Page 136 of Moonlit Nights & Northern Lights
Dev not so subtly rattled his handcuff, Freddy squeaking as if in agreement. “Maybe Rory should stay here with me, in case his familycomes round to evict me,” he said quietly. “Maxwell could go set up the camera and snoop about a bit?”
The bond between Maxwell and me surged with intense shared panic at the idea of being separated.
“No,” Maxwell all but shouted, making Dev flinch. Then he calmly added, “I promised Kit I wouldn’t let him out of my sight.”
Dev scowled at him.
“And there’s no way I trust Maxwell to investigate without me,” I added, though it sounded weak.
We all stared at each other in uncomfortable silence.
“The solution is simple,” I said finally. “We need Isla to come here and babysit.”
Maxwell scowled at me. “Rory, I said no.”
Something hot and spiky flared inside me. “Why don’t you trust me on this?” I fought to keep my teeth from grinding together. “I’ve told you, her and Uncle Alex aren’t like the others. And we need more hands on deck here!”
“Rory isn’t stupid,” Dev snarled, shooting Maxwell a disgusted look. “Why aren’t you listening to him? If he thinks it’s a good idea, then you need to at least consider it.”
Maxwell went completely still, his gaze locked onto Dev’s face. The air crackled with tension as they stared at each other—Maxwell’s expression carefully blank, Dev’s openly challenging. Through our bond, I felt Maxwell’s emotions churning: frustration, protectiveness, and conflict. Like he was wrestling with himself.
Dev didn’t back down, meeting Maxwell’s stare with the sort of stubborn defiance I remembered from our relationship. The same look he’d get when I’d ask him to spend less time working, or when I’d skirt around the topic of where our relationship was heading.
The seconds ticked by. The only movement from Maxwell was the rise and fall of his chest. I could practically see him weighing options, calculating risks.
“Fine,” he said eventually, the word sharp as broken glass. “But they’re not staying here, where Callum can find them stupidly easily. Is there anywhere in town they can stay?”
“There’s a large BnB on the outskirts of town that might work. It has a steady stream of tourists, so they won’t stick out.”
He sprang to his feet so quickly the movement was almost violent, armchair scraping against the floor. “Call Isla, then.”
The words were tossed back over his shoulder as he stalked out of the room, his footsteps heavy on the cottage floorboards. A door slammed—possibly the back door. Had he gone out to smoke? Though I hadn’t seen him do that since I threw up from the smell.
Dev raised his eyebrows at me. “So, he’s still a dick, then, I take it?”
I opened my mouth to make a joke, then, despite the distance between us, Maxwell’s raw worry slammed into me. He wasn’t simply being difficult—he was terrified. Of losing control, of making the wrong decision, of something happening to me.
I’d just have to pray I’d made the right call.
21
Theodore
The tent strapped to Rory’s back caught another low branch, jerking him backwards with a sharp thwack. He stumbled, swore creatively, and kept walking.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to carry the tent?” I asked for the second time.
Rory shot me a look that could have stripped paint. “Just because I’m shorter than you doesn’t mean that I’m weaker.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh yeah?”
A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. “What, you think you can take me?”
Fighting my own grin, I shot him a sensual wink. “In a fight?”
Rory waggled his eyebrows at me in the most ridiculously adorable way that made me have to resist the urge to pin him against the nearest tree and kiss him senseless.
But there was no time for forest make-out sessions. We were on a reconnaissance mission.
