Page 35 of Meet Your Maker: Part One

Thin Ice

— Sunday —

Granny always called airplanes “sardine cans.” She thought flying was terrifyingly unnatural—not that we did much luxury travel back then.

We flew to Florida once. I was six, wedged between Gran and Colt. Her fear overwhelmed my senses, making my heart race and my breath go shallow. I remember Colt’s little eight-year-old hand snaking under the armrest, finding mine, and then… blissful calm. He whispered, “Concentrate on me now, Sunny. Everybody else, they’re just flies buzzin’ in the background.”

I give Colton Prescott so much shit, but he’s always had a beautiful mind and the most rock-solid emotional base I’ve ever known.

A part of me can’t wait to sink back into that—Colton’s unshakable confidence and the way he manages to share it with me. It made moving away from Greenbriar hard, but I knew it was something I had to do.

For us to grow, we needed to live in the real world, not hide in one of our own making. Because that’s what it was—us and them. I see it in Gemma and Lily, too, the way they create a safe place to exist just by being near each other.

The point of this rather long story is that we’re headed to Mississippi, my brother’s coming home tomorrow, and it’s an almost physical ache to be back in a familiar place with familiar minds.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Ben, Shadow, Tomas, and Gray are family now, too. Over time, they’ll become as familiar as Sue and Daddy. But will they ever be the mental refuge that Colton is? Probably not. I have good shields now; I don’t need him that way anymore. But will I still wear my brother’s empathy around me like a beloved blankie the moment I set eyes on him? Absolutely, I will.

“Thinkin’ some big thoughts over there, Trouble?” Tomas’s voice pulls me back. He’s still smarting a bit from his epic defeat at the hands of a twenty-year-old strategic mastermind.

Meanwhile, Xavier’s jaguar is hanging out with me again, grooming himself with his eyes half-closed, lounging in that warm, dark space in the far reaches of my mind. I wasn’t born with an animal half, but these visits from Shadow let me pretend.

“No bigger than usual,” I reply, checking my phone. “Daddy and Sue are waiting with vehicles to transport us and all our baggage back home.”

“We’ll buy something to get around in tomorrow.”

I stiffen. “But we’ve got the Judge, and Colt won’t care if we use the old farm truck.”

“Sunday.”

I keep my eyes on my phone screen, hoping he’ll drop it. “Hmm?”

He doesn’t. “We’re all planning to live in Greenbriar, correct?”

I decide being a smartass is my best defense. “Well, I thought that was the plan.”

The Alpha doesn’t bite. “There are five of us, plus Val and Vivien. We need cars and homes and food and other things we can’t rent, beg, or borrow.”

He has a point. It might even be a good one, but that old poverty brain of mine stutters to life as I start counting expenditures. The numbers pile up fast: tens of thousands, thenhundreds of thousands of dollars. While Greenbriar has one of the lowest costs of living in the country, houses are still house-priced—and we’ll need a big one. I also admit, begrudgingly, that all seven adults will want to drive.

The panic that follows shouldn’t surprise me, but it does. I shove it down into the sub-basement of my mind and bolt the door behind it.

The shadow cat rubs a silky flank against my legs, esoterically I mean, he’s in my head and soothing me while Xavier draws with Mishka. They must be pulling double duty tonight because Mishka looks as anxious as I feel, and Shadow seems to be redirecting all that energy into the sketch of a sprawling treehouse big enough to fit us all.

Tomas watches me closely, waiting for me to dot the I’s and cross the T’s. Finally, I just blurt, “I think I’m gonna let you handle this,” then drop my gaze back to my phone, trying to wrestle my unhelpful thoughts into submission.

His eyes widen in surprise before he pulls me onto his lap. His arms wrap around me, solid and reassuring, his chest a steady wall against my back. I feel the rise and fall of his breathing, the rhythm grounding me in a way I didn’t realize I needed. His scent—green apple and outdoor fires—wraps around me, familiar and comforting.

I catch a glimpse of the ink curling down his forearm, intricate lines and symbols that reflect his heritage. The black of his tattoos stands out starkly against his tanned skin. His eyes seem to darken, and a golden spark flickers—a primal glint as his wolf peeks through.

“You’re going to let me provide us what we need?”

“I think I might.” I play with his shirt collar, smoothing it flat. “Spending money makes me nervous. So, maybe I’ll just assume things are good unless you tell me they aren’t.”

He nods, his grip steady. “Could you promise to work with Gray to make sure everyone is sharing the load?” I glance in my vampire’s direction. Grayson is watching us, his expression unreadable. He gives a short nod before returning his focus to his phone.

“Trouble, I am so proud of you.” Tomas tips my head gently toward him and presses a kiss to my hairline, his hand moving in slow, calming circles on my back.

Through the small window, the moonlight renders the landscape in duotone. I spot familiar landmarks—the wide ribbon of the Mississippi River, silver and endless, winding beneath us, snaking past small towns and dark expanses of forest.

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