Page 37 of Into the Light

“Will you calm down, man? Jesus.”

“Sorry,” he mumbled as he moved past Theo and hopped up into the truck.

“Holy shit, angel. Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

“I’m okay. I’m okay.” I leaned into Raf as he put his arms around me and held me close. His back blocked us from view, but even so, I didn’t care if Theo saw. All I wanted was to stay in this man’s arms forever.

His hand came up and stroked my hair, and he kissed my forehead. It was the most intimate touch and something about that made me release all the pent-up energy I’d been stuck with.

Sobs came harsh and fast, the tears flooding my face as I cried out. He wrapped his arms around me even tighter and rocked me, whispering words of encouragement and praise.

“You’re incredible. You saved yourself. You’re okay. I’m so proud of you.”

Over and over, he spoke and swayed me gently, until the tears ran out.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know why I cried so hard.”

“It was traumatizing, and the adrenaline is wearing off, see?” He pointed to my hands, which were shaking. “Did you talk to Theo yet? Make a statement?”

“Not really, he put me in here because I was in shock, I guess.”

Raf nodded. “All right, let’s get this over with so I can get you home.”

“I don’t want to be alone tonight. Theo said I can stay with him and Sara.”

“No, angel. You’re coming home with me.” He took my face in both hands and pressed his lips to mine. His kisses made everything better.

He got out of the truck, and then walked around to the other side to open the door and help me out. Then with his arm around me, and me nuzzling against him as close as I could, we walked over to Theo and his deputy.

“You ready to give a statement, El?” I didn’t miss the way his eyes went to Raf’s arm around me, but he didn’t say anything.

I told him everything, from the moment I left my shop. The footsteps, the fog. I told him about the weird feeling I had, and how I used the pepper spray.

The whole time Raf’s jaw clenched tighter and tighter and I knew he wanted to punch something. Theo was angry as hell too, but he was trying to keep things calm so he could do his job.

“I didn’t see him, though. I don’t know if it was the same guy as the other night.”

“Wait—”

“What guy?”

The men both asked. Oops.

“I might have forgotten to mention that.” That didn’t make it any better. I shrugged out from under Raf’s grip, needing space for this.

“Okay, the other night, I was walking to the Witch’s Brew and I got the weirdest feeling. Like I knew someone was following me, or watching me. Same with the way back home. When I was heading inside, I turned and saw a guy there, watching.”

“Where?”

“Across the street on the promenade. He was staring at me with this evil look on his face.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I don’t know, I thought maybe I overreacted! It could have been a coincidence, it could have been nothing. I bought all these supplies to keep me safe, though. It’s why I had the pepper spray in the first place.” I pointed to my necklace. “See, this is a whistle and has GPS. I’m not stupid.”

“Jesus Christ,” Theo said. “Okay, you didn’t see the guy tonight, but you said he pulled you back against him and he felt tall and muscular, right? Does the guy from the other night match that description?”

“Oh shit.” The guys gave each other a look. “I don’t know, it was dark, but... I think so.”

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