Page 95 of Silver Sinner

The days following my rescue pass in a blur. It's hard to tell the difference between the days when some hours pass in a blink and others drag to the point of frustration. Pierce keeps his distance as promised but he's always there, lingering on the sidelines. We want for nothing; food is provided without question, Madeline's therapist comes to see us, and even Moses drops by with some familiar items from home to help Maddie soothe herself through her nightmares.

Seeing so much death at such a young age will leave a mark none of us can remove, but it warms my heart to see Maddie speak so honestly with her therapist about everything that happened. To my surprise, I thought her main focus would have been on Pavel being killed while he was holding her, but her greatest distress seems to be watching me get covered in blood at the altar.

Hearing that from a distance broke my heart and strengthened my resolve to ensure that no matter what I do next, Maddie remains my priority.

The nights drift past in just as much of a shambles as the days. Sometimes I sleep for sixteen hours at a time. Other times, I'm up all night unable to rest because something itches at the back of my mind, like a threat is on the horizon and I haven't seen it yet. How do I protect myself, protect Maddie in a world that now knows about her bloodline and her association to Pierce? That will never be removed.

A week after the carnage at the church, the knot of anxiety in my chest finally calms enough for me to gather my thoughts and approach the one thing I've been avoiding since coming here.

Pierce.

Underneath all my concern for Maddie and the future, my love for him remained simmering quietly. Now it grows in insistence after denying myself all contact with him for a week, while living in a place where every single sight and smell reminds me of him.

Maddie sits in the lounge with her therapist, talking animatedly about her dream of dolphins swimming in a red sea. The last two nights, she's slept without nightmares, which is such a relief to see. The therapist gives me a subtle nod, a sign that Maddie is fine with her and I can leave them to talk. Clutching my lukewarm cup of tea against my chest with one curled hand, I nod back and slip from the room, but keep one ear on the conversation just in case Maddie yells for me to come back.

She doesn't, which is equally comforting and painful.

Unsure where to go, the distant sounds of dishes and cutlery clattering draw me to the kitchen where Pierce works with his back to me. He's dressed in a salmon shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, exposing his thick forearms, which bulge and ripple as he works over a pan. His gray slacks hug that perfect ass of his and my mouth runs dry at seeing the little curl between his brows as he focuses.

I close my eyes for a second, and all I see is him sprinting up the aisle toward me as if fate itself couldn't hold him back. It makes my heart lurch, as does the clatter of the pan a moment later.

"Sorry." Pierce's warm tones reach me and my eyes snap open. "I'll get out of your way."

He's staring at me with those gorgeous, intense eyes of his, but they're filled with something I can't quite decipher. Almost as if he's berating himself for being in the same room as me when I so clearly asked for space after he cut me out of that foul wedding dress. Pierce quickly deposits his sandwich onto a plate and is three long strides from the door before I call out to him.

"Wait…"

He freezes.

I don't know what to say. I don't know where to begin. So much has happened since we last saw one another properly, and everything about him and this fucked up world should have me running for the hills.

But that won't keep Maddie safe.

I can't put the lid back on that truth, and I certainly can't protect her by myself.

"How…" The words catch in the back of my throat as Pierce turns toward me. "How did you survive?"

A flash of pain moves across his face as if struck by a memory, then he slowly walks forward and places his lunch on the single counter that serves as a barrier between us.

"Do you really want to know?"

I nod and approach the counter from my side. This close, the fruity-spicy notes of his cologne rise over the mouthwatering scent of his food.

"Your pendant."

My brows twitch and suddenly I'm stuck by how bare my neck feels without that. "My pendant?"

He nods. "Trik… brought it to me sometime after I saw you. He was spewing bullshit about a lot of stuff and then he…" Pierce hesitates slightly, then continues. "He cut me open and stuffed the pendant inside."

My heart lurches up into my throat and I clutch my mug tighter. "What?"

Pierce slowly moves his hands to his waist and untucks his shirt, then he lifts it halfway up his abs where two new scars rest across his abdomen. One is small and circular where I remember blood pouring from him. The other is long and thin, stretching from his navel to near his hip.

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry, Pierce."

"I survived because I had planted a tracker in that pendant, so that I could always be there to help you. In the end, tracking it is what led Moses to me." He lets the fabric fall and the scars vanish from sight.

His story sounds far too simple given the extent of his injuries, but then my stomach tightens. "You… placed a tracker in the pendant?"