“Whenever you are,” he said. As he followed her and walked by, he gripped my shoulder. I reached up and put my hand over his, squeezing his fingers, letting him know I appreciated the support.
I wrangled my hair into a ponytail, securing it with the hair tie I’d put on my wrist earlier in the night. “Do you mind if I take Aaron out by the levee to investigate?” I asked. “I could use some air.”
“Not at all, Bird. Take whatever time you need. I wanted to check around out there anyway given our contact with the kids who died in the river.”
I nodded and turned to Kholt. “Will you come with me? Is the attached building safe enough for James and Dakota to be in there without you?”
“They should be okay,” he said.
Dev turned to Aaron. “Make sure they’re okay, will you?”
“You got it, boss. On my word.”
Dev nodded and then took Hanlen’s hand, looking at Sky and Padre. “We still have a few other rooms to investigate. What do you say the four of us take the bedrooms?”
“Sounds good to me,” Padre said and took Sky’s bag from her.
She raised an eyebrow at him. “I am perfectly capable of carrying my own stuff, old man.”
He just flashed her a grin and kissed her on the nose, shoving the pen she always wore in her hair deeper into her bun. “I know that,cher, but why should you have to when you have me?”
Despite everything that had just happened, I smiled. It was so nice to see them so happy. I looked up at Kholt and met his bluebell eyes. “Thank you for being here,” I said.
He took my lips in a kiss that had me forgetting everything—if only for a heartbeat
He pulled back, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Always.”
Chapter30
~Kholt~
Taking a page from Paxton’s book, I grabbed Lark’s stuff and gestured for her to lead the way outside. We used the house’s alternate entrance to exit onto the backside of its wraparound porch and took in the levee and the river beyond, lit by the lights the city had there. I saw the plaque, similar to the one by the Florida Avenue bridge, that served as a symbol of the past and a reminder for the future. While I couldn’t read it now, I knew the plaque detailed how the wall had broken with a concussive sound that fateful August day and how during and after, the people of this glorious city had rallied to survive and rebuild.
The river here was a murky gray-brown, even on the brightest of days, the air carrying the odiferous Mississippi stench that all those close to the water had come to live with. Honestly, there was nothing beautiful about it. Still, the way the sloping green gave way to the levee area and then to the depths beyond held its own kind of draw—especially at night. I looked at Lark.
She stood facing the water, her ponytail whipping around her in the wind, the skirts of her dress flaring out to the sides. She looked like a goddess. I got closer to her and saw that she had her eyes closed.
“You okay?” I asked.
She took a deep breath and then turned her head, her emerald-green depths searing me. Even with the contacts and the brighter hair, she tugged at something inside me. That thing that had loved her with every fiber of my being—and still did. I kept wanting to pinch myself to make sure that having her back in my life was real and not a dream, but then the reality of what was going on outside of that came crashing back, and I realized that there was no way this was a dream. If it were, it would be a nightmare, and nothing about having Lark here with me was bad.
She just roamed her gaze over my face for a bit before finally answering. “I’ll be okay. Am I right now? Not really. But I will be.”
We looked over at Aaron, who was placing a stake with a wireless static trail camera and talking into his walkie, likely asking those in Control if everything looked good. He looked our way and gave us a thumbs-up.
“I guess that’s our cue,” I said, tucking a piece of hair that had blown out of her ponytail behind her ear.
“Yeah,” she said but suddenly frowned.
I squinted in response. “What is it?”
“I . . . I’m not sure. I just feel weird all of a sudden. And something is urging me to go and check on Turner.” She glanced in the direction of the front of the house and I didn’t like the frown creasing her brow or the tone of her voice. “I should tell him what happened earlier anyway.”
I nodded. “Do you want me to come with you?”
She shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I shouldn’t be long. You know what you can do?” she asked.
“Anything.”