Page 137 of Brutal

---

“They never left.”

“What does that mean?”

I squeeze my eyes shut, calculate through the noise. “It means hiding you isn’t enough.”

“And your rules?” she asks.

“They still apply.”

“And you?”

I turn back to her. Close again. So close I could grab her and pin her to the foyer wall, right next to the panel.

“We’re going out.”

“Now? You said?—”

“I know damned well what I said, Delaney. You’ll be going with me. The rules still apply. You won’t be alone.”

“Good,” she says.

And just like that, she steps into it again.

Not away.

Never away.

36

DELANEY

After Samson goes upstairs and then returns fully dressed with a leather jacket, he hands me a leather duster. “It’ll be brisk.”

I take it as we leave and get into his car.

We end up at the marina.

The wind hits first, and then the smell—salt, sea creatures, old wood. The scent settles into my lungs before I can stop it.

Samson moves like he belongs here. Not at the safehouse…or safe castle, whatever it is. Not in rooms with walls and locks and rules.

Here.

Out in the open.

His body changes as we walk. His stride lengthens. His shoulders tighten. Every movement becomes more cautious. Like he’s preparing for something.

Something dangerous.

It shouldn’t do anything to me.

It does.

I fall into step beside him. “You’ve been here since that night,” I say.

“Yes.”

“How many times?”

---