Page 128 of Hell and High Water

“Go again?”

“Soon. Tell and Gavin will be waiting.”

“I hate sharing.” He grins as he says it, taking any of the edge off the words. “Mostly just time and space. Evan needs quiet time.”

“You’ve gotten spoiled living alone. Don’t be selfish.”

“Fine. But I want to do more than watch next time with either of them.”

“That could be arranged…” I feel prickling tingles rush down my spine at the thought of not just one of them, but two of my lovers with me, kissing me, touching me…

More.

Settle down, girl!

Must. Focus.

Or I’m going to need to take a cold shower, STAT!

I keep my thoughts from drifting into that territory and drag my focus back to the present. To Evan.

We both sigh, grasping and teasing all the way off the bed and into the bathroom where we quickly clean up our spectacular disaster and dress. The silence between us now is full, but lacking any apprehension. It’s pleasant. Peaceful.

That reverie follows us all the way to the car, across the neighborhood, and out onto the roundabout road that will get us to the meetup spot. We dodged a few patrols on the way here, but out this far, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of action. Probably because there are dozens of back roads and this invading force doesn’t know the area as well as we do.

The parking lot of the old general store is empty when we arrive, as expected. Gav and Tell have a much longer route to take to get to us from the Block.

A little over a half hour later, they show up, waving for Evan to lead the way on to the address from my father’s journal.

Just as Tell described, it’s at the end of a long, overgrown driveway that looks like it was meant to be lined with houses, now congested with trees and vines. Leaves cover the street, making the effect of our passage eerie in the faint dim of the last bits of dusk.

The gate itself is almost invisible in the tangle of ivy and leaves. Still, I manage to spot the keypad and punch in the code. Nothing happens for a few moments, and I look back at the car, shrugging.

CLUNK.

With a light screech, the gate tugs inward, tearing the foliage and clearing a path. The darkness beyond feels heavier, obscured by the branches of the denser trees lining the curving road.

“Anyone else getting 80s horror vibes?” Tell hisses from the other car.

“Shh! You’ll wake up all the ghosts.” I snicker, getting back in the car.

As Evan eases us in, it doesn’t get any less creepy.

The road winds back through old lots, most empty, until several unfinished houses start to fill out the landscape, all clogged with undergrowth. I start to wonder if we’ll ever find the location we’re looking for when we clear the last building, crunching to a halt at the edge of the forest, a wide, circular cul-de-sac.

“Is that…?” Evan squints, looking off into the woods at a looming shape.

The four of us are out of the vehicles, flashlights in hand.

At first glance, it looks like a rocky outcropping sticking up over the trees.

Until we shine our lights onto the front of the building. The brush obscures the path up to it, but it almost appears to be on purpose, to conceal the house from almost every angle. And the way the rocks form around it, a cleverly carved side of a small mountain, it’s likely impossible to see from above, too.

My brain is having hard time reconciling what we’re looking at, even as we head up to the front door, a wide, smooth, deep red entryway nestled in a nook of the front of the reflective glass along the front. It’s modern, yet something about it tells me it’s extremely safe.

A veritable fortress.

“Your dad left you a castle, Hell,” Tell huffs.

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