20. Twenty

twenty

My passage into shadow wasn’t nearly as peaceful or controlled as Brin’s. I ripped through the darkness with all the finesse of an angry rhino. In a dizzying rush that left me disoriented and fighting nausea.

In a last ditch, desperate attempt at control, I tried envisioning my bedroom in Vegas. The sensation of cool sheets on my skin. The feel of wood under my feet. The view of the rolling hills and desert landscape outside the window.

Wait a minute. Was it day or night there?

The brief break in my concentration was enough to snap the tenuous connection and send me deeper into the shadows.

I gazed around, belatedly realizing just how badly I’d screwed up. I shouldn’t have tried to jump realms on my first attempt at shadow slipping.

What kind of idiot tried to sprint before they could even crawl?

Two seconds. If Callie had arrived two seconds earlier, I wouldn’t have attempted something so asinine.

No, be honest. You let Book get in your head. Even knowing how dangerous a Fae relic could be, you still listened to him. I might as well call myself a fool.

Frustration and anger weren’t going to save me though. Not from the predicament I’d landed myself in.

Somehow, I knew I’d strayed far from where I needed to be. Into the deepest, coldest parts of darkness. Places no sane being should ever visit.

In the periphery of my vision, leviathans swam through the gloom. Their massive forms terrifying as a few stopped to regard me.

A sound reverberated through the darkness. The whistles and clicks similar in tone and pitch to whale communication.

I shivered in place, watching the rest of the pod turn toward me.

The urge to hyperventilate as I came under their focus was only thwarted by the fact that I couldn’t breathe in this place.

An alien consciousness brushed mine. Its immenseness making me flinch.

It was ancient. Far more than anything I’d ever encountered. Older than Ahrun and Brin. Perhaps even older than my grandfather.

A bark announced Alches’s presence.

His form rippled, the dog falling away until a tentacled monster half the size of the leviathans took his place.

The leviathan’s voice resounded in the darkness, slow and deep. Youuu tressssspasss, reallllmmm guuardiannn.

Alches growled. She belongs to Noctessa and me.

The attention of the great beings narrowed on me.

Ann heeir hass nott fooundd theeirr way iinnttoo the deeepppps innn aaa verrryy looongg tiime. Thhhhiiiisss iiisss noooott heer fiirssstt fooorayy eiiitherr.

Alches wrapped a tentacle around my waist, using it to nudge me slightly behind him. I huddled in his embrace, content for once to let someone else fight my battles for me.

Shee iss thee ooonee whooo woookee thhee reeaallmm aannd usss frooomm oouurrr sluuummbbeerr, one of the other leviathans said.

She cannot remain here. She has her own fate and mission to accomplish, Alches told them.

The leviathans at the back of the pod began to turn away, leaving only the two right in front of us.

Veerrryyy weellll. Wwweee willll nooott feeasst onnn heeerrr.

Thhiisss tiiiime, the other added.

A shadow, its color just a shade deeper than the rest, lashed out at me. Alches snarled, his tentacle pulling back as the rest of his appendages moved to cover me.

The shadow evaded, twining through the narrow opening before striking me in the chest. I spun, the force ripping me from Alches’s grip. Around and around. Like a child’s toy. Whirling through the darkness.

Light fractured the black up ahead. My way out.

I reached for it with everything in me, pulling at the light the same way I had the shadows.

My feet hit soft sand. My legs buckled under me, sending me face first onto the ground.

I lay there for a moment, processing the fact that I was out. Granted, with no idea where I was, but I’d made it.

Lifting my head, I spit out a mouthful of sand and looked around.

“Where the hell am I?”

It wasn’t my bedroom in the mansion Thomas had bought. It wasn’t Ohio either. Or any place I’d ever been before.

I was in a desert. The sand and arid landscape gave that away. Somewhere far off the beaten path. Rock formations towered in the distance, their shapes blotting out the stars in the night sky.

I pushed myself upright, wincing at the sand clinging to my skin and getting into my sensitive bits as I came to a sitting position. “Why couldn’t Brin have given me a change of clothes before throwing me in that dungeon?”

The outfit I’d started the night with was reaching the end of its life.

Blood covered it, courtesy of the wounds Brax had given me earlier. The shoulder of my top was barely hanging on thanks to the rip he’d left in it when he took a chunk out of me. My heels had long since disappeared, leaving me barefoot. At least my shorts still covered everything important. Though they offered little barrier to the elements.

