When she walked out the door, Graham was standing in the shadow of the house, his arms folded across his chest. If she hadn't been looking for him, she probably wouldn't have seen him. He had some crazy skill that allowed him to blend in with his surroundings—no matter what those were.

He looked up when she closed the door, buts he couldn't make out his expression. She must look like a bedraggled street urchin. Her hair was matted and falling loose, and the too big clothes hung on her body like flapping sails. They were, however, warm and fairly comfortable, and she was grateful to be dry.

"You ready?" His voice was low and reserved.

There was a certain kind of palpable silence that had settled between them. It was like a thick blanket that threatened to suffocate her. There were certain kinds of quiet that felt comfortable and natural, where you knew someone so well that words weren't necessary, but this wasn't that sort.

Cassandra nodded, averting her gaze from his face. At the moment, she wanted nothing more than to crawl in a hole and get away from him. If only for a little while, that would give her peace to collect her thoughts, which had been rather betraying of late.

"I have these for you." His voice came from startlingly near, and she gasped inadvertently, looking up quickly.

He was directly in front of her, looking down at her expectantly. It took her an embarrassingly long moment to realize he was holding something out to her. She started suddenly and looked at what he was offering.

It was a pair of shoes. They were obviously oversized and quite manly, but they would protect her feet from the rough ground. She looked up at him, unsure what to say.

Bending, she slid her feet into them. To her confusion, however, they had buckles instead of laces, odd buckles. Frowning, she struggled with them for half a second before Graham's hands came into view. She pulled back as he effortlessly did up the buckles, and she found that, while her feet were still too small, they were fitted over her calf, so they wouldn't easily come off.

She straightened and looked down at them curiously. Her feet looked so enormous. Looking up, she found Graham looking at her. His eyes were narrowed slightly as though he was studying her. She swallowed, suddenly feeling the intense return of the thick awkwardness that had surrounded them.

Graham opened his mouth, and in her peripheral vision, she saw his hand move as though to take her arm or hand. For a moment, she thought he might do something to ease the atmosphere. She returned his gaze, catching her breath at the wild storminess of his eyes.

"Let's go." He said abruptly.

He walked past her without another word. He didn't even turn back to make sure she was following. For a moment, she considered staying here. The loneliness would be far more comforting than watching his broad back and walking for miles on end.

Logic soon overtook her, however. She had no idea where she was and no clue how to get back to Fergus Manor. He was her only way out of here, and there was nothing she could do but scurry after him like a chick returning to its mother.

...........................

Dusk was well upon them when the silhouette of large building appeared. Cassandra was just beginning to think she couldn't go one up one more rolling hill when she looked up and found herself staring at the colonial face of an old house. She looked at Graham, wondering if this place was their destination, but his broad back told her nothing.

Not for the first time, he veered suddenly to the left, and she reluctantly followed. A house of that size would mean warm food and fires and a soft bed. She was exhausted, and though she wouldn't admit it, her legs were shaking, and breathing was becoming a bit of a task.

They hadn't spoken to each other since they'd started walking. She felt the tension between them as though it were a bodily force, and it was hard to shake off the ominous feeling that everything had changed. She couldn't look at Graham without remembering. . .everything they'd undergone that afternoon.

She blushed profusely. It wasn't her fault the image of his shirtless torso kept flashing through her mind! It wasn't as though she had many to compare it to, but it had been well-muscled and tanned and. . .there she went again! Thinking about it!

Graham suddenly took hold of her hand. There was no warning, no sign. His fingers simply wrapped around hers and squeezed gently. It was as though he were trying to tell her something. She looked up at him expectantly, but he was focused on something in front of them.

Pushing her in front of him, he guided her along a tall hedge. She could tell her was listened intently to every sound and movement of the night. His observance was giving her the chills, and nervous sweat began to bead on her forehead.

And then, suddenly, she looked up and they were at a door. The door to the manor house, she realized. Pushing her into the shadows, Graham unlocked the door. She didn't see where he got the key, but suddenly, the door was open, and he was pulling her inside.

