Bound by Honour

56

"Will they find us?" I asked Noel.

"Oh, definitely. Have you forgotten who they are?"

Headlights from four wheelers in the trees made my heart ease a bit. "Maisie!" Voices of my brothers called. "Are you out here?"

"Over here," Noel called, sniffling. We'd been sitting on a log for a little over two hours, dusk here and gone under the midnight blue sky. Our only light being the moon, our phones dying an hour ago.
The four wheelers pulled up in front of us, Jaime and  Cameron hopped out of the two by four buggy.

"Noel, what the fuck?" Jaime snarled, wrapping a blanket around me as he and Cameron reached us. "I thought you knew these trails?"

"Jesus, you're freezing," Cameron muttered, pulling me away from Noel, and ushering me to the four wheeler. Chance jumped off the seat and tossed a blanket to Isobel who tried to cover Noel. He refused, talking to Jaime in a hushed voice.

"You are both idiots," Jaime snapped, glaring at Noel. "You could have frozen out here. Do you not think?"

"Hey," Isobel said, a warning tone, and pulled Noel back from my oldest brother. "Don't call them idiots, you ass."

"Don't be mad," I slurred, teeth chattering. "And it's not his fault. We were talking and got lost."

"We need to get them back to the house and get them warmed," Cameron called, grabbing my wrist and taking my pulse. He made me get in the back of the rig.

I tried to pull away but he held a firm grasp. "Stop fussing," I chattered, "I'm okay, cold, but okay."

Back at the house, Cameron and Sebastian lead me inside and to the couch. "Maisie, what happened?" Ashton asked, striding forward and collapsing beside me. "Where were you?"

"Let me make you some hot chocolate," my mom said, walking, slowly, to the kitchen. "Where were you?"

"We got lost."

"With Noel?" Ashton asked.

"We went for a walk, got talking, and got lost," I explained for what the seemed like the hundredth time tonight. Harry and Hazel came trotting in, both brushing past Sebastian. Harry licked my hand and Hazel planted herself beside me.

"You're lucky, there's a storm moving in," my mom said, bringing over hot chocolate, the cup trembling like her hand.

"Thank you."

"Sebastian," she said, "give her another blanket, please. She looks frozen."

I rolled my eyes but Sebastian grabbed the throw blanket off the back of the lazy boy chair and wrapped it around my shoulders. "Thank you, Sassy."

He smirked and then it disappeared. "Next time you decide to venture off into the forest, make sure someone else knows where you're headed. Yeah?"

"I told Jaime. He's a little shithead. Where is he anyway?"

"Outside, giving Noel a stern talking to." Evie said, coming inside from the kitchen. She wore her maroon puffer jacket and black hat. "Jesus, we thought you and Noel might have been kidnapped or something."

I would have made a joke 'nah, they'd bring me right back' but that would be untrue. If I get kidnapped by my father or Giovanni, I wouldn't be coming back. The thought made my stomach churn. I had become comfortable with my brothers again ... the thought of being taken away from them made my skin crawl.

***

His fingers wrapped tighter around my throat and I couldn't breath.