A grunt escaped me as I climbed to my feet. “Alright. Which way?”

The desert offered no answer.

“I think this is still Nevada,” I muttered to myself.

The landscape fit what I knew. Unfortunately, that didn’t help me. I was still lost.

I started to reach for the same thread of magic that had allowed me to shadow slip earlier before hesitating. The shadow’s depths had been far more dangerous than I had anticipated. Braving them again should be an act of last resort.

At least until I had a better idea of what I was doing.

“I should have just stayed in the dungeon,” I grumbled, picking a direction at random and setting off.

In the end, I decided to head for the monoliths in the distance, figuring if nothing else they could provide shelter once the sun was up. I’d need shade to survive. Preferably in the form of a nice cool cave. That had to be my first priority.

I broke into a light jog, trying to avoid the worst of the rocks and shrubs that might shred the bottoms of my feet. Shoes would have been nice. Even heels. Anything to protect the skin on the soles of my feet.

The journey wasn’t a quiet one. Rather it was full of wincing and cursing.

Painful as it was, I couldn’t afford to stop or slow down. The sun was coming up. I could feel it below the horizon. Dawn wasn’t far off.

An hour away. Maybe a few minutes more.

I pushed harder, forcing myself to move faster despite the wounds it opened on my feet. Despite how quickly I healed, sand still crept into the open lacerations, leaving behind a gritty, abrasive feeling that was worse than the cut itself.

As the end of the hour approached and the monoliths felt no closer than before, I resorted to vampire speed. I couldn’t maintain it for long periods. Basically a few minutes at most before I was forced to slow to a walk and let my stamina recover.

I kept my eyes trained on the rock formations. Were they closer or was it just my imagination?

“Let’s go, Aileen. Mind over matter.”

So my lungs were burning and my feet would need several layers of skin removed to get rid of the sand that had gotten in there. It could be worse.

I could be dead. Or trapped in the abyss.

Pep talk finished, I started running again.

“That’s it,” I urged myself.

I was in a race against the sun.

My body might complain. Each step forward might require a herculean amount of will. But I would emerge victorious in the end.

Somewhere in the endless cycle of sprint, walk, then sprint again, I sank into a fugue. The seconds slipping by as endorphins blunted some of the aches and pains, allowing me to push harder and harder.

Above, the sky started to lighten. The stars disappeared one by one as the night took on the deep blue tint that heralded dawn.

The sun was still below the horizon, but it wouldn’t be long now.

I had minutes. At best.

Then it was lights out. I probably wouldn’t like the condition I was in when I woke.

If I woke.

A sharp pain in my calf brought me to a stumbling halt.

“What the—”

I reached down, twisting my calf so I could see what was causing the sensation of burning.

There, two marks similar to those left by my own fangs. Only on a significantly smaller scale.

I looked behind me. Sure enough, a snake was coiled up, preparing for another strike.

“Seriously? We’re practically cousins,” I snarled, hobbling out of its reach.

No respect. That’s what that was.

Luckily, I didn’t have to worry about the snake’s venom killing me. I might get a little sick until my body could process the toxins, but I’d live.

Cursing the snake and all its ancestors, I limped toward my destination.

The sun’s presence had grown into an ache in my chest. Constant. Never allowing me to forget its creeping progress.

To the east, the sky was coming alive. The first edge of the sun breaking the horizon. Its rays creating a brilliant painting of pinks, oranges and reds.

I broke into another run. This one slightly slower. My gait was awkward as the leg with the bite throbbed.

There was still time, I told myself.

I wouldn’t go down until the sun was fully above the curve of the Earth and its rays touched the ground.

By now the formations were a mile away. Max. A distance I could do in less than five minutes when I wasn’t exhausted and hurting.

The sun’s light hit the top of the tallest rock formation, warning that my time was dwindling. It inched down the side of the rock face. Slow and fast at the same time.

Drowsiness tugged at me.

I shook my head. No. Stay awake.

The last quarter mile or so I was lost in a fog, covering the distance on auto pilot. The only thing keeping me upright, my own willpower.

The early morning sun touched my profile, expanding until I was bathed in it. A tingling started, the sensation quickly turning to pain. It grew with every step.