The light had been dim at best outside, but here, it was pitch black. She stumbled, reaching out in front of her to make sure she wasn't going to run into anything. Strangely enough, there was no musty scent in the air. The house was still and quiet. It was obvious no one was living here, but someone was looking after it.

"Follow me." Graham's voice was right in her ear, and she jumped. Without giving her a chance to question what they were doing here, he took her hand and pulled her forward.

Biting her lip, Cassandra could only hope he knew where he was taking her. She was utterly useless in the dark, especially since her surroundings were so unfamiliar. Graham, however, seemed to know exactly where he was going. Without missing a single step, he led her up a flight of stairs, cautiously opened a door at the top of them, and guided her easily into an open space that she assumed was some kind of living room.

The room was partially lit by dim light from the outdoors. The light was coming through an open door on one side of it, so it wasn't the least enlightening, but at least it was something.

"You can get comfortable." Graham's voice was less clipped, but he making her feel comfortable seemed to be the last thing on his mind.

"Where are we?" Cassandra's voice was small in her own ears.

"Somewhere safe." Was his only response.

"But what will the owners say if they come back to find us here?" She frowned slightly at the thought.

"Nothing, they're already here." He said.

"But where? Why would they keep the house so dark?" Confusion was pounding through her sluggish brain.

"Let's just say, it won't stay so dark." There was a certain. . .fondness in Graham's voice. "If I had given notice, it wouldn't be so dark, but no one was expecting me."

"This place is. . .yours?" Cassandra found it hard to believe. "You have your own estate?"

"Is that so surprising?" Graham said wryly. She wished she could see his face. She wanted to study him again. "We'll be moving again soon, though, so the old place will go back to darkness."

"Are you going to tell me what's going on, yet?" She heard herself say, the exhaustion evident in her voice.

There was a long moment of silence before he spoke. "No, after tonight, it won't involve you anymore. I'll be taking you back to Fergus Manor in the morning, and that will be the end of it. I won't trouble you any longer." His voice was low, and it was hard to tell where it was coming from in the gloom.

"That's it?" Her voice was stronger this time. "You're just going to run off like some coward?" She knew the words were too harsh before they left her mouth, but she couldn't seem to control the feelings of anger and—was it disappointment?—running through her.

"Yes." He didn't even try for an excuse.

"Why? Why can't you tell me?" She demanded. It was likely her exhaustion speaking, but she couldn't find it within herself to care.

"Because." His voice was sharp. "Look, Cassandra, none of this involves you, so why don't you just go to sleep? In the morning, this will be nothing more than some terrible nightmare that you never want to think about."

"You think so little of me, don't you?" Cassandra snapped. "You told me once that I didn't know you; well, that's mutual!'

"Are you sure?" His voice was suddenly quiet and careful, and it knocked all the fight out of her immediately. "I don't want to fight with you. Now isn't the time, and I'd really rather spend our last evening in some kind of peace. You'll learn to get over all this in time. People have lived through worse." She heard him turn as if he were about to leave.

"You really don't know a thing about saying 'sorry', do you?" Cassandra knew she wasn't thinking, but she didn't care. "You don't even know what doing all this has cost me, and you really don't care. You're worse than a wild animal," her voice was bitter. "At least they would have killed me quickly instead of dragging me out. With a wolf, I could understand why there was no explanation for taking my life, but you're a man, and maybe I'm silly, but I would expect more from you."

"You're right. You are silly." Graham's voice was still quiet, and the words slammed into her gut like a well-aimed punch. She felt like a frivolous idiot, worthless and inconvenient.

Without another word, she spun on her heal and moved toward the dimming light. Tears were beginning to pool in her eyes, and she didn't want to cry in front of him, even if he couldn't see her.

"I'll find us something to eat." Graham said easily as if that would solve everything.

Ignoring him, Cassandra walked into the adjoining room. It was a study of some sort. She could barely make out the shape of a desk and avoided impaling her hip bone on the corner of it as she passed by. She did run a finger along its length and found it spotlessly clean.

