Page 37 of Falling for a Killer

I scramble out of bed, refusing to die laying down. If he’s here and Killian doesn’t get him first, I’m going out on my feet.

And then I get an idea.

I snatch my long, black vibrator from the bedside table and rush over to give it to him.

He takes it without question and steps forward, then glances down at it in confusion. “Do I shove it up his ass or what?”

The fact that he’s trying to joke right now makes me want to slap him, but I get it.

“It’s dark,” I whisper. “It’ll look like a gun until you can get to your own.”

Nodding, he holds it like he’s a trained assassin and steps out into the short hallway.

He reaches back to tuck me behind him, ensuring I take each step in his shadow with his giant body as my shield, but it’s clear pretty quickly there’s no one here. All the windows are shut, the doors are closed.

I still don’t say anything until the real gun is safely in Killian’s hands and I’m holding my vibrator like an asshole.

“It must’ve just been the storm,” I say quietly. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He sets the gun on the table and cradles my face. “It’s better to be safe than dead. What made you think it was him?”

Insanity, apparently. Breathing, I take a second to ground myself and clear my throat. “When he showed up at my house to kill me, he cut the power first. I thought I was fine. I did. I don’t even think about him most days now, but when the power wentout... I was right back in that house praying the cops showed up before he got in.”

“Well good thing no cops showed up, huh?” He nods down at my vibe. “They would have been fucked.”

It’s such a terrible joke I can’t do anything but stare at him.

He laughs for the both of us, then carries me off to bed. “Where should we keep the gun? You pick.”

“Next to you. You’ll aim better.”

It’s also closer to the door, so if he has to get to it quickly from a different room it’ll be easier. I just have to trust him.

“Okay. If you change your mind just let me know.”

It’s almost laughable how quickly I became okay with the thought of my captor having a gun. But Killian isn’t like Ryan. He didn’t kill for pride or because he was disrespected. He did it because he understood nothing would ever change until they truly started paying for their crimes.

A man like that wouldn’t hurt me. He’s had too many opportunities for me to think otherwise.

“I won’t change my mind — except maybe that we need a few more.”

Killian nods. “Your dad doesn’t have a shotgun or something? I looked when I first got here but figured it was probably hidden.”

“I don’t know. I think there’s a safe down in the bunker but I never bothered asking what’s inside of it.” Curious, I glance over toward the trapdoor that leads down there. “We could check. I know what the code is.”

“Wanna go now? Going to be hard to go back to sleep, but we’ll need a couple flashlights... and you need pants. It’ll be cold.”

I also need a few shots of the strongest alcohol we’ve got, but that can wait. This is a distraction, a welcome one, one Idesperately need right now. “There are some in the junk drawer in the kitchen. I’ll grab them.”

One’s a standard flashlight and one’s a headlamp, so I let him choose when I get back.

After he forces me into some sweats, he takes the handheld one and leaves me the headlamp, grinning once I’ve got in on. “You look like an adorable miner... wait, that sounded wrong. A person who goes down into mines, not a minor.”

“Mmhm, sure,” I tease. “That’s what you meant.”

I click it on and feel a little better now that I can properly see, but it’s nothing compared to how safe I feel once we’re down in the bunker. My father always told me that nothing could touch me here — not the bad people outside, the monsters under my bed, the weather. He said a bomb could drop on Windwinter and we’d still be okay. If a bomb doesn’t stand a chance, neither will Ryan.

“I forgot I stashed extra clothes down here.” Killian tosses a duffle bag near the stairs and joins me near the safe. “What do you think is in here?”

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