Page 21 of My Demon Manny

Archer sighed, then shook his head, worry lining his face. "I'm not. How could I be? I bought this house because this neighborhood is supposed to be safe. I thought it'd be a good place for a kid. And now..."

Reaching out, I squeezed his arm, pulling away when my heart begged me to let the touch linger.

"It was an accident. No one could've predicted it."

"I know. But that somehow makes it even worse, doesn't it? That no matter what I do, I can't protect Gunner from everything."

Archer

Despite having Gunner in my arms, my heart was still thundering in my chest. It'd beensoclose.

If Lux hadn't reacted when he had...

I wasn't sure if it was adrenaline or the shock of the incident, but for a moment I'd heard the crash, heard the screeching of metal and seen the hood of the car crumple.

The car had crashed right into Lux, or so it'd looked like. But then I'd blinked, and the car looked good as ever, and Lux was just standing there, hand raised, as if Jessica had just hit the brakes right before she crashed into us.

But if she'd hit the brakes, then why had the airbags deployed?

Shaking my head, I buried my nose in Gunner's curls and breathed in some of that calming baby scent, hoping it would slow down my racing heart.

Lux's eyes were flickering between me and Gunner, and it was clear he'd been shaken by the whole incident too. I still wasn't quite sure exactly what had happened, but I knew one thing for sure. When the car had been headed for me and Gunner, Lux had stepped in the way. I didn't know why he thought that would save us, but he'd done it to protect us. Our minds reacted in different ways when faced with life-or-death situations, but Lux's reaction had been to protect us.

Lux had only been working here for four weeks. Did he really care so deeply about Gunner already? People rarely risked their lives for a paycheck, and I didn't think Lux had done it because he needed the job. He'd simply reacted, as if protecting Gunner and me was the most natural thing in the world to him.

I still couldn't shake the feeling that I was missing something, that the carhadcrashed into Lux. The rational part of me said that was impossible, that Lux would be dead or heavily injured if that'd happened.

But I'd seen it happen, if only for a split second. Or had I imagined it? Had my panicked brain come up with the scenario? I'd never hallucinated before, but there was a first time for everything, right? People were known to do and experience some crazy things when they were terrified.

"Would you like some tea?"

I blinked, glancing up at Lux and then staring for a long moment before his question clicked.

"Ah, yes please."

Nodding, he got to his feet, then grabbed the baby monitor on his way out the room, telling me he was still freaking out inside too.

Things like this weren't supposed to happen in real life. I mean, you read about them in the papers, and you said thank fuck no one got hurt, or if they did, you were grateful it wasn't you, and then went about your day. You never expected you'd be in a situation like that, not until you were smack dab in the middle of it.

Pulling my phone out one-handed, I texted Jerry that I wouldn't be able to come to work for a few days. It was Saturday, so I had tomorrow off, but I knew there was no way I'd be able to leave Gunner for any length of time, not for his health but mine. I knew without a shadow of a doubt now that Lux would do anything to keep Gunner safe, but until my heart calmed the fuck down, I wasn't going anywhere.

Lux returned with two cups of tea and a plate of cookies, placing them on the table before eyeing Gunner.

"I think you should put him in his crib for a bit," Lux suggested, and I glanced down at Gunner. He was dozing awaywithout a care in the world, the earlier scare already forgotten. I wished I could be as carefree as him.

Silently, I got to my feet and walked over to the crib, laying him down and then running my finger down his cheek before placing my palm on his chest and feeling his heart beat steadily.

Gunner is okay, I assured myself.He's safe, and he's healthy, and nothing happened to him. The car stopped before it could ever touch him.

Whatever happened today, the bottom line was that I knew now that I could trust Lux with Gunner implicitly. Whatever his reasons, Lux would rather die than see Gunner hurt, and that meant more to me than words could describe.

Returning to the couch, I settled a little farther from the corner than I usually would, which brought me closer to Lux. It was probably the closest we'd ever sat except the picnic earlier, and as Lux glanced over at me, I could tell he'd noticed.

Picking up a tea cup, he held it out to me, and I took it from him, my fingers lingering against his.

His lips curved just a little as he picked up his own tea and took a sip, humming softly.

The tea was warm, sweet, and exactly what I'd needed to calm down a little. It slid down my throat without effort, warming me up from the inside, and I sighed as I felt my muscles finally starting to relax.

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