Page 28 of Redeemed

They all are.

He’s everywhere.

“Haven,” Athelia says gently. “Stay with me. Can you walk?”

I burst into a new wave of tears, barely managing to shake my head.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” She pulls me in close, smelling like summer and honeysuckles, like playing in the fields at Cornerstone when I was younger.

Back before my own life turned against me.

“Let me help,” Colton pleads. “I can get her back there.”

“Would that be all right with you?” Athelia asks me.

I try to look at Colton, but through my tears, all I can see is blond hair and an angry man.

“It’s a trick,” I whisper.

“It’s not.”

“It—it—”

It is.

“I’d never hurt you.” Colton creeps closer to me, and the concern in his voice sounds soreal.“Look at me. Haven, please.”

I do, and his eyes.His eyes.Golden-brown in the middle before they turn green on the outside. They’re nothing like Isaiah’s—bright blue and always burning with a need to prove himself. Colton’s are gentle. Not kind, necessarily, but caring.

“It’s not a trick,” Athelia says soothingly. “He just wants to help you get back to the dorm. I’ll be right with you the entire time, okay? I won’t let him hurt you.”

“P-promise?”

“I promise.”

“Okay,” I whisper.

When Athelia moves out of the way, my entire body goes tense. Colton fills the spot she just emptied, his touch gentle.

A trick.

No, not him.

Please not him.

Please don’t be like Isaiah.

“I’m not gonna hurt you,” he whispers as he loops his arm underneath my legs and curls his other around my back. “I just want to help.”

“Colt,” I gasp when he lifts me up. I grab onto his shirt, half expecting him to crush me or slam me to the ground.

But he doesn’t. He starts moving toward the dorms, cradling me into his body like I’m something to be cherished.

“Colt—Colton.”

“You’re okay,” he murmurs. “I’m gonna keep you safe.”

“Why the hell are you two following?” Athelia snaps.

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