I didn’t like it.
And I sure as hell didn’t like that I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her.
As if she knew I was staring at her, she turned her head in my direction.
Everything in my body went on high alert, waiting for the moment when her ocean-blue eyes found mine.
One. Two. Three.
Our eyes locked.
I stared back at her, and it wasn’t friendly. Fuck, it wasn’t even polite.
Cold. Hard. Unbending.
You won’t survive me, Rainbird.
I waited for her to recoil under my assault.
To look away.
To cower under the suffocating weight of hundreds of femurs and skulls.
She did none of it.
No, she stared right back at me with her plush lips pressed together and her head held high.
Something had changed in her. As if the carefree innocence had been scraped away, leaving behind deep grooves overflowing with darkness.
I wanted to know where that darkness had come from, but it was none of my business. She wasn’t my business.
I shifted my weight to turn and walk away.
But I hesitated.
I fuckin’ hesitated.
I never hesitated, and I never second-guessed my actions or decisions.
Hesitating gets you killed.
Second-guessing gets you captured, tortured, and then killed.
But worse than both of those—regret.
It slowly fucks with your head, eats away at it for years before it finally decides it’s had enough and gets you killed. That was if you were lucky.
I hadn’t been lucky.
I heard the pitter-patter of footsteps inside the cabin before the screen door opened, and a little blond boy walked out, clutching some kind of action figure in his hand. “Can I come outside now?”
He was lanky, as if he’d either had a growth spurt, or wasn’t getting enough food. And from the lack of color in his face, I was guessing the latter.
Macayla uncrossed her arms and smiled down at him. She reached out as if to gently push aside a strand of hair dangling in front of his right eye, but suddenly changed her mind and dropped her arm to her side. “It’s a little late to be asking after you’re already out the door.”
He peered up at her with blue eyes that lacked the hint of greenish warmth Macayla’s had. “Yeah, but….” He stopped for a second, and I saw her nod with a smile. His shoulders straightened and he continued, “You’re out here. How can I ask if I don’t come outside?”
I grunted. Smart kid.