True North (The Bears of Blackrock Book 4) (11 page)

Theron stepped out into the gray day and looked around. There was no sign of anyone at the windows of the nearby homes. There was just a hint of light peeking around the doors of Pearl’s shed, betraying the greenhouse within. Theron stopped, glancing back toward the fence on the eastern side of The Extension.

“Has anyone been down to see the damage? Anyone hook your wires back up?”

Darrell shook his head. “Do I look like I’ve been fit to go anywhere today? I’ve no fucking clue.”

No, neither of them were in a state to do much of anything. “But the greenhouse lights are – which generator did they take?”

Darrell groaned as he stepped off Pearl’s front steps. “The western side’s. We’re relocating this one once I get power back up over here -”

“You mean they took the generator to the school?”

Buniq looked up and Theron and nodded.

Darrell stopped and stared at him, a sad look of almost pity on his face. Darrell’s expression was that of a man who’d seen far worse than the simple cruelties of hunger and cold. Theron was new to this misery, and every crime felt like a new brand on his skin, fueling a constant rage that burned just beneath the surface.

Neither said another word as Darrell let Buniq take his hand and lead him down the way toward home.

Theron watched them go, fuming.

Theron was sure the officers had done this on purpose. They might not know that the Eastern side had power by other means, but they sure as hell knew the school would house children for hours, every day. These Holden children would fair the cold just fine – they were shifters and the officers knew that well.

And Theron was sure they also knew Sinead was not. Denying her warmth was personal, denying her warmth would be a death sentence.

Theron headed toward the school, rattled now in a new and urgent way.

CHAPTER TEN

SINEAD

The school doors were shut tight and the windows dark. Only seemed fitting given the cold creeping in. Sinead sat at her small desk, wrapped in as many coats as the Holdens could spare - which wasn’t too many. None of the Holdens wore coats.

School had been rough that afternoon. She’d snapped at Sivoy and zoned out during Andrew’s attempts to read Huck Finn. Her head simply wasn’t in it. Her head was a quarter mile down the way, fretting over Theron.

She didn’t want anyone to know that, but Sinead caught Pearl giving her looks that morning – knowing, gentle looks that spoke volumes. Darrell might’ve made jokes, but there was truth to Pearl’s expression.

Sinead stared at the pages of her worn book and smiled at the familiar words. She’d reached her favorite part.

“You must allow me to tell you how 
ardently
 I admire and love you.”

Sinead exhaled. Her choice of reading material was only making her want to go check on him more. She couldn’t have everyone seeing her fawn over the outsider – the new comer. What would they think?

She turned her attention back to her book. Another hour and she could go check on him. That wouldn’t look so bad, would it?

Yet, before she could delve into her favorite scene, the door to the schoolhouse opened, letting in a quick blast of frigid air from outside.

Despite the chill, Sinead didn’t scold her company. She launched up from her chair, knocking her mug of tea sideways. “Oh, hey – I – Are you – Should you be on your foot?”

Sinead closed her eyes for a second in embarrassment.

Theron stood just inside the steps, stomping his feet to clear whatever snow he might’ve trekked. Like all the shifters on the extension, he clearly didn’t feel the cold outside, even as the wind whipped up. He was in nothing more than jeans and a flannel button down shirt, one she recognized as Darrell’s. She set down her book, almost afraid to make eye contact as her breath formed a wisp of vapor just under the nose. She couldn’t help but enjoy the notion that he’d arrived at just that moment in her book.

“You walked in at just the part when Mr. Darcy rudely declares his love for Lizzy.”

What the hell, Shin? Why would you just up and tell him that? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

There were columns of gray light cast across the tired linoleum floor, and the chalkboard looked near black in the dim space. Still, his dark eyes lit up the space as he moved toward the desk. She kept her back to the window, letting the light filter in from outside.

Theron stopped dead as he closed in, looking at her with a strange expression. She glanced down at herself, bundled there like a baby in some fur lined papoose.

Theron smile, but it didn’t seem the least bit jovial. “That’s the best part, I take it?” He said.

