned and followed suit.

Great minds.

“If the room had been more soundproof and we’d had a bed, I could’ve stayed here,” he added.

“Damn those safety measures,” I chuckled.

He scrunched his nose and stepped into his sweats. “Safety measures?”

I reached for my jeans and put them on. “Yeah, soundproofing will…” I trailed off and furrowed my brow when I caught a whiff of something that didn’t belong. That smell—something was off. Were they screaming louder downstairs too? I stiffened. Those screams were different. They were no longer related to kink or clubbing.

Get him out right now.

A beat later, the house stopped thumping from the music. For one fraction of a second, the silence was deafening. Until the screaming and shouting returned. It shot alarm through me, and I swallowed to push down any worry, any fear, and all sense of decorum. It was time to act.

I flicked my stare to Shay, and he knew something was up too. He stood there frozen, eyes on the door, and everything he’d gone through came rushing to the forefront of my mind. I had to get him the fuck out of here right this instant. The guy had lost his parents and baby sister when their house had burned down; I couldn’t think of anything more triggering than a fucking fire.

Closing the distance between us, I grabbed him by the shoulder and lifted his chin. “Look at me, Shay.”

As if on autopilot, his gaze found mine. But it was like he looked right through me.

“I’m gonna get you out of here—do you hear me?”

My heart fucking broke for him. I saw the struggle in his eyes, the battle between the threat of the present and the haunting memories of the past. Did he understand? Was he with me? Every second mattered, and I couldn’t wait too long to figure out if he was gonna panic or hold it together until we were out. In moments like these, finesse flew out the window, and I couldn’t be sensitive to his anxiety levels. It would slow us down.

“I can smell it,” he rasped. “There’s a fire. There’s—there’s… I can smell the electrics b-burning.” He gulped and widened his eyes at the door. “No, no, no, no, no.”

I shot a glance over my shoulder and cursed internally at the black smoke pushing through. But it wasn’t too thick yet.

Fuck.

There goes our window. It was almost closing. We had to move right now—and we weren’t the only ones. I suddenly heard screams coming from much closer.