Tyler (Blue Halo Book 6)

Tyler kept his steps silent as he moved through the wooded area around Emerson’s Airbnb. A night had passed since the power outage. Fire still scorched his veins at the memory of her fear. She hadn’t been able to see anything, but with his enhanced vision, he’d seen everything. The color leach from her face. The raw terror in her eyes.

He hadn’t just seen the fear though, he’d felt it. The way her limbs trembled so fiercely, her teeth had rattled. Her jolt at his touch like he was a demon in the dark. An enemy she couldn’t run from.

She’d gone somewhere else. Somewhere dark he hadn’t been able to reach her. And he wanted to know where.

When she’d finally returned to him, he’d wanted to ask about her fear of the dark and kill whoever instilled it. Tear them to fucking shreds. But the second she pulled out of his arms, she’d flown into action. Calling Mrs. Henry. Checking the fuse box. All the while, never quite meeting his eyes.

According to Mrs. Henry, the power went out often. The Airbnb host had apologized, even offered to refund for some of her stay. A little part of him wondered, though, if there was more to it than that. He hadn’t heard anyone outside that night, but the incident made him uneasy enough that he wanted to stick close by, even if she insisted he didn’t need to.

His gaze flicked to the time on his phone. Almost one in the morning. He started to return the cell to his pocket when it vibrated with a message from Callum.

Everything okay out there?

He sent a quick text back to his friend.

All is quiet.

Callum was coming to take over in about half an hour. A part of Tyler wanted to stay. He trusted his friends to guard the house. Hell, he trusted every man on his team with his life. But being close to her felt right, and it eliminated the pit in his gut.

He didn’t need much sleep, but he knew he’d be more alert if he went home and got at least a couple hours.

He’d just slipped his phone into his pocket when he heard it. The crunch of leaves beneath shoes.

His gaze shot up in the direction of the noise. A beat of silence passed.

Then he saw the distant shadow of a person.

Tyler took off. He didn’t try to mask the noise of his feet pounding the ground or the branches whipping across his body, he just ran.

The guy matched his speed, and when he turned his head, Tyler caught sight of his face. It was a brief glimpse, but that was all he needed.

Levi. And the guy was running full tilt away from Tyler. Away from the cabin.

Cool air whipped across his face, and branches snapped beneath his feet. He ignored all of it, putting his entire focus on the man in front of him.

Levi was fast and athletic, jumping over large rocks and fallen trees like they were nothing. But Tyler was fast too. And he was driven. Driven to keep Emerson safe. To catch her stepbrother for her.

Levi glanced over his shoulder again, and Tyler caught another glimpse of his face. Definitely him. He even had the scar beside his right eye, which Emerson had described in the meeting. He looked older than his military photos and less…tamed.

Tyler pushed his body to move faster. He was gaining, but he was doing so too goddamn slowly.

They’d just reached the outskirts of the woods when Tyler was close enough to lunge. He grabbed Levi around the middle and sent them both to the ground. Levi was only under him for a second before spinning them around.

The knife appeared from nowhere, swiping at Tyler’s throat.

Tyler whipped his head aside just before the sharp blade could slice skin. He grabbed Levi’s wrist, rolling again so the man was under him once more.

“Stop!” Tyler shouted. “I want to help you.”

Levi growled and spluttered, his eyes savage and unfocused. “You’re one of them. I’ll never stop!”

“I’m not your enemy!”

The hit to the ribs caught Tyler hard enough for him to lose his hold on the man’s wrist. Instead of swinging the knife again, Levi threw Tyler to the side, jumped to his feet, and ran.

Tyler rose too, but by the time he gained his feet, the guy was gone.

Fuck!

There was a dull ache in his ribs, but he ignored it, instead letting the anger and frustration over losing the man take hold. He’d been right there, goddammit!

He grabbed his phone from his back pocket, ignoring the pain from the slight twist of his torso. Callum answered immediately.

“Hey.”

“Levi was here. I just chased him through the woods around Emerson’s place.”

Movement sounded on the phone. “I’ll come now. You okay?”

“Yeah, I caught him, but he got me in the ribs and I lost my grip.” Another blast of anger and frustration melded in his gut.

“Won’t be long.”

