Page 66 of After the Fall

“The Carders are building an army, Harper. One that can’t be stopped.”

“Not on my watch.” The door to the gallery banged shut behind him, and I held my breath at Wyatt’s sudden arrival. My dad stiffened and clenched his fists, prepared for a fight. But Wyatt calmly held up both his palms. “Easy now. I come in peace.” Bending on one knee, he kept one palm extended ashe removed his top hat and mask. He set them down on the concrete floor in front of him and spoke to me without taking his eyes off my dad. “Are you okay, Harper?”

“How did you know I was in here?” I shook my head. “Never mind, don’t answer that. We have bigger problems right now.”

I looked to my father, who seemed unsure if he would stay or go. “You need to tell Wyatt everything,” I pleaded.

He grunted in response and narrowed his eyes at Wyatt kneeling before him.

As I reached for my dad’s arm, Wyatt’s eyes widened. “Harper, don’t—”

“I know what I’m doing,” I hissed, making physical contact with my father.

“Please, Dad,” I repeated. “The sasquatches are our only chance at stopping the Carders.”

THIRTY-FOUR

WYATT

Joe lookedfrom Harper to me, and then back to Harper.

“Do you trust this man, Sunbeam?” he asked.

The last time I’d seen Joe, he hadn’t been able to form complete sentences. Now, he seemed smaller, his voice weaker. Yes, he was forming words, but it seemed to be at the detriment of his physical form. I had no doubt that I could easily overcome him. It didn’t go unnoticed that he had called me a man, showing me more respect than any of my crew had directed toward him, tied up like cattle in the living room.

Harper slipped her hand into mine. “With my life.”

After all that we had been through, Harper was here, standing by my side. Her hand felt like it was meant to be in mine. I could punch a hole in the wall at any point, but that would’ve been easy compared to the strength it took not to bring Harper’s fingertips to my lips.

Joe’s gaze met mine. Instead of matching Harper’s blue, they had a golden hue, closer to the color of mine. Even though it felt like I was looking into the eyes of one of my own, it was unnerving. “Can you tell us what’s going on out there?” I tried to make my voice sound as unimposing as possible, not asmall task. We needed answers. “Something isn’t right in Stirling County.”

“You got that right,” Joe croaked. “It’s worse than you could possibly imagine. The Carders have a plan, and it’s fuckin’ evil.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. As a sasquatch, I had a lot of follicles, and even with a close shave or haircut, I still got the same premonitory tingles. “I knew they were up to something. We have guys out at their facility now, trying to get some answers.”

Joe raised his straggly gray-streaked eyebrows. “They need to be careful.”

I held up my hands. “They’re my best crew. I’m not worried about them.” That was only a partial truth. The members of the family that were up in Stirling County were trained in a similar style to the U.S. Army Rangers, and were at least ten times stronger than any human. And that was without any red moss. With it, they could go toe to toe with King Kong. And win.

“Youshouldbe worried,” Joe grumbled.

“Dad?” Harper whispered. “Whatever’s going on, Wyatt can help fix it.”

My heart swelled. Her devotion and admiration, while misguided, was akin to that of a soulmate. I had to remind myself that I had let Harper go. She wanted to have children, and I couldn’t give that to her. Her hand was still in mine, and I gave it a squeeze.

Joe grunted. “Have you got an army?”

“Yes,” I nodded, and Jax flashed across my mind. I’d know if he were dead, but to go this long without hearing from him was out of character. Yes, we were solitary creatures, but Jax was like a brother to me. And before he’d left to go fucking find himself, we’d never gone longer than a week without seeing each other. It felt the same as when Harper and I had split up, like a part of me was missing.

Joe’s gaze switched to focus on Harper. “I’ve done things that I’m not proud of, Sunbeam. Things that tore apart our family. And I want you to know that it was all to keep you and your mom safe.”

Tears shimmered in his eyes. He was definitely more human than sasquatch at the moment, which meant that he was weak.

“Oh, Dad.” Harper’s hand slipped from mine and my instinct was to pull her back from Joe, but I overrode that protective urge. Harper wrapped her arms around her frail-looking father and pressed her cheek into his chest. He seemed frozen, his arms wide. But as she squeezed him, he seemed to melt, and as his arms fell around his daughter, a sob escaped from his mouth.

Even I felt emotional as tears streaked down Joe’s leathery face.

“I knew that there was a reason, that you wouldn’t just… leave us.” Harper swiped at the tears on her face. I handed her my silk pocket square, but instead of using it herself, she turned and dabbed at the tears on her father’s cheeks. Joe took the handkerchief and blew his nose into the four-hundred-dollar Italian silk square.

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