Page 23 of Defending Our Ever After

“We followed the tracks for a while, but we eventually turned back north to get here, and from their tracks, they were angling south. We think they had many of the women as hostages, but not having seen them we don’t have any detailed intel.”

“I appreciate you letting me know. Especially with winter on top of us, I was going to cut the number of guards at night.” Giles words send a tremor through my body, he’s observant enough to see it and raises an eyebrow before he continues. “Nothing you could have done for them, any of you.”

“I’d just like to get the chance to cross paths with them is all, but it seems like we made the right call to return to our course.” My hand rubs across the handle of my K-bar, giving him an idea of my intentions if we happen upon that group again.

“In times like these, I can’t imagine men like that sticking together—seems like they’d turn on each other or fracture apart, maybe get killed off little-by-little,” Giles says, rubbing his chin as his eyes focus on his blank computer monitor as he considers options. “I know, for certain, that you getting Blaine here will make all the difference for his mother. And if I’m lucky, I can talk him into wearing a badge. I have a traffic cop and a couple volunteers left in this office. I could really use someone with his experience.”

Javier clears his throat, and it doesn’t take an idiot to know what he’s hoping for.

“Sorry, to do this to you, but Reese said we could stay at your house, if that’s alright with you? We’re a bit road weary and would appreciate the chance to get cleaned up…”

“And fed, I bet?” Giles finishes for me. “Come on, I’ll get you to the house. Hot showers, but I need you to limit your time to five minutes each.”

The three of us let out a groan at the thought of hot water.

Chapter 10

Julia

“Dad?” Dylan calls from the doorway of our grandmother’s house. “I think I hear people coming.”

We instantly stop trying to hang the shutter, setting it back on the ground, I reach for my bow and quiver while he picks up his rifle.

“Julia, out the back and circle around to the big oak. Anywhere you can get cover and see toward the road,” Dad whispers, reaching out to squeeze my shoulder as I pull my coat and gear on. “Watch your back. Dylan, stay in the front room, I’ll need you to cover me. Do not show yourself unless I tell you to, either of you.”

“Hello the house!” A man’s weary voice rings out. “Jace, that you in there?”

“I think it’s Dale, he’s dragging a sled,” Dylan says, doing the exact opposite of what he was just told to do.

“Get your ass in here, son!” Dad grabs him by his collar and pulls him back through the door as I continue out through the kitchen, knowing it’s important to make sure they’re alone and no one is trying to sneak up on us.

I hear the urgency in their voices as Dad and Dale briefly talk, but Gramps has been very clear:Never trust that the people walking straight up to you are the only ones around.

Keeping as low as I can and using the trees as cover, I head back toward the barn to get a better view of the road leading up this way. I hold my breath when I open the door, worried that squeaky hinges will give away my location, but Aiden and Russ were thorough when they came through here to perform upkeep on Grandma’s home last week and it opens without a squeal.

If only the stairs up to the loft were as quiet, but they’re probably older than my mom, so the creaking is to be expected. Taking my time, I move from window to window, scouting the road and the surrounding property. When movement catches my attention, it feels like the world has frozen until I see that it’s a buck and not a human.

Nocking my arrow, I exhale before I pull the bowstring back and line up the shot.

Expect the leap.Words my grandfather told me years ago always ring in my head when those fragile seconds, between release and registering if my arrow will hit its mark, hang in the balance.

“Yes!” My voice is barely above a whisper as I watch the stag run, his mind hasn’t caught up to the fact that his body will fail him in the next few moments. My self-congratulations quickly turn into a prayer for the food that this creature will provide for our ever-expanding group.

“Julia,” my dad calls my name. “All clear back there?”

“I’m going to need some help,” I yell back. “Fresh venison for dinner. Party of…Um, how many of us are there now?”

Dylan lets out a whoop and comes running out of the back door, meeting me as I exit the barn. Anticipating his question, I point in the direction that the deer ran off in.

“Be watchful. Just because I didn’t see anyone, doesn’t mean there isn’t someone there.”

My brother simply waves his hand, letting me know he heard me, and I force myself to take a deep breath. Dylan, and Rachel for that matter, are no longer children; not after their experiences traveling here from Seattle.

Looking back over my shoulder, the expression on my dad’s face instantly tells me something’s seriously wrong. I start to walk toward him, but he quickly waves me off.

“Follow Dylan, I’m going to run Dale up to Mike’s in the truck and I’ll send someone back with the ATV and trailer to get you kids and…”

“Found it!” Dylan’s voice relays his general location about a hundred or so feet beyond us.

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