“Thanks.” He’d just hung up when a call came through. His brows twitched when he saw who it was.

Emerson.

No problem with the lights tonight?

The text from Mrs. Henry made her smile. It was late, yet the woman was still texting. Mrs. Henry was a self-proclaimed night owl, and when Emerson had told her she was the same, she’d taken to texting at all hours. Emerson didn’t mind. Working into the night could get lonely. It was nice to have someone to message.

She typed in a quick response.

I’ve had power all night.

Thank God. She’d also kept her phone on her at all times. Just in case. She did not want a repeat of her panic attack from the other night. She couldn’t even think about that without feeling the overwhelming need to bury her head into the sand.

Her phone vibrated again.

Oh, good. I can rest easy. Have a good night, dear.

Emerson pushed the phone into her pocket and lifted the paintbrush. She should go to bed. She should have gone to bed long ago. But she couldn’t stop. She’d worked on a commissioned piece for a while when she got home, but now she was starting a new one of Levi, this time as she’d seen him at the bus stop.

Her strokes became stronger, faster, flying over the canvas. Emotions swirled inside her. Frustration. Love. Fear.

God, so much fear.

More dark strokes. She usually painted in color. Bright and vibrant. But today, everything was black and gray and charcoal. The darkness matched the look she’d seen in Levi’s eyes. He seemed nothing like the boy who’d cared about her and protected her from her father.

Her chest rose and fell in quick succession as she painted dark clouds around him. Endless minutes passed. Endless strokes of the brush. All the while, music blasted through the room, blocking out the world.

“Don’t touch her!”

She frowned, pain filling her chest at the memory of that day. The day Levi had stepped in front of her father. Protected her. Almost died for her.

“Get out of my way, boy. This has nothing to do with you.”

Her father’s voice was as evil in her head as it had been in that moment. She slashed her brush against the canvas.

“If you touch her, I’ll break you!”

He’d only been twelve, yet Levi’s voice had been so fierce. Like he had no fear even though he was standing in front of a monster twice his size.

Images flashed in her mind of what had happened next. Of the angry fists of her father. Of Levi continuing to rise to his feet and shield her body with his own.

More slashes of her brush.

He’d protected her. Yet she hadn’t been able to protect him. From the heartache of what had happened in the military, then Project Arma.

She kept painting. Kept moving her brush, even as tears pricked her eyes. As a familiar devastation rose in her chest, choking the air out of her.

More than anything, she hadn’t been able to protect Levi from himself. From his own mind.

By the time she was finished, tears blurred the canvas in front of her, threatening to fall, but she scrubbed them away.

She would not fall apart. She was stronger than that.

For the first time that night, she sat back and studied the painting carefully. Beneath Levi’s intense focus, beneath his anger, she saw…fear.

“Oh, Levi.”

Fear and pain mixed together, making him look like a bomb about to explode.

God, she wished she could make it better. Like Levi and his mother had made her life better through their love.

She frowned when her gaze caught on the hand on his shoulder. He’d been touching his shoulder the entire time during those brief seconds. Scratching and digging his fingers into his skin. Like he was in pain of some kind.

With a long exhale, she stood. God, every muscle creaked and ached. How long had she been painting? She checked her phone.

A bit past one in the morning. And another night of missed dinner. Argh, she needed to get better at looking after herself. She stretched her stiff muscles, then moved over to the light switch and flicked it off.

She was just pulling the door closed when she saw eyes watching her through the window.

A terrified gasp wrenched from her throat, and she took three big steps back, hip hitting the couch. Before she could stop herself, she called Tyler. Even though it was the middle of the night, he answered on the first ring and sounded wide awake.

“Emerson, are you okay?”

“I just saw him. In the window.” Usually, her stepbrother didn’t scare her, but this time, he did. Because he’d been watching her from the darkness. How long had he been standing there?

Wind whistled over the line. “I’m coming now. Make sure the doors are locked and grab a weapon if you have one.”

A relieved exhale rushed from her chest. The relief was mixed with guilt, of course, because it was the middle of the night. But still… “Thank you.”

“Two minutes.”

Wait, what?

The line went dead.

Two minutes? How was the guy going to get to her house in two minutes?

Unless he was already close…