She raised an eyebrow. “You haven’t read it?”

She couldn’t decide whether or not to be disappointed.

Theron let the corner of his mouth creep up and shrugged. “No, I haven’t.”

She gave a patient exhale. “That’s alright. I didn’t read it until I came up north, either. If you like you can borrow it. I’ve read it more times than I can count.”

Theron crossed the room toward her. She didn’t move. She wanted to be welcoming, but she was afraid. Theron had shown two sides to his character, one that felt like being wrapped in a warm blanket, and the other than felt like hugging a cactus. She wasn’t sure which one she’d find if she reached out.

Theron stopped at the corner of the desk, standing over her a moment. “You should come back with me. We have power on the Eastern side. I’m sure Pearl or someone will have space -”

His expression made sense now. Concern. He was concerned for her.

Sinead shook her head, fighting to hide a smile. “I know that. It’s fine. I’m due over at Greg and Pam’s house this evening if they can’t get the generator over her. I just wanted to sit for a while and – I don’t know – be alone.”

She wanted to keep up appearances. Waiting with bated breath for school to finish so she could run and fawn over Theron wouldn’t look good. She couldn’t be so brazen. She didn’t need Pearl looking at her that way again.

And above all else, she didn’t need Theron reading into it. He might turn into a cactus again.

“Oh. I’m sorry. Do you want me to go? I can leave you -”

“No! No,” she said and stifled.

Damn it, Shin. Can you at least try to be cool?

She swallowed. She was sure by now the damage was done. He knew damn well she liked him. He must.

And not just liked him. She’d nearly fallen apart when he collapsed out by the boundary, blood seeping through his pristine flannel shirt. She’d thought he was dying. She’d felt more lost in that moment than in any moment since Davenport and his friends locked her away there, unable to leave or speak to her family again.

Sinead let him see her smile now. “I can’t think of anyone whose company I’d like more, actually.”

Theron’s face lit up and he leaned his hip onto the corner of her rickety desk. It creaked under his weight. “If you like, I could rudely declare how ardently I admire you.”

She feigned a glare. “I thought you said you haven’t read it.”

Theron smiled. “I watched the mini-series.”

Sinead felt her cheeks burning. The thought of Theron Talbot curled up on some couch watching the seven or so hours of Colin Firth’s Mr. Darcy vehicle tickled her. It seemed watching the mini-series was almost more endearing than the fleeting hope he knew her favorite book.

They sat there for a long moment, neither speaking as Sinead fought for things to draw her eye. Anything to stop her staring.

Theron towered over her now, closer than he’d been before, and his shoulder length hair was tussled by the wind outside, giving it a rough, almost wild look. He looked like some hunter in from the cold, and with his arms crossed over his chest, his forearms seemed the glide from beneath his rolled up shirt sleeves.

Sinead shook her head, setting her book down on the desk. “Well, I suppose I could head back your way now if you like.”

Sinead stood up from the desk, keeping her coats tight around her. Theron stepped forward to help, pulling the massive hood up over her head. His hand grazed her cheek and she gasped.

Theron froze there with his fingers just inches from her face. Before he could react, Sinead grabbed his hand and pressed the back of his knuckles to her cheek.

“My god, you’re so warm,” she said, unable to hide the startled pleasure the sensation gave her.

He stifled for an instant, then opened his palm to her cheek. “It’s the shifter blood. We’re all -”

“I know,” she said, closing her eyes to sink into the sensation. Two years she’d been on the extension with shifters, but never once had any of them touched her like this. She’d held Buniq’s hand, as well as some of the other children’s, and even taken a seat after Thomas Holden had been sitting in it before her – she knew they ran hot. Still, Theron’s touch stirred so many longing notions. It wasn’t just the heat of his hand, but the gentleness of it – the tenderness. No one had touched her like that in years.

She hadn’t wanted anyone to.

Sinead held her breath, letting one thought in particular linger in her mind.

What she wouldn’t give to sleep next to this man and know his warmth against the cold.

Sinead startled, realizing she’d been relishing in the touch of his hand for a long moment.

