Chapter 31 - Clover
CHAPTER 31 - CLOVER
I ke's horse rears up when the gun goes off. Partly because it's a gun goin' off, but also because I scream, " Riggs !"
In the same moment there's a swarm of birds up in the trees and they're not far. Maybe a mile away. I kick the horse and he takes off again, heading in that direction.
"He's not dead," I say. "He's not dead, he's not dead."
I'm gonna make it.
But then there's another shot and some yelling.
"Riggs!" I scream again. But the wind from the galloping horse makes me swallow those words and there isn't a chance in hell anyone heard them.
Another gunshot, and I lose all hope.
He's dead. It's over. I'm too late.
But it's like Ike's horse feels my desperation and he kicks it up a notch, tearing down the trail in the direction of the ruckus so fast, I have to drop the phone and hold on to his mane for dear life. If I fell off now, I'd probably die. And then everything would be lost.
So I hold on and then there's a clearing up ahead and people fighting.
"Collin Creed!" I scream. And this time, my voice makes it past the wind trying to steal it away. "Collin Creed, you stop right now!"
And then I see them fighting in the tall grass. But Amon turns in my direction and he tackles Collin to the ground.
For a moment, they both disappear in the tall meadow grass and there's no one else there.
The horse stops short, practically flipping me forward over his neck. The only reason I don't crash is because I grab hold of his neck at the last moment. It's just enough to slow my momentum, so even though I do end up on the ground, it's not as bad as it could've been.
I roll, and then everyone is yelling. I'm calling out, "Riggs!"
And Riggs is screaming, "Clover!"
And so are Amon and Collin. They stand up, looking at me like I'm some kind of ghost. I run past them and throw my arms around Riggs, burying my head into his chest as everything that happened to me over the last week suddenly becomes too much.
Riggs is yelling, "Untie me! Un-fucking tie me!"
And then Amon does just that and finally, Riggs' arms hug me tight and I let out a breath that I swear I've been holding in for days.
There's no discussion. No talking at all. No mention of Collin and Amon trying to kill Riggs.
That's a conversation that needs to be had, but not now.
Now, all I wanna do is feel grateful.
We walk back down the hill, Ike's horse following us. Even though this path is not really a trail and he seems too big to make such a steep descent, he still follows and manages just fine. Like he's been climbing up and down mountains his whole life. Which, of course, he probably has.
When we get to the back of Collin's house, Lowyn and Rosie are pacing in the driveway. I did manage to get a signal while I was tearing down the mountain, so I called her and told her to meet me here.
Lowyn and Rosie both rush at us when we approach. They hug each other. There's other people too, Disciple people, all standing around at the end of the driveway. They must've heard the shots.
Collin looks at Riggs like he's got something to say here, but he doesn't say it.
"You can sleep here tonight, Clover. The key is under the back doormat. Just…" Lowyn points to her house, which is Collin's house too. "Just get some rest and we can sort it all out later." She looks at Collin. "Right?"
Collin is still staring at Riggs. But then he looks away. "Right."
He pulls Lowyn towards him, and they head towards Lowyn's car in the driveway. She looks over her shoulder at me one more time. "I'll be back this afternoon. We'll talk then."
I just nod as Rosie and Amon follow them, and get in the car. The Disciple people disperse, deciding that whatever this Collin Creed drama is, it can wait.
A moment later, Lowyn's backing out the driveway and then, like people weren't shooting at each other just twenty minutes ago, and I wasn't escaping from a crazy woman down in a secret underground military city—the night goes quiet and things are back to normal.
Riggs lets out a long breath. "What the fuck just happened?"
Which, for some unknown reason, make me laugh. That's all I can do, just laugh. He looks at me like I'm crazy, but it takes me several seconds before I get myself back under control and point at him. "I saved you."
He scoffs. "Woman, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have needed saving."
Which makes me laugh again. He scoops me up in his arms, carrying me like he's about to walk me over a threshold, and then he says, "You like me."
" You like me ."
He admits it. "I do like you. Come on. There's got to be a bed in this house somewhere."
And then he does walk me over a threshold and that's that, I guess.
As happy an ending as one could've hoped for.
Considering.
I don't know what time it is when I wake up, but by the low light outside, at the very least, it's late afternoon.
As much as I would've liked to talk things through with Riggs after we came upstairs to the bedroom, he passed out mumbling something about Amon and IV's, which I took to mean drugs.
Despite me releasing that breath outside, my body was tight with tension and my mind was racing so it took me a good long while to finally fall asleep.
Once I did, though, I guess it all caught up with me because I can't remember a single time where I slept the day away.
Riggs has his arms around me tight when I finally come to enough to open my eyes. He's awake, I can tell. Might've been awake for a while now, in fact. But he stayed in bed with me instead of getting up and going downstairs, where there are people, because I can hear them.
Collin and Lowyn are down there, making enough noise to let me know that they've been here a while and are probably trying to wake us up at this point.
"You awake, Your Highness?" Riggs's voice is all low and grumbly.
I smile. "Do I have to be?"
"Well, I think Collin Creed is about to come up here and drag me out of bed by my feet if we don't make an appearance soon, so…"
My sigh is long. But he's right. I can hear Collin saying something about Jim Bob Baptist down in the living room and there are dishes clattering, like maybe Lowyn is cooking up something in the kitchen.
I push the covers off, get up, use the bathroom—practically scaring myself when I look in the mirror—and come back out to the bedroom to find Riggs standing up, holding up his gray scrub shirt to look at his ribs. There's a big ol' bruise there.
"Who gave you that?" I ask him.
He glares at me with squinty eyes, which I interpret to mean Collin.
"Are you gonna be mad about that?" I ask.
Riggs looks at me like he'd like to be. "Maybe."
I grimace. Collin Creed is what you'd call an alpha male. If this were a wolf pack, he'd definitely be in charge. There wouldn't even be a discussion about it. That's just who he is.
Riggs is more of a lone wolf than a pack leader. And regardless of what his relationship with Collin was in the past, there's no way in hell he's gonna give in and follow him again.
It worries me for a moment. But then I think of Amon. And while he's no lone wolf, he's no beta either. Every team has a leader. And a good leader doesn't have any use for followers. A good leader wants equals.
That's what Collin and Amon are.
So I have hope that whatever happens next, Riggs can find a way to get past last night.
But it's not up to me. Nothing about Collin and Riggs has anything to do with me.
So when we go downstairs and Collin points to the door as he looks Riggs in the eyes, I don't say a thing when Riggs follows him out.
I don't say anything when they get in Collin's Jeep and drive away, either. I just watch from the window.
Then I turn to Lowyn and find her staring at me with a soft face. "He'll be back soon."
I nod, and then we sit at the bar between her kitchen and living room and eat pancakes.
Lowyn and I spend the evening cleaning up the kitchen and talking about anything and everything except last night.
With one exception.
She says, "There's a horse in your backyard."
To which I say, "Is this my backyard?"
And she replies, smiling at me, "It is now. For as long as you need it."
Ike's horse has stuck around. I'll probably have to take him back to Blackberry Hill. But I'm pretty sure he knows the way home—all horses do—and he's still here, so… he can stay for now, I guess.
It's nearly ten at night when Collin's Jeep returns, pulling back into the driveway. Lowyn and I have been playing cards for about an hour now, both of us getting worried about how things are going over at Collin's compound, though neither of us mentions it.
Then there they are. Collin. Lookin' just like Collin.
And Riggs. Dressed up in an all-black Edge Security uniform. He looks at me and says, "I guess I got a job."
And then that final breath comes out of me and I know, somehow, some way, it's really gonna be OK.