Inhabited

Chapter 13

I lean against the trunk, closing my eyes, trying to ignore all the sounds around me. I can hear people crying. Actual people. Women, kids, and even some men. It's grating in my ears, twisting my nerves.

"Fawn?" Sully's worried tone makes my eyes flutter open and I turn to him warily. "Are you sure you're alright?"

I smile tightly at him. "You aren't my babysitter, Sully. I'm a grown ass woman who can take care of myself."

He rolls his eyes, his shoulders tensing as he sits next to me. "I'm your boyfriend. There's a difference. I care about you and your safety."

I snort. "So much for that." I mutter, but the way his body straightens at my words, I know he heard them.

"What does that even mean?"

Reaching up, I press my fingers to the tender part of the back of my skull, staring forward. "Nothing."

"Seriously, Fawn? We were all on that plane-"

"You weren't sitting next to me."

"Grayson—"

My eyes snap to him and his words fall away. "You still could've sat by me, but you chose his feelings over me."

"He's my best friend and now look at him because he found out—"

"He'll get over it eventually-"

"Maybe for you." Sully snaps, anger rising in his tone. "He'll get over it with you, because you're his sister. He can't just walk away from you. But he can me—"

"Then why are you with me?"

He stops, mouth partly open, eyebrows arched up high on his forehead. After a moment, he collects himself, blinking rapidly. "Excuse me?"

"Why. Are. You. With. Me." I repeat slowly, enunciating every word so he doesn't miss any of it. "You've always cared so much about what Grayson will say or do when he found out about us. You don't want to lose him. But you knew it could possibly happen when he found out about us. That's why we decided to keep it a secret, for your benefit. So you wouldn't lose your friend."

"Best friend." He corrects meekly and his shoulders slump before he shakes his head. "You know, it doesn't matter and you're right. You're a grown ass woman, take care of yourself and stop making Nate and Maisie run to your aide."

He climbs back to his feet and I reach up, but my fingers just graze his pants before I yank it away. The movement goes missed by him as he storms off as my hands drops into my lap, my stomach twisting as he leaves me. We'll make up later, we have to. It's just... stressful right now. Right? That's all this is.

But I don't feel sorry for what I said. I can't. Because I'm not wrong. His friendship with Grayson has always come first. I wanted to be okay with it for so long, but it's not easy being put second to your brother with the same guy.

Yew. That sounds weird.

"Hey." A familiar voice announces, plopping down next to me and holds out a beef jerky stick. "Thought you could use this."

I snatch the meat and tear into it instantly, choking when I turn my eyes to him. Not a brother, not Sully. The guy who had helped me breathe.

He smacks my back, dislodging the bit of beef jerky and chuckles, shaking his head. "Do you have a death wish or something?"

His face is covered in soot, dark hair sprinkled with ash. His clothes are torn and a few cuts line flesh I can see, including his face.

"Why are you so chipper?" I finally ask after I swallow.

"Chipper?" He asks confused, his eyebrows drawing together and then realization dawns and he shakes his head. "No. You've got it wrong. I'm just... relieved."

"Relieved?" I echo, cocking an eyebrow in question.

He shrugs and nods. "We're alive." He says softly, leaning closer to me so I can hear him still. "Not everyone is."

"Not everyone is." I echo softly.

"You want this?" He asks, holding up a dark object.

"My camera!" I gasp and reach for it with my free hand. "How did you get that?"

"I saw you clinging to it." He holds it out. "What? No thank you kiss?" He half teases and I catch a glint in his mossy green eyes.

I draw my hand back. "I have a boyfriend."

He lets out a slow sigh and shoves my camera at me. "Yeah, I know. I was just teasing. You going to take pictures of the wreck before the fire dies down?"

I wrinkle my nose. "My brother won't let me go near there."

"You do everything your brother says?"

I shrug and take another bite of the beef jerky stick, looking down at my camera. "Probably for the best I'm not around all that smoke anyway."

He says nothing for a moment and then snatches my wrist, tugging me to my feet. I obey without question as he turns me to face the billowing smoke that is just visible through the trees.

"What kind of photographer do you want to be?"

"Huh?" I shake my head. "Wildlife. The wilderness, I guess. Anything out there."

"Well, then you need to figure out how to get over there." He looks down at me, those green eyes shining again. "This is the wild, Fawn. That is the wild, what happened. If you don't capture that, you won't be able to capture anything."

I step to the side, putting distance between us as my heart skips a few beats. Sully wouldn't want me to risk it. Nate will get upset if I risk it. Neither of them would be thrilled. Both have always said pictures aren't always worth it if it means risking my life.

I rub my chest, feeling a small tingling flame burning still.

"I'll go with you." He says softly in my ear. "That fire won't last forever, Fawn. You don't get that wreckage now, you won't get to later. There is no changing your mind."

I glance up at him again and draw in a sharp breath at how close he is to me. I take another step to the side, but turn my eyes to the fire and then look around. Nobody is paying attention to us. Not even Sully as he's bent over someone, helping them in their moment of need. The guy isn't wrong – whatever his name is. It's now or never.

That's the point of being a wildlife photographer isn't it? I tried once to be a wedding photographer. You could take as long as you wanted, as many shots again and again. You could do the same position for three hours if you so chose to. This, however, wasn't like that. The wildlife meant movement. It was always going. You either snapped the shot now or never.

I look back up at him, his eyebrows furrowed in question. "Okay." I finally agree. "Just don't – don't let me have an attack."

He nods. "I promise I'll do my best."

I bite my lip and glance over my shoulder at Sully again. Still, he isn't paying me a lick of attention. He has a job to do. Yeah, well so do I.

Turning my attention back to the guy, I pop what remains of my beef jerky into my mouth and chew until I swallow, falling into step with him.

"What's your name anyway?" I ask him curiously.

"Lucifer." He says mildly.

I snort. "Like from Hell?"

He laughs. "Like from Hell."