Page 127 of Beyond the Blue Horizon
Following that feeling that warned something horrible was about to happen.
I fumbled out of the woods at a curve in the long drive that led to the motel.
Gasps raked out of me as my attention jumped in every direction.
No one was there.
There was nothing to find.
No movement or shadows of an apparition.
There was only the sticky sense that something was lurking.
Something wicked.
I let my gaze roam the entire area again.
Silence howled back as it rode on the wind.
And I wondered if I was really losing my grip. If after everything, I was becoming paranoid.
If Piper’s presence and the way she made me feel was making me imagine things that just weren’t there.
But I’d always had the gut instinct.
The thing that had kept me alive for all this time.
It was right there, begging me to protect Piper and her family, too.
I inhaled the frozen air into my lungs as I scrubbed a palm over my face, hoping to break up the disorder.
Then I climbed down through the bank and onto the road.
Still, I kept searching as I followed the lane back around to the motel.
Wondering what the hell I thought I was doing.
I knew better than getting involved.
Myinvolvementwas only ever superficial.
A sentry who stood guard over those we brought under our protection.
Sure, I cared. But it wasn’tthis.
This thing that had me dragging my pathetic ass back toward Unit B.
Staring at it as I stood in the middle of the swirling fall of snow.
Trying to convince myself I wasn’t falling.
Trying to convince myself Piper’s son wasn’t twining himself into the frayed threads of my heart.
But I guess ultimately, I was the liar, and the only person I was lying to was myself.
TWENTY-FOUR
PIPER