The light was coming from a window on the far wall that had been covered with a curtain, but the curtain rod had broken, baring part of the window. Whoever took care of the house must not have noticed the weakening rod on their last visit.

Reaching out to touch the wall near the window, Cassandra's hand touched thick material. There was a wall of windows. Biting her lip, she wondered if Graham would care that she was in here, but memory of their earlier conversation steeled her heart, and she told herself she didn't care what he wanted.

Lifting a hand, she parted the thick curtains and looked out. It was too dark to see anything but rough shapes and shadows. Pushing the heavy material further away, she pressed her forehead to the cool glass and tried to rearrange her thoughts.

She could faintly hear Graham moving around in the background. Her brain was bombarded with so many questions and emotions, she felt herself becoming almost completely overwhelmed. Ridiculously crushing all of it, even her tears at his opinion of her, was her acute awareness that she was going to spend the night in a house alone with a man who had helped her undress a few hours earlier.

"Cassandra," there was some hesitancy in Graham's voice. She didn't turn to look at him. She wished desperately that she'd never met him, but her thoughts steadily betrayed her on that score, and she suddenly knew the fullness of that falsehood. "I'm going to get some firewood to start a fire. I won't be gone long."

She finally turned to look at him. His face was a mixture of golden light and black shadows cast by a candle in his hand. He was watching her intently, and her heartbeat pounded erratically in her chest.

She nodded dumbly, glancing over her shoulder out the window.A blue-tinged light suddenly flared in the dark, dying in almost the same instant. Cassandra frowned softly, turning to face the window fully, brow furrowed in perplexity.

"Cassandra?" Graham's voice echoed in the back of her mind. "What's going on?"

"It's nothing." She mumbled, more to herself than to him, her frown deepening.

Time stopped. The light flashed again. Then, something rammed into her bodily from behind, knocking her to the ground. She gasped for air beneath a heavy weight, too stunned to fight back.

There was a crashing noise, and a scream escaped her lips as bits of glassed rained down on what parts of her skin was exposed. Then the roaring died, and silence filled the room.

For a moment, she thought it might have come to an end. Eerie quiet reigned for half a second, and then another crash split the calm. And another. And another. Until the world seemed to be nothing more than barking cracks and shattering glass.

The weight shifted to cover her more thoroughly. "Are you all right?" A voice said into her ear, and she realized Graham was on top of her.

She felt herself nod, only aware of the fact that she was terrified. Dimly, in the back of her suddenly dull mind, she was aware that it had been bullets that broke the windows. Someone was shooting at them.

Graham's arm encircled her, pulling her to a crouching position. "Stay low." He hissed in her ear. She only nodded in response, too confused and frightened for anything more.

He helped her get her feet under her, and keeping as low as possible, they fled the room. His hand rested on the small of her back, guiding her she knew not where. At the moment, she couldn't find it within herself to care, either. As long as he was by her side, she knew, deep down inside, that she was safe, because he would protect her.

He pulled her into somewhere dark. It was a long moment before she realized it was a cupboard. Her breath was escaping her lips in wheezing gasps.

Once he'd settled her on the floor, Graham let go of her and moved as if to leave. At the realization, she grabbed him frantically.

"Cassandra," his voice was soft and gentle, and his hands closed over hers. "I have to go."

She shook her head wildly. "Don't leave me alone, please." Terror filled her at the thought.

In the dark, she could hear him shifting position. Then, she found herself cradled in his arms. She could hear and feel the rhythmical beating of his heart, and at the sound, her own calmed to a more normal pace.

"I'll come back for you." There was no jesting in his tone. "I will keep you safe. They will come, and I can't just sit here and wait for them. That would only endanger you. Besides, it's not in me to be the prey. Wait for me."

"You'll come back?" She didn't care that she was clutching him like her life depended on it.

"I'll always come back for you." His thumb rubbed a circle on the skin of her neck.