So close.

The rock formations were right there.

As daylight claimed the world, I threw myself toward the shade at their base.

Please let me wake up come nightfall , I prayed.

I was out before my body hit the sand.

“Get—up. Aileen—get—up.”

Liam?

Pain lit my nerve receptors, bringing me all the way to consciousness. Distantly, I realized there was no one nearby despite the voice I thought I’d heard, and once again, I was face down on the ground.

Not bothering to push myself fully upright, I contorted to gaze down the length of my body to find the lower half fully exposed to sunlight. The skin bright red and already blistering.

By some miracle my torso rested in the shade. But it wouldn’t stay that way for long. My slice of safety was getting smaller with every second that passed as the sun made its way across the sky.

With a moan, I rolled onto my back and used my hands to pull my legs into the shade. The process was painful, requiring me to stop several times as I nearly blacked out.

But eventually, I was successful.

Pushing myself upright, I maneuvered until my back rested against the rock face. The effort caused my head to swim and I had to pause again to let the dizziness pass before continuing.

By the time I was done, my oasis had shrunk considerably.

Curling my legs in to avoid sunlight from touching any part of me, I examined them. They looked worse up close. There were spots where the blisters had cracked and were now oozing liquid.

“I guess my ‘becoming’ also came with an increased sensitivity to the sun,” I mumbled.

I’d add it to the rest of my symptoms. We’d better get to the part where I gained something soon. So far, all this metamorphosis had given me were a bunch of additional weaknesses that I could do without.

I banged the back of my head lightly on the rock behind me. “Fuck.”

Given my predicament, it was hard not to feel despair. All that work to be able to walk under the sun and it looked like I was back to square one.

To make matters worse, the sun was almost directly overhead. In less than an hour, the formation’s shadow would cease to exist.

No more hiding place.

Given the state of my body, I doubted I’d survive until it sank low enough for a shadow to return. At least not without lapsing into another coma that would prevent me from crawling back into the shade.

“I need a new shelter.”

I fixed my gaze on the rock formations directly across from where I sat. Unlike the one my back rested against, they were a collection of towering rocks and assorted boulders.

“That might work.”

From this distance, the surface of the rocks looked pockmarked and riddled with depressions. One of them might be big enough for a vampire to crawl into and sleep away the day. Maybe there was a slot canyon or some other form of shelter.

Whatever the case, it was better than remaining here and waiting for a painful death.

Earlier I hadn’t wanted to attempt shadow slipping given the inherent danger, but the situation had changed. I was now desperate and grasping at anything that might spare me having to walk under the full strength of a desert sun.

Unfortunately—whether because I still didn’t have a clear grasp of how it worked or I was too weak to manipulate it properly—the magic slipped from my grasp like grains of sand through a clenched fist.

I guess that left one choice. Making the journey on foot.

The fragile skin on my legs split in places to trickle blood as I forced myself to standing. “You can do this.”

Could I though?

The shadow I hid in offered protection against the full effects of the sun’s light, but I still felt the painful pinpricks that came from its presence.

It’d be worse out there.

“A hundred yards and you can rest.”

I forced myself to take that first step.

The excruciating pain of sunlight hitting my entire body at once had me wavering. It was like walking into a pool of lava. The instinct to retreat immediate.

Gritting my teeth, I took that second step that widened the distance between me and my former haven.

One foot in front of the other.

I shambled across the hot sand toward my destination, my energy level too low for vampire speed. Twice I fell, only to force myself back up.

The skin on my face blistered. The sores cracked and peeled only to form new ones immediately after.

The formation up ahead swam in my vision. A dancing, shimmering mirage.

The strength in my legs vanished. I pitched forward, landing on hard packed dirt. On autopilot, I crawled the final few yards to the edge of the rock formation.

I was so tired. The sun had burned away the last dregs of my will.

Somehow, I managed to lift my head. A small recess at the base of the rock formation offered respite.

I don’t know how, but I dragged myself into it.

Cool, blessed darkness embraced me.

My vision spun, unconsciousness rising up to claim me. For once I didn’t fight, too grateful for the reprieve.

Hours, days, months later, I half roused as something large entered my nest. An animal of some kind, I determined as it padded toward me.

Despite the alarm that tried to rise, I was already drifting back into sleep when a cold, wet nose poked itself into the crook of my neck. The whine that followed made my eyes flutter.

