12. Eva

The minute Cole and Silas stormed into the kitchen, my paralysis broke. I stumbled away from the naked guy just before Silas punched him in the face. Not that he seemed to feel it. He just laughed and rubbed his jaw.

"Is that the best you got, asshole?" Silas hit him again, and I heard something crack, but none of them seemed bothered about the escalating violence. The only person who cared was me.

The awful, throbbing heat in my core disappeared now I was no longer in the naked guy - Tanner's - orbit. It was as if reality had returned and whatever spell he'd cast was obsolete.

Tanner hit Silas. He went down with a yell, his head smacking against the tiled floor. I screamed as blood splashed across my bare foot and a memory of Brent slashing my thigh with a knife hit hard and fast.

Darkness crowded in, my head pounded. I couldn't breathe.

The metallic scent of blood overrode the sweet smell of cinnamon and cocoa. My stomach churned. Ghost pains crippled me. I remembered the sensation of metal cutting through skin and muscle. The slow and remorseless drip of blood onto the linoleum floor.

He'd cut too deep that day and ended up having to stitch the wound.

I didn't realize I was crying until Cole carried me out of the kitchen and placed me gently on my bed with the door closed. He pulled me into his chest and stroked my head. Tears dripped down my cheeks and puddled on the cover.

I wanted to ask if Silas was dead, but the words wouldn't come. My throat had closed up. It was all I could do to squeeze oxygen into my lungs.

"He'll be fine. They fight all the time." Cole squeezed my hand, trying to reassure me, but it didn't work.

I didn't understand how Silas would be fine after hitting the floor so hard. In the distance, I heard growling and the loud clatter of something breaking. Then blissful silence. Cole exhaled and relaxed his hold on me.

"They've gone outside. Why don't you get some sleep, sweetheart? I'll go clean up the mess."

He took my silence for agreement and pulled the cover over me, but left the side lamp on. I curled up and closed my eyes until I heard the door click shut.

What was happening to me? It was obvious Silas and Cole knew who Tanner was, but why was he naked when he walked in, and why did he make me feel so…alive?

Until coming here, I'd never felt that way about any man. Now there were three guys who invoked some kind of primal reaction in me. It was both confusing and also embarrassing. I didn't want to feel like this. I didn't want to feel anything at all.

Feelings were dangerous.

Feelings led to hope, and hope was the last thing I needed.

The last time I'd experienced hope, Brent had obliterated it with great precision and nearly broken me. If I was to survive, I had to be smart. Allowing a glimmer of hope to slip under my defenses was a recipe for disaster. All I needed to do was wait out the bad weather and then persuade Cole or Silas to take me to the town in the next valley, where I stood a better chance of hitching a ride.

I didn't dare make a plan beyond that.

And if Brent was out there looking for me?

We were all fucked.