I guess it’s true what they say about the Arctic turning people mad, she thought.

“You ready to head out, or would you rather just rub my hand on your face for a while longer?”

Sinead closed her eyes. The snark of the comment startled her. He hadn’t taken that tone for days.

Sinead opened her eyes and shook her head. “Sorry,” she said. “I almost forgot what a dick you could be.”

Yet Theron didn’t take his hand away. He moved it along the length of her jaw, letting his fingers get lost in her hair. The heat of his touch sent shivers down the nape of her neck and along her spine. Good lord, he couldn’t possibly know what he did to her, could he?

“If you make some asshole comment right now, I swear to god -”

“Would it kill you to brush your hair now and again?”

She stifled a laugh, unable to contain it. She shot him a feigned angry glare, only to find a smile on his face, and that smile was a thousand miles from feigned.

It was happening again. The way it felt when he’d stared at her just a little too long. When he’d sat across from her in silence, simply watching her lost in her own thoughts. She’d never felt more vulnerable to a person’s gaze. Nor so safe in it.

Being seen by Theron felt right. Being seen by Theron felt safe.

Theron leaned toward her just as the schoolhouse shuddered under their feet. A second later, the lights overhead flickered to life, startling them apart. Sinead felt the cold of the air sink right bank into her skin, tearing away all memory of Theron’s warmth.

Sinead sighed. “Thank goodness. I really wasn’t looking forward to putting Greg and Pamela out tonight.”

Theron glanced back at the door, then turned back to watch her as Sinead collected her ratty copy of Pride and Prejudice and headed toward the back of the schoolhouse.

“I’m sure it wouldn’t be putting them out,” he said, following her. His tone betrayed his own uncertainty on that front. Sure she’d taught Gregory and Pam’s sons, but that didn’t mean she felt comfortable sleeping on their couch. Sinead cracked the door to the small back room where she slept and stooped to the small space heater in the corner.

A moment later, the coils were humming and turning orange. Her space would be warm soon enough.

Warm, but not cozy.

There was nothing to stop the drafts of that old, beaten building. Nothing at all.

“Is this where you sleep?”

Sinead startled at the tone. It sounded almost accusatory. She turned on him. “Yes? Do you have something against -?”

“Why aren’t you in one of the houses?”

Sinead shook her head. “What do you mean? The houses were for families. I don’t have -”

“You should be in a house.”

Sinead shook her head. Theron was a stranger there, and a stranger to the Holdens despite being their blood. He’d grown up in a different world, even if it was another reservation. His arrival and immediately judgment of how things were would have been seen as an insult to anyone who heard him. Still, she appreciated his sudden surge of loyalty and displeasure on her behalf.

“They weren’t expecting me?” She said, trying to give her words a jovial tone. “And I didn’t want to – I didn’t feel comfortable taking space from the families, here.”

There were barely enough homes on the Extension for the Holden families, and though they’d grown to welcome her over the years, the tension that existed on the Extension left everyone on edge.

An on edge shifter wasn’t exactly the most comforting house guest.

Sinead turned toward her small bunk – a twin size bed against the far wall, a pile of quilts and blankets atop it, and a tiny bedside table with a solar lamp. She didn’t have many clothes, nor many possessions, so the space was more than appropriate.

The smaller the space, the easier to heat – in theory.

That didn’t stop her nearly getting frostbite the winter before when one of the sideboards on the outside came loose during a wind storm, leaving her exposed to arctic wind while trying to sleep beneath a mountain of blankets.

“Will that heater keep you warm enough?”

Sinead startled, turning to meet Theron’s concerned gaze. “Yes. It should be fine. It’s only October.”

“And in a month or two?”

Sinead didn’t speak. She’d toughed it out the previous winter; she’d managed. She could do it again.

Her heart ached for a moment, remembering the loneliness of being the only one on the Extension to know cold. None of the Holden families could relate. They did their best, letting her sleep on their couches or floors when it got really bad, but shifters seemed oblivious to it, even as their breath was forming clouds before them.