With effort, I cracked open eyelids that felt heavy and swollen.

A wolf regarded me with a concerned stare. Her ears were tilted forward and there was a yellow go-bag cinched around her throat. Seeing me looking at her, she whined again.

“Caro-line.” I tried to smile, but it hurt too much. “Nice. Accessory.”

I’d have to tease her about it later. When I could talk without splitting the skin of my lips.

There was a pop and a crack as Caroline began the process of the shift.

“I’m here, Aileen,” Caroline said seconds later, startling me out of the sleep I’d begun to drift back into. “Everything is going to be okay.”

Of course, it was, I thought at her. I’d never doubted her.

The sound of a zipper being undone came. Then the beep of buttons being pushed. A phone rang once before it was answered.

“I have her. She’s hurt bad. What do I do?”

I sunk back into sleep before I caught the answer.

The taste of blood on my tongue and the power infusing it brought me screaming back to consciousness.

I struggled, nearly choking as blood dribbled out of the corner of my mouth.

“You have to drink. You’re too badly burned to heal on your own.” Caroline’s arms tightened around me, making me aware of the fact I was resting with my back against her front, her bleeding wrist against my mouth. “I know it hurts. Just a little longer.”

I whimpered as the current of power continued to build.

My brain switched off, instinct taking control. I jack knifed, trying to sit up. Scoot away. Anything to escape the thing that was hurting me.

“I’m so sorry, Lena. I’m so sorry,” someone apologized, over and over again.

Somehow, I ended up on my side, something clamping my legs and arms so I couldn’t struggle. Blood continued to fill my mouth.

A muffled scream left me as the lightning storm within burst.

Suddenly, I was no longer lying on cool sand, surrounded by rock. Rather, I was elsewhere. An old growth forest. Lightning striking from the sky to set fire to the trees around me. The flames climbed higher and higher, consuming the underbrush until I was left standing in a soot blackened sea of destruction that extended as far as the eye could see.

The world fell silent, everything quieting for a brief moment. Smoke billowed from the fire, something forming in its depths.

A creature.

Born of darkness and shadow. A reflection of myself. She was rawer. Less civilized and more vengeful. A little too quick to seek violence as her first, second, and last resort.

The fear I’d squashed deep inside and pretended not to feel when Brin and my grandfather told me about this “becoming” fell away. As terrible and fierce as this creature was, she wasn’t without her rationality.

She was still me.

I would struggle with new instincts, but at the end of the day, I wouldn’t lose the person I was.

“That was quick. I didn’t expect you for at least another half hour,” someone outside the forest said.

The intrusion broke me from my contemplation of the entity forming inside me. A wintry scent flooded my nostrils.

Liam.

Someone took my hand in theirs and lifted it. A second later, lips touched the inside of my wrist.

“I’m so upset with you, mo chuisle . This is the opposite of what you promised.”

Despite the chiding words, Liam’s tone lacked heat. Even as out of it as I was, I could sense his concern.

Unable to speak, I formed soundless words. “Knew. You’d. Come.”

“Rest, mo chuisle . Save your strength.”

There was a startled inhale from somewhere nearby.

“Is that Aileen? What the hell happened to her?” Nathan demanded, his worry flooding the small space.

Liam caressed my cheek. His touch gentle. “The sun.”

Even with how careful he was being, it was enough to send a lance of pain through my nerve receptors.

Sensing my discomfort, Liam withdrew his hand.

“How is that possible?” Nathan’s voice drowned out my small protest at losing Liam’s touch. “The sun only has this effect on the newly turned and vampires who’ve devolved. I’ve monitored her closely for months. There’s been no further signs of a devolution. She should be able to nap under the early morning sun and come away with no more than a moderate burn.”

I must have made some kind of noise because Liam started soothing me.

“Shh, mo chuisle . This is just a small setback. You haven’t devolved. I promise you that.” To Nathan, “Did you bring what I asked?”

“I’ve got it right here.”

A rustling sound came as something was unfolded.

“You know she’s going to lose her shit when she finds out you transported her via body bag.”

“I’ll be happy to entertain her complaints when she wakes up.”

“You’re the boss.”

Magic brushed against my skin. Caroline beginning her change back to wolf.

