“I can board it up in the morning,” Erik said. “For the rest of the night, we’re going to take turns keeping watch. I’ll go first.”
Archer stood, stretching his hand out to me. “Let’s get you up to bed.”
I was still shaking, even though my breathing had returned to normal. Sam followed us to the stairs.
“Mel?”
I turned. “Yeah?”
“Is there anything I can do? Can I get you anything?” Sam asked.
“No,” I said, shaking my head.
“Let me know if there is anything I can do,” Sam said, her eyebrows squeezed so tightly they nearly touched. “Oh, and I’m really sorry about what I said earlier. You know I didn’t mean it.”
I turned away. She definitely had meant every word.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said.
The truth was, I didn’t care. I didn’t feel safe in Erik’s house, and that was all I could think about.
Someone had been outside the window. They’d probably been peering inside… watching me.
What had they been looking for? If they saw me, why hadn’t they left?
Archer laid down on the bed with me, stroking my hair away from my forehead. At some point, I’d fallen asleep.
When I woke, it was to the harsh sounds of banging. I didn’t feel rested. It was like I hadn’t slept at all.
I opened the bedroom door and hesitated at the sound of voices.
“We should leave here as soon as possible,” Sam said. “You might have enough supplies, but it’s not safe here.”
“It’s safer here than it will be on the road,” Erik said.
“I can’t let anything happen to Mel after everything she’s been through,” Sam said. “You can see what all this is doing to her.”
Erik groaned loudly. “Give her some credit. She can take care of herself.”
“You don’t know her,” Sam said.
“I know she got that knife. I know she managed to keep it together,” Erik said.
“You didn’t see her,” Sam said. “You were too worried about your broken window.”
Something crashed to the floor. “That is absolutely not true. Maybe you should go pack your things and let me worry about fixing the window.”
“Fine,” Sam said.
I backed up into the bedroom at the sounds of her feet thudding against the stairs. Maybe leaving wasn’t a terrible idea. We’d keep moving… never being in the same place. That had to be safer than people sneaking around trying to break into homes.
First, someone had broken into my mom’s house, and now they were trying to get into Erik’s house.
After Sam’s bedroom door closed, I wrapped my arms around myself and went down the stairs. Erik turned, but turned his attention back to the window.
“Morning,” he said.
“Morning,” I replied, staring at all the glass sprinkled on the floor. “Sorry about your window.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Erik said, looking at me over his shoulder. “These things were supposed to be strong.”
I frowned. “It was a really big rock.”
“I’m considering boarding up all the windows.” Erik turned with his hands on his hips. “Although, Sam wants us to leave, so I’m not sure it’s worth the trouble.”
“Are we ready for this?” I asked.
“It’s going to be a challenge to get the vehicle, but if that works out, then there won’t be anything stopping us,” Erik said. “Archer and I are going to head out for some gas as soon as I finish up here.”
I looked around. “Where is he?”
“Getting some rest,” Erik said. “He was up half of the night sitting by the window.”
“You trusted him enough to take a shift?” I asked, biting back my smile.
“I don’t have a lot of choices,” Erik said. “If someone came poking around when Dorian was on watch, he’d probably just end up shooting himself.”
“Hey!” Dorian said from the kitchen. “I heard that.”
Erik met my eyes and smiled. “I knew he would.”
“You’re not wrong, though,” Dorian added.
“How long do you think you’ll be gone for?” I asked.
Erik’s house might have felt less safe, but I felt a bit safer with him around. He knew how to use his gun, and he would use it. At least, it seemed that way.
“Not sure,” Erik said. “We’ll go as quick as we can.”
“And then tomorrow we get the vehicle?” I asked.
“Guess so,” Erik said.
I sighed, hugging myself tighter. “I hope this is the right thing to do.”
“Me too,” Erik said. “Who knows, maybe we’ll find help while we’re out. We’re pretty secluded up here that maybe we’ve kind of just been forgotten about.”
“Is that possible?” I asked.
Erik shrugged. “I’m sure it’s possible, but I think it’s unlikely.”
“Hey, check this out,” Dorian said, coming into the room with a mug in each hand.
He gave one to me and the other to Erik. I looked down into the dark liquid.
“Coffee?” I asked.
“Took forever to make it,” Dorian said, beaming at the mugs. He flapped his hand. “Try it.”
I took a sip, expecting it to be hot, but it was only just warm. The flavor was rich and bitter and eye-opening perfect.
“Not bad,” I said.
“I think it was pretty good,” Dorian said.
“I have a French press in one of the cabinets,” Erik said.
Dorian frowned. “That’s the first thing you should have told me when we stepped foot in this house.”
Erik chuckled and chugged the rest of his coffee. He handed the mug back to Dorian.
“Well,” Dorian turned to me, “I hope you appreciate my hard work.”
“I do. Thank you,” I said. “Is there more?”
Dorian shook his head. “Took forever to brew that much. Although, now that I know about the French press, I suppose I could make more.”
“I’d take more,” Erik said. “It’s going to be a long day.”
“Okay, for you, I’ll make more,” Dorian said.
“And make more for me,” I said. “Oh,
