ce for Elias to retreat into his digital world while Jax focused on the road. But the sky had ot

white. The wipers were at full speed, barely clearing the sheets

r. His voice was taut, vibrating with the same frequency as the lightning that occasionally crac

grunted, downshifting as the tires hit a patch of standing water. The vehicle hy

y he was huddled against the door, arms wr

mbankment fifty yards ahead, spilling across the narrow road. Jax slammed on the brakes. The heavy

his veins. He peered through the gloom. "And the shoulder is eroding. We can't

e churning blackness. "There's not

lodge," Jax recalled, his tactical memory already mapping the route. "We're goin

r that had long since been abandoned to the redwoods. Jax had to us

, and old cold. There was no electricity, only the rhyth

flashlight, checking corners and windows like he was clearing a compound in Fallujah. When he returned,

t Room. I found some dry wood in the shed attached to the kitc

ws across the high-beamed ceiling. Jax had stripped off his wet suit jacket and t

the flames. He looked drained, the adrenaline of the gal

rved. He walked over, his pre

.. cold," Eli

his duffel bag-which he'd grabbed from the car-and pulled

on the sofa, much closer than the 'two paces' allowed. He

oked even smaller inside it, his pale face peeking out from the dark fa

He began to rub Elias's fingers, his movements slow and

tripped of its usual corporate iron. "A man like you... you could have run. You co

re supposed to be unbreakable. My company. My reputation. When it all fell apart, I re

onto Elias's grey ones. The firelight da

time, the person I'm guarding is worth the e

felt thick, charged with the same electricity that was lighting up the sky outside. Elias didn'

ployee. He was a debtor. He was an alpha who was used to taking what he want

athed, his voice a b

of wind, and a branch shattered a window in the far kitchen. The mom

her than before. He stood up, putting the distance

Ja

the edge of the

u," Elias

nk. He just watched the fire die down and wondered how a man half h