“Where are we taking her? Vitus’s forces and the Fae hit the mansion at dawn. It’s no longer safe. Thomas is furious. He’s issued a challenge. You know how he is when his things get damaged.”

“I’m aware. How did Ahrun react?”

Nathan snorted. “You know the old man. Schemes wrapped in schemes. I can’t tell whether he was expecting this or if he’s just enjoying the chaos.”

I lost track of the conversation after that.

Liam’s presence crouched next to me pulled me out of the fog. “This is going to hurt, mo chuisle . But when you wake up, I promise everything will be okay.”

I didn’t have time to figure out what he meant as hands grasped my shoulder. Another set took hold of my legs.

My scream at the lightning hot pain that bolted through me got trapped in my chest.

“One. Two.”

I was out before they hit three.

The complete lack of discomfort and pain was what brought me back to the land of the waking. There wasn’t so much as a twinge or ache to remind me of the ordeal I’d survived.

It felt like I was an entirely new person. As if my encounter with the sun had never happened, no more than a fever dream.

Except it hadn’t been a dream. I remembered everything. The memories far too vivid to have come from my imagination.

“You’re awake,” Sondra announced.

I slowly turned my head, my surprised gaze landing on the wolf sitting beside my bedside. Until she’d spoken, I hadn’t registered anyone else’s presence in the room.

I think I preferred it that way.

Sondra’s smirk was slight as she looked me over. “You seem better. I was sure you were on your last leg when they carried you in here. I must admit vampire healing is impressive.”

I cleared my throat, trying not to show my discomfort as my gaze darted around the room in search of answers as to why she was here and not someone else.

“Where are we?” I asked.

This wasn’t my room in the mansion. That was for sure.

Black out curtains had been drawn over what I assumed was a bank of windows. Although decorated well, the room lacked personality.

“A hotel on the strip,” Sondra answered.

I should have guessed that. The room had that non-offensive blandness that all hotels seemed to have.

Sondra’s wolfish smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Specifically, my room.”

The silence lengthened as I let that sink in. I had so many questions.

“I guess I wasn’t imagining Caroline finding me.”

“No.”

“They really did carry me out of that desert in a body bag.”

I didn’t know how I felt about that.

“Is that how they did it?” Sondra pursed her lips before nodding. “A creative solution. I’m impressed.”

I bet she wouldn’t be saying that if she had my history with those things. You wake up in a body bag in a morgue and see if you don’t develop a slight phobia.

“How did I end up here?” I asked.

“I imagine they carried you.”

I sent her a dour look. “You know what I meant.”

The last time I’d seen Sondra she’d been against my involvement in Brax and the pack’s rescue.

“The pack owes you a blood debt for what you did in the pits. Your vampires simply collected on your behalf.”

“It worked? Brax got out?” I demanded.

It had seemed the enthrallment over him had been broken in the last few seconds, but I hadn’t been sure.

“He’s still there.”

I thumped my head on the pillow.

Damn it. I was hoping some good had come out of all this.

“But he’s no longer their slave. I can feel him in the pack bonds again,” Sondra added.

I wrinkled my forehead at her in confusion. “Then why—”

“He couldn’t leave the rest of the pack.”

“How noble.”

In his shoes, I don’t know that I could have done the same.

“Do you think so?” Sondra tilted her head, amusement lighting her face. “Our alpha holds a grudge. He’s also a cunning hunter. The Fae made a mistake messing with his pack. They won’t know the monster they’ve woken until it’s far too late.”

Sondra’s expression said she was looking forward to it.

“Oo—kay.”

I wasn’t sure what to do with that information, but I was glad Brax was no longer under Muiredach’s control.

Sondra pulled herself out of the violent fantasy she’d drifted into and focused on me. “Caroline seems to think we have you to thank for his recovery.”

I held her gaze, trying not to show anything on my face. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

Sondra’s stare was piercing, several uncomfortable seconds passing before her lips quirked. “Whatever the case, I have a feeling that if not for you, Brax might still be under their hold.”

I kept the relief off my face, grateful that she seemed to have drawn the conclusion that Brax had rescued himself and I just happened to be along for the ride. It was a far better outcome than her realizing the truth.

Sondra rose from her chair and nodded at me. “It sounds like the pack may be working with the vampires for this.”

I blinked dumbly, having no clue what she was talking about as I followed her with my gaze.

