Page 114 of Somewhere We Belong

I grabbed her hand, my legs were shaking a little bit, and my ass was asleep from being in the same spot for so long. I don’t think I had eaten or drunk anything since early this afternoon.

Camila led me to Colt’s car, helped me in the back and sat next to me as Iris sat on the other side of me. They held my hands as Colt drove us home. Snow had started falling, only adding to my worry. Once we were home, Camila led me to our room.

“Do you want a shower or just change before the food gets here?”

“Shower,” I murmured.

“I got it, Camila,” Colt said, as I stared at the wall.

The door closed and the shower turned on. Colt undressed me slowly, walking me to the shower, undressing himself quickly. We got under the spray, and I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I let out what I had been feeling all day. Colt held me tightly as his body trembled from his own tears.

He pulled away, making me look at him. “We will find them,” he said, eyes red- rimmed. “I promise we won’t lose Sundae, Atlas or Colt. They will come home to us.”

As much as I loved his positivity, I knew that might not be the possibility.

“I hope you are right.”

33

colt

The Malones weresome of the best people I knew. After we had showered, they had food waiting for us, and basically took over dishing out orders and making Nova as comfortable as possible.

Right now, the girls surrounded her as some movie played, but Nova just stared off into the distance. Genevieve let Nova lay her head on her lap as she played with her hair. Camila had Nova’s feet in her lap and Iris sat in front of them, giving Nova pieces of popcorn every so often.

I didn’t know if I would ever be able to thank them for what they were doing for her, and it made me want to start crying all over again. It seemed I had more tears to shed since Nova and I had cried together, but seeing her in so much pain, wrecked me.

“What’s the plan?” Luke asked, also looking at the girls.

“I want to go out and search first thing in the morning,” I said, putting the kettle on the stove. “I would have gone out, but I didn’t want to leave Nova alone and there's no sense in looking in this storm if it means I get lost too.”

“As much as I want to leave this in the hands of Search and Rescue because they are professionals, I can’t just do nothing,” Luke said, mixing a bowl of cookie dough. “I don’t like thinkingof them alone out there, but knowing Theo, he went out there prepared.”

“Nova said he had a big pack with him,” I said, grabbing a piece of the dough and eating it. “Maybe, we could take Iris. I think she would be able to help us and the more people we have, the better.”

“You think Jude will help?” Luke asked, scooping out the dough and putting it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

“Yeah, in a heartbeat, but they didn’t let him go looking earlier, and I know he was itching to leave.” I reached for more dough, but he slapped my hands away.

I scowled like I was upset, but honestly, Luke could punch with half power and still knock me out.

“Wait till they are done,” he said, as someone knocked on the door.

“It’s Jude,” Iris called out.

I opened the door to see Jude with red-rimmed eyes, and I just about started crying again. I stepped aside so he could come in. The weather looked worse, making me worry even more. Jude took off his jacket, said hello to the ladies and kissed Nova on the forehead then whispered something to her. She nodded, her lip trembling and she said thank you. I clenched my jaw from the rising emotions.

“Hungry?” I asked, as he came over to us.

He shook his head while hugging Luke and a small sob escaped him. Luke held him tightly as I rubbed his back and while we all love Theo, Jude and him were practically attached at the hip for years. Even though Jude was younger, he was Theo’s protector for so many years since people picked on him for being different.

“I should have gone,” Jude mumbled as he pulled away. “I was supposed to go until…”

“Until what?” I asked.

“You know Webber got hurt right?”

Luke and I nodded.

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