She didn't try to stop him as he moved this time.

"Graham," it was the first time she'd intentionally called him by his given name. "When all this is over and you come back for me, you tell me what's going on. I deserve to know." There was no room for argument in her voice.

He paused for a moment, not looking at her. His hand still on the door, he glanced back, and in the darkness, she caught his eye. Then he was gone, and she was alone in the dark.

Pressing her body into one of the corners , she wrapped her arms around her legs and leaned her chin on her knees. Drawing a deep breath, she gritted her teeth and tightened her hold, but she couldn't ward off the terrible, crawling feeling going up and down her spine. The feeling that she wasn't alone and not in a good way.

By now, she knew Graham was long gone, and there was a strange loneliness surrounding her, a cold isolation that froze her to her marrow. If something were to happen, Graham would have no idea.

There was a loud crack outside, and she jumped, biting down hard on her lip without realizing it. A man's scream followed the sound, and then there were a chorus of shouts. The yelling reached a a crescendo, and then everything went silent.

It couldn't have been too long since Graham had left her, but the minutes seemed to stretch out like hopeless eternities. The only sound was her own breathing and the chaotic beat of her heart. And then she heard the footsteps.

It was only a light tapping at first, and she tried to dismiss it. The sound grew louder, however, and try as she might, she couldn't will herself to ignore it. Perhaps Graham was coming back for her now.

She tried to comfort herself, tried to breathe. All went quiet for a moment, and she exhaled shakily. Everything was fine. She was going to be fine.

A heavy crash startled her, and she clapped her hands over her mouth to keep herself from screaming. It had been so close.

Something shattered on the floor of the room right above her, but that was the least of her concerns. From what sounded like the adjoining room, came the thump scrape of footsteps drawing steadily nearer. They stopped at the door of the room she was in as though whoever was out there was hesitating, wondering if this room was worth it.

Every muscle in Cassandra's body was tensed, and she couldn't breathe. The drumming of her heart almost drowned out the clump of footsteps, but the following scrape grated on her ears. Whoever it was was in the room.

She bit down on her lip so hard she tasted blood. Surely, there would be no reason for him to look in the cupboard. Graham wouldn't have put her somewhere where she was at risk. She was safe.

The door was opened so roughly it was almost torn off its hinges. Unable to stop herself, Cassandra screamed, terror gripping her. A man leered down at her, cruelty in his eyes.

"Found you." He grinned, and he reached for her.

Cassandra broke out of her paralyzed state and clawed at him as his hand closed over her wrist. She kicked and fought, but he seemed impervious to her struggles. He cursed at her, slowly, without giving her the impression that she'd really unconvinced him, and he struck her. It was a cold, wicked blow that put a swift end to her fighting as stars danced in front of her eyes.

There was nothing kind in his eyes as he pulled her toward the opening. The eerie lamplight dancing on his face added cruel sharpness to his facial structure. Not only that, he had been looking for her specifically. It wasn't a nice thought. How could he have known she was there?

He ran a fingernail down the side of her face. "Well, well, well, so this is what Peril has been hiding. I'm going to enjoy this."

Wishing she had a knife, Cassandra struck him full in the face. Launching herself unsteadily to her feet, she threw herself toward the open door. Unbidden a scream rose to her lips, and the scream was a name.

"Graham!!"

——————————

Gosh, I totally missed getting this up in time! To be fair, however, Wednesday was my birthday, and there were a few unaccounted for surprises. . .thank you, my wonderful family! And better late than never, right? I know, I know, it'd be even better on time, too 😝.

So what will happen next? Will Graham come back for her? Is Graham even alive? Will this be the end? Dear me, this new guy is a little messed up, and I mean that in the worst possible way! He's giving me the creeps. . .probably, because I know what happens next. 'What?' you ask. . .I'll never tell mwahahaha 😈.

I hope to get another update up this week, but with the holidays drawing near, I'm not sure how much time I'll have to write. We'll see, I suppose. Anything for you, my amazing readers!!! Until then, happy reading!!