Page 30 of Echoes and Oaths
Why would she even think that? But the thought clung to her. Why wasshethere?
Mateo stopped in front of her, close enough for her to feel the heat rolling off his body. She tilted her chin back, staring into eyes that had haunted her for years.
"So, you weren’t a dream," she murmured, voice low and brittle.
He shook his head once. "I told you, I’m back." His voice still had that same smooth edge, the one that cracked something open inside her. He glanced around. "Is there someplace we can talk?"
Eira swallowed hard, nerves prickling beneath her skin. "Ortega’s men will be here sometime today to pick up the dog," she said quietly, nodding towardthe hospital building. "If you can make it quick, we can talk there."
Without hesitation, Mateo moved to open the door for her, and she brushed past him, the woman following a step behind.
Inside, the cool dimness offered a moment’s reprieve from the relentless sun. "Eira, this is Raven," Mateo said simply. "She’s a coworker of mine."
Eira folded her arms across her chest and focused on the woman. "Coworker?" She arched a brow, suspicion tightening her mouth. "Do you do what he does?"
The woman smiled. The gesture was sharp, cool, and not at all friendly. "Someone might say that’s not a nice thing to ask." When she looked directly at Eira, the woman’s eyes sent a shiver down her spine. They were cold. Dead. Like nothing behind them could be saved. "I’m here to protect you," Raven continued. "And to protect Teo. Mateo’s going to do what he has to do to ensure this mission is complete."
Then, like flipping a switch, Raven’s face softened. She blinked a few times and offered Eira a smile. It was calculated but friendly. "Unless, of course, he can convince you to leave the country with me."
Eira’s breath caught in her throat. She looked from the woman to Mateo, her heart thudding painfully. "Leave?" she echoed. "Why would I leave?"
Mateo growled at his coworker, "I thought we would let me broach that subject?”
“Meh, I can’t keep a secret. You know that.” Raven sighed.
He ignored the woman and turned to her. “You can leave now to protect Teo," Mateo answered quietly, stepping closer to her. His presence was a wall she couldn’t get around. "There’s going to be a war soon. One I’m going to start … and finish. It’ll be dangerous. You, your mom, and Teo should leave."
Before she could stop him, he reached for her hand, wrapping his fingers around hers. His grip was firm, unyielding like he feared she might disappear if he let go.
Eira tried to pull her hand away, but he didn’t release her immediately. The warmth of his touch scorched her skin, spreading up her arm and settling deep in her chest. She finally managed to tug free, stepping back. Her hands rubbed her arms as she turned away from him, needing distance, needing air.
"How do you think you’d react if you were in my situation?" she asked quietly, voice sharp and brittlearound the edges. Her entire world was brittle around the edges right now. As if one more surprise could splinter her reality further than it had already been fractured.
Raven cut in before Mateo could answer, her tone flat. "Hopefully, with some semblance of intelligence. He’s telling you it’s not safe, for you, your child, or your mother. Let that sink in."
Mateo made a small disapproving sound in his throat and glanced toward Raven. Without speaking, he nodded toward the door. Raven rolled her eyes dramatically, sighed, and flounced out without another word.
The air between them felt heavier when she was gone.
"I don’t want you in danger," Mateo said, voice softer now. "I don’t want your mother or Teo to be in danger. I’ve arranged a way for you to leave."
Eira shook her head, her throat tight, her arms folded protectively around herself. "I can’t trust you," she whispered. "You’ll abandon us in some other country … somewhere we know nothing, with no one to help us."
Her heart pounded, the weight of everything unsaid hanging like a storm between them.
"You know I wouldn’t do that," Mateo said quietly.
The audacity of the statement struck her so hard that Eira barked out a bitter laugh. It echoed too loud in the quiet space between them.
"You don’t know what I know, Mateo," she snapped, shaking her head. "All I know is that I thought we had something perfect. And then you left. No warning. No message. No indication whether you were alive or dead. You disappeared." Her voice cracked, but she powered through. "You left. And I can’t, no, I won’t trust you."
He sighed and tried to change her mind using her son. "Even with Teo’s welfare on the line?"
Oh, hell no. He didn’t get to play worried dad. "Especially with Teo’s welfare," she bit out and planted her hands on her hips, her stance defiant, a warrior mother staring down the man who’d broken her. "Don’t you understand?" she said, her voice trembling beneath the anger. "For the last two years, that child, the child who grew in me, who I bore and raised, has been my entire life. I’ve poured every ounce of myself into this place. Every waking hour, every drop of sweat and blood to make this farm something. Something Teo could be proud of." She took a breath, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Am I worried about what’s coming?Of course. Am I worried that your damn war will affect us?Yes. But this farm matters. My milk makes cheese that feeds the people here. My chickens lay eggs, and they’re slaughtered to feed the people around us. Are those people cartel?Yes. Do they pay me?Yes. Is it because Ortega’s watching over me? Probably. But at least someone was watching over me." Her voice broke then, her fury finally bleeding into pain. "Where were you, Mateo?" Her anger filled the room, heavy as the humid air pressing through the thin windows.
Mateo hung his head, rubbing the back of his neck as if the words physically struck him. "Eira … you can’t know how my heart bleeds, how sorry I am for the mistakes I’ve made."
She threw her hands in the air. "Oh, well, that makes everything better! An apology. That’s all it takes, right? Of course, I’ll do whatever you tell me because I’m still the same girl you left. I’m still the same innocent idiot who believed you loved her." Her voice dropped, hardening into something jagged. "But I’m notthatgirl anymore. I’mnottrusting. I don’t know you. You’ve proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that I don’t know who you really are." She sucked in a shaky breath and met his eyes. "You say you want to protect me?I don’t know that.Maybe you just want to get rid of me so you and that woman can do whatever you want. I saw her eyes. She’s a killer. Just like you."
