Anchor of Secrets by Tessa Hale

42

The room erupted around me.There were curses, grumbles, and spat-out oaths. I just stared at Colt.

“How?”

My question was barely audible, but with his shifter hearing, Colt got it just fine. His expression was hard. “I’ve kept those eyes on your mom since she’s been here, trying to figure out what move she was planning. A car picked her up at her hotel this afternoon. Our team reported it took her straight to vamp lands.”

Ronan let out a low, rumbling growl. “We knew someone had to have brought her here. She couldn’t afford that hotel she’s been staying at.”

I swallowed, trying to clear the dryness in my throat. “I get that she knows about this world, but how did she find out about the vampires? Or how did they find out about her?”

Dash looked as if he were battling to keep his temper in check, so different from his typical easygoing expression. “I’m guessing Alister did some checking into you after Damien kidnapped you. He’s going to look for any ammunition that might keep you from testifying to what Damien did.”

My stomach roiled. The threat of having to return to my mom would do it. I’d endure anything to keep myself out of her grasp.

Declan shifted, rubbing a hand up and down my back. “She’s not going to get you.”

I nodded numbly. They didn’t get how vindictive my mother could be. There was nothing she would hate more in this world than my happiness. And if she knew that the guys around me made me feel the happiest I’d ever been, even in the midst of insane turmoil, she’d do anything to rip them away from me.

* * *

I huggedmy knees tighter to my chest as I stared out at the water from my window seat. The moon reflected off the surface as it rippled and danced. The play of light was comforting. If I focused on that and nothing else, I would be okay. The millions of things pressing down on me couldn’t grab hold.

My throat burned with the force of me keeping the worries and memories away. My fingers dug into my calves. That bite of pain helped. It kept me in the here and now.

A soft knock sounded on my door.

“Come in.”

The answer came automatically, even though I didn’t really want the company. I wanted to stay lost in my water and light show. If I saw one of the guys, I’d be forced to confront just how much I had to lose.

Colt opened my door, stepped inside, and closed it behind him. He didn’t say anything as he crossed the space and didn’t hesitate when he reached me. He lifted me into his arms, then sat, settling me in his lap.

I instantly burrowed into Colt’s hold. His heat wrapped around me, reminding me I was safe for now. Yet still, my eyes burned. “It hurts,” I whispered.

Colt brushed the hair away from my face. “What does?”

“Loving you all so much and knowing a million different things could rip you away from me.”

“LeeLee…”

I couldn’t handle any denials he was about to give. “You know it’s true. The Assembly. The vamps. Damien. Chloe. The shadow demons. Even me.”

Colt’s hold on me tightened. “You?”

I tipped my head back to look up at him. “I’m being so selfish. I know that I might not be what you need. That selfishness could end us all.”

Colt brushed his lips against mine. “You’re always what we need. We may not see the path that’s going to get us there, but we have enough light to take the next step.”

Everything inside me hurt. Ached and burned with hope and fear. “I want to believe that. I do. But I’m not sure if it’s true.”

Colt’s thumb stroked across my cheek. “Have faith. We just need to take things one step at a time.”

“That’s hard to do when we’re being attacked from all sides.”

“Then it’s a good thing there’s six of us,” Colt said with a hint of a smile.

I let out a sigh. “What are we tackling first?”

Any hint of amusement fled Colt’s face. “Your mom.”

Nausea swept through me. “Don’t call her that.”

Colt frowned.

“She’s never been a mother. She doesn’t deserve the term.”

Colt’s arms spasmed around me. “Okay. We deal with Maryanne first.”

I nodded. “And how do we do that?”

“I’ve got a team digging up all the dirt we can. I can’t imagine it’ll be difficult to find with the life she’s led. Then we tell her what will be delivered to the police if she sticks around. I think she’ll come around to our way of thinking.”

“It might work.”

Maryanne’s self-preservation instincts were stronger than anything else. The only thing that rivaled them was her desire to see me suffer. Hopefully, her selfishness would win out.

Colt’s hand trailed down my neck. “It will. Trust me.”

“I do.” It was the greatest gift I could give another human being after all the times I’d been hurt. But Colt had more than earned it.

Sparks of gold flashed in Colt’s eyes. His head bent, and he took my mouth. His tongue swept inside, teasing me with long, languid strokes. As if he had all the time in the world and he was going to drown in my taste.

Heat built in my muscles, settling low and growing with each swipe of Colt’s tongue.

I shifted, needing better access, needing more. I straddled Colt’s lap, his hardening cock pressing against my core. I couldn’t help the whimper that escaped me.

Colt’s hands tangled in my hair, deepening the kiss.

A sound had me jerking back and realizing we weren’t alone.

Dash grinned from the doorway. “Don’t you dare stop.”