Page 4 of After the Fall

“It will take a minute to get through your system.” I took the glass from him.

He reached for Harper’s hand. “G-G-G-G—” His lips narrowed. “Argh,” he screamed, as the gold in his eyes dulled. I could smell the subtle change in his body chemistry. The white moss was working.

“G-G-G-Genocorp!” By the time the word came out of his mouth, he was shouting.

“Genocorp? Why would they be interested in Harper?” I asked.

The gold in his eyes suddenly intensified. The moss seemed to wear off insanely fast for him. “Genocorp. Bad. K-k-k-keep her safe.” The stutter was back.

Tank must have left the door ajar. Two of the Great Danes charged inside, skidding to a stop in the middle of the room. A low growl erupted from both of their powerful jaws.

“Call them off,” I yelled to Tank, who was the trainer for all of our dogs. But Harper’s dad was already on his feet, backing away from them. Cornered, he looked like a wild creature.

“It’s alright.” I held out my hands to stop him from doing something crazy.

Harper’s dad was definitely more creature than human in that moment, and his survival instinct was firing. If he was part sasquatch, he would be terrified of any of the members of the canine family, even our domesticated Great Danes.

Launching forward, he hurdled the sofa and slipped past Fiona through the open front door. His bare feet left footprints in the dusting of snow on the front steps.

“Dad.” Harper’s voice wavered as she screamed his name, dashing outside onto the driveway in her sock feet. But that rank fucker was faster than any of us had anticipated. As quickly as he’d appeared in our lives, he was gone.

TWO

HARPER

Wyatt’s handrested on my shoulder. "You should come back inside.” When I didn’t reply, his words turned to plea. “Harper…”

I shivered, my feet damp from the first snowfall of the year, and shook my head, determined. “Not yet.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Wyatt and Atticus exchange a look.

“Harper,” Wyatt continued, his voice gentler. “Your dad got spooked. He’s not coming back.”

Shaking my head, I pulled free from Wyatt’s grip. “You don’t know that.”

I ran to the end of the driveway, coming to a stop in front of the gate, a woman self-possessed. The large golden G affixed to the gate stared back at me, as if to taunt me. What had felt like a luxurious welcome just hours earlier, now made me think only of my dad, stuttering on the letter G.

Genocorp.

Everything kept coming back to the Carders. What had they done to him?

It felt like the thick black bars were closing in around me, making me a prisoner of the estate. I began to scratch and pull at the iron, the rage building within me. The G didn’t budge, but still, I couldn’t stop clawing at the damn thing.

“Harper.” Wyatt must have followed me to the gate. He rested his hand gently on my shoulder. My posture softened as my hands stopped their hopeless assault on the wrought iron.

Tears began streaming down my face as I let go of the bars. I turned my cheek into Wyatt’s chest and sobbed into the thick wool of his sweater, my anger turning to grief. “What’s going to happen to him?” My voice came out in a whisper.

He rubbed my back in slow, circular strokes. “Your dad will be okay. He’s survived on his own for the last ten years. Another night or two won’t make a difference.”

I could hear the hesitance in his voice. “But… you’re worried, aren’t you?” I looked up to meet his gaze, afraid his eyes would reveal something more.

But his eyes, dark without any traces of gold, gave nothing away. “All I care about right now is getting you inside where it’s warm.” He looked down at my feet, which were soaked.

“Okay,” I whispered reluctantly, stealing one last glance at the gate.

As if he could read my mind, Wyatt added, “If your dad is still close by, Tank and the Danes will find him.”

It was meant to be reassuring, but his words only added to my list of worries. Tank wasn’t my biggest fan to begin with, and I saw how they’d looked at my father, like he was some kind of… monster.

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