“This’ll be a first for me. Fighting alongside a vampire rather than against.” The smile Sondra sent over her shoulder was predatory. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Then she was gone. Out the door and down the hall before I could think of anything to say in response.

I shook my head slightly. “Crazy wolf.”

Poor Caroline, if that was what she had to deal with on a regular basis.

“Connor get in here,” I ordered.

I didn’t have to see him to know he was out there. A lost puppy standing guard for when his chosen person woke.

Connor caught the door before it fully closed, sliding inside and shutting it gently behind him.

I let out a sigh when he just stood there, making no attempt to say anything. “How long were you out there?”

The way Connor trained his eyes on the corner of the room told me how upset he was.

I didn’t like it. It reminded me of all the times my dad had called me on the carpet when I did something wrong. His disappointment far worse than any punishment that he could inflict.

“Not going to answer?” I prodded.

I reached for one of the many pillows on the bed, shoving it behind my back so I’d have something to lean against when I sat up.

“Battle buddies don’t go off on their own,” Connor said, making me freeze in the process of getting settled.

I looked up to find his gaze pinned on me, something in it that I didn’t often see. Disillusionment.

“That was your rule. We tell each other when we’re about to do something.”

Ah. I see now.

It might not have been my intention but I’d broken my promise. For someone with Connor’s trust issues, that was a major trigger.

“You’re right.” My gaze dropped to the covers over my legs. “I didn’t mean to.”

Things spiraled before I’d realized. If I’d known beforehand, I would have tried to stop it. Or at least given Connor a heads up that things were about to hit the fan.

He crossed to the bed and reached around me to set his hand on my upper back in a weird maneuver that had me frowning at him in suspicion. “It’s alright. I’ll just make sure to put a tracker on you for next time.”

Tingling erupted from the spot he was touching. The sensation deepened until it felt like a thousand needles were jabbing me repeatedly.

I struggled to get away. “Ow. Ow. Ow.”

Connor’s grip was unbreakable as heat replaced the needles. Numbness took its place a second later.

Only then did he release me.

I jerked away, half throwing myself across the bed. “What the hell was that?”

I twisted, trying to get a look at the spot that still tingled.

“Nothing horrible.”

I clambered out of bed and darted across the room to the bathroom. There I jerked up my shirt, twisting to get a look at what was on my back.

Nothing horrible my ass. He’d etched a pair of antlers on my upper back. Right over the shoulder blade. Flowers and vines wrapped around the antlers, trailing down their sides to create a beautiful piece of art.

“What’s this?” I crossed to the bathroom door to glare at the idiot who hadn’t moved from his position by the side of the bed. “You marked me?”

“If you know, why ask?”

“Connor!”

His expression remained unperturbed. “Consider it my version of “Find Aileen.” This way if you go missing again, I’ll be able to track you down.”

Son of a bitch.

“You—” I swore, shaking my head. “You’re just like your uncle.”

Connor’s lips curved the tiniest bit. “I’ve decided his methods have their merits. On occasion.”

“You mean when they’re not being used against you.”

Connor inclined his head. “That is a factor.”

“How long have you been planning this?” I asked.

He was being careful not to show how satisfied he was at this turn of events. Probably because he knew I’d kick his ass. But it was there. A happiness that almost covered the relief hiding in his eyes.

He’d been worried about me, I realized. For a long time, I was guessing.

A warm feeling filled my chest. It was kind of nice to have someone who cared. A little deranged. Concerningly stalkerish. But nice.

“If it makes you feel better, you can put one on me when you learn how.”

I scoffed. “Because that’s likely to happen anytime soon.”

Somehow marks 101 hadn’t come up in any of my vampire classes.

A smile tugged at Connor’s lips, his pleasure at my grumpiness making me even more irritable. “What is the plan?”

I gave him a blank look. “Plan? What plan?”

All I had on my docket was a date with a shower. One that was as long and hot as possible. I’d figure out what was next after that.

Connor leveled a sardonic look on me that said he didn’t believe my declaration before starting toward the door. “Well, when you know, be sure to let me in on it. If you go off alone again, I’ll be most upset.”

“There is no plan,” I called at Connor’s back.

He lifted a hand and waved it.

“Seriously, I’m not lying,” I grumbled as the door shut behind him.

There really wasn’t a plan.