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~Foster’s POV~
I’d seen a lot of shit in my life. I’d had pregnant women charge toward me with weapons, children starved and desperate for food, willing to do anything, including throwing grenades at me. There had been assassins and mercenaries, child soldiers, women we called black widows who would sleep with you and then try to kill you.
What I never thought I’d see was Josie defending my honor.
She had been breath-taking as her fae side came out. Her black hair grew in length, all the way down to her firm ass. The red flecks glowed in her dark brown eyes. Her skin became translucent, gold swirls appearing just underneath the surface.
And the way she handled those fae. She was ruthless, and it excited the dark side of me that wanted to lash out with cruelty to those who tried to hurt me or my loved ones. For a moment, I had thought a storm was going to appear out of nowhere as she handled them. The jagged wind whipped around, scraping at my skin.
Then my heart broke when it was all over, and she realized what she had done, as if it were something to be ashamed about. No way was I going to let her feel guilty over being protective. She had nothing to be guilty about, and frankly, what she did was fucking hot.
The boner I sported was proof of that as I drove her back to the hotel. She was curled against the door, gaze on the passing scenery. She was so deathly still that I had to hold my breath just to hear hers.
The stillness worried me. Even her weird wolf was silent, stretched out on the back seat, eyes on her. I never understood animals, but it was clear that he was concerned about her too.
I wracked my brain for a topic, anything to get her talking. I wanted to hear her voice. It’d be better if I could read her thoughts. Then this silence wouldn’t worry me. But I didn’t know what to talk about. Lately, all our conversation had been surrounding finding the bastard fae that came here. If we tried to bring up anything related to her family, she shut us down. If we tried to bring up memories, she got really quiet and sad.
“It shouldn’t be this hard,” I whispered.
“What shouldn’t?”
I grimaced. “Talking. Finding something to talk about. It shouldn’t be this hard.”
She hummed before quieting down and looking back out the window. Unable to take it, I reached over and grabbed her hand. She squeezed it and let me touch her. Something about touching her calmed me, made me feel like everything was as it should be.
“What was it like?” she asked. “After I left. What happened?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“Yes.”
I almost got lost in that darkness, and only the fact that I was driving kept me safe. “That night, we were all home, getting dinner ready for you.”
“I had called that afternoon to let you guys know I was going to be late.”
“Right. So we planned a later dinner. We didn’t even know...” I swallowed, my chest tightening. “We didn’t even know anything was wrong. I always thought our connection was so strong, almost supernatural. That if something happened to you, we’d just know, you know?”
“Yeah. Like all those movies where if something bad happens, the loved one is given an ominous clue, like a broken glass, or picture frame, or anything to let them know all isn’t well.”
“Exactly,” I said. “But reality isn’t like that. We didn’t know anything happened until it was late at night and we tried to call you. Your sister answered. She was sobbing, speaking nonsense, unable to speak in full sentences. It all sounded like gibberish. A paramedic took the phone from her and filled us in. We rushed to the hospital. She was sedated for days, and once she woke up, we tried to talk to her, but she ended up having another breakdown.”
Josie took in a sharp breath and squeezed my hand hard.
“After that, your parents kept us away from her. During that time, we were trying to locate you. I’m pretty sure we tore all of Idaho apart searching for you. The police didn’t know shit; theories from abduction, human trafficking, to murder, were tossed around. No one knew anything. Eventually, your sister was moved to a psychiatric hospital to get help. We tried to get more information, but every time she was pushed to talk about it, she’d break down. Months passed like that. Then one day, she was fine. Like she had wiped the memories away. She was released a week later, but your parents didn’t want us seeing her. It was like everyone was moving on except us. I threw myself at the military, training and working. Going on as many deployments as I could. I was always the first person volunteering for the most dangerous assignments. Those higher in rank figured it out and knew to just assign me to them.”
“You were searching for me,” she whispered.
“Yes. I was.” I glanced at her. “To think you weren’t even in this world.”
Josie turned and tried to give me a smile, but it came off as shaky. “You would have found me. If I had been abducted or sold off into human trafficking, I have no doubt you would have found me.”
Her response made me feel like a million bucks, and I grinned as we pulled into the hotel garage.
“I would have found a way,” I said in a low voice, pulling her hand up so I could kiss the back of it. “If I had known about Faerie, I would have found a way in. A way to you.”
Josie breathed in deeply before releasing it slowly. “I know. I’m glad you didn’t though.” Her haunted eyes scared me. What did she really go through over there, for the last ten years?
No. For the last hundred years.
What did Faerie do to you, Josie?
