Page 2 of Shadow Blind

Cynical? Demi? That couldn’t be right.

The screen went blank.

Aiden sat there, ice shredding his gut. Something was very wrong in sunny Coronado. It was ten-hundred hours in California. He always timed his calls so they wouldn’t be too late or too early for her. This was the first time she’d cut one short. Hell—they hadn’t even had a call. Not much of one, anyway.

He reached for his secure cell phone. It was nine hundred hours in Alaska. His sister Kait should be up, with all synapses firing thanks to a bucket full of coffee. His twin did like her coffee, something Kait and Demi had bonded over.

It took her so long to pick up the call, he was about to hang up and try again later.

“Aiden.” Her voice was breathless. “Sorry, I couldn’t find the phone. What’s up?”

He grimaced, certain that her breathless voice and raspy breathing had more to do with Simcosky’s sexual shenanigans than frantically searching for a ringing phone. And Christ help him—that was not an image he wanted in his head.

“It’s nine hundred hours, for fuck’s sake. You two should be out of bed by now. You’ve been married for two years. You left newlywed status behind months ago.”

“I told you not to answer it,” Cosky grumbled in the background. And then much louder, “Thanks for the cockblock, bro.” Cosky’s voice was so clear, he’d obviously snatched the phone from Kait.

Jesus. Aiden jerked the cell from his ear and pinched his nose, desperately trying to purge that knowledge from his brain. There were some things he simply didn’t want to know when it came to his sister. Her sex life was at the top of that list.

There were scuffling sounds over the line and Kait’s voice was back, sounding more breathless than ever.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of this highly irregular call? I mean, this is what, the first call from you in a month?”

“Personal calls are off-limits in sensitive areas.” He reeled off the excuse with practiced deftness, hitting the perfect balance of apologetic and regretful. Still, a twinge of guilt accompanied the half-truth. He really should call Kait more often.

“Suuure.” She drew the word out sarcastically and added a scoff in case he hadn’t picked up on her disbelief. “Let me guess, you’ve got yourself in trouble again and need a healing. It’s been what—” she paused as if she was doing the math. “Thirty days since Cosky and I healed your ass after that idiotic stunt up at Snow Valley?”

He almost objected to the idiotic stunt comment. Everything had been under control until an out-of-control snowboarder barreled into him. Thank Christ Kait and Cosky had joined him and Demi for that weekend ski trip before he’d shipped out. They’d been right there beside him on the slope and healed his floppy knee without his team brothers or CO being any the wiser. He’d gone wheels up with the rest of his team, right on schedule.

“I’m not in need of your miraculous gift.” He wasn’t even being facetious. What his sister could do, particularly when Cosky was with her, truly was miraculous. Unlike his damn talent, which was nothing but a farce. His chest tightened beneath a surge of frustration. He shoved it back. This wasn’t about him. It was about Demi. He nudged the conversation in that direction. “I just wanted to check in, see how you’re doing, that’s all.”

“Right.” Kait’s skepticism sharpened.

A scowl followed his grimace. Hooking up with Simcosky had made Kait immune to his excuses. As a former SEAL, Cosky knew when an explanation rang hollow. And no doubt the nosy bastard was listening to the conversation, his head on the pillow next to hers.

“You want to get on with why you called, bro? Your sister and I would like to continue the…activities…that you interrupted with your lying bullshit.”

Aiden grimaced, pinched the bridge of his nose and purged his brain some more.

“Have you talked to Demi today?” He knew they called each other several times a week since Kait had settled in Alaska. But it was early in both their locations. He wasn’t sure what time their convos took place.

“Not yet. I thought I’d give her the day to wallow. I’ll call her tonight. We’ll have a nice long chat where I’ll encourage her to cry and then distract her with plans for a girls’ trip somewhere. With luck, all the emotions and crying will exhaust her, and she’ll be able to sleep tonight.”

Woah. Wallow? Encourage her to cry. He was right, something was wrong.

“Is there something I should know?” His question was operator code for ‘What the hell’s wrong?’

Silence hit the line. A long silence. He counted the seconds off in his head. 1…2…3… Yeah, that pause was lingering in dangerous territory.

“Seriously, Aiden?” Kait’s voice turned sharp. “You’ve been dating her for three years and you don’t know the significance of today? Donnie died six years ago today.”

Ah, shit. Aiden closed his eyes. Well, that explained Demi’s doldrums.

“Maybe if you had an honest to God conversation with her when you hit stateside instead of hauling her into bed and screwing her the entire time you’re on leave, you’d know how hard this day is on her.” The acidic quality in Kait’s voice spiked. “It gets a little easier for her each year. But this date will always bring back the sorrow of losing him. Donnie was her heart.”

Aiden’s chest went hot and then cold at the reminder. He was aware of how much Demi had loved her husband. It had taken her three years to come out of that grieving fog she’d drifted around in after his death. Three damn years before she even noticed he existed, and he’d been able to claim her.

A distant, rumbling voice came over the line, breaking into his reverie.

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