Into the Fading Twilight (Starlight Grove, #2) (128)

'There’s something about the stars here,' I agreed, as I rubbed my cheek against the soft flannel of his shirt. It didn’t matter that it was early June; the nights in Starlight Grove still got cold. Something about that tip-top Northern California mountain air.

Mav absentmindedly tangled his fingers in my hair. 'Maybe because it’s darker here. It means they burn brighter.'

'I like thinking of it that way.' Because there was darkness here. Despite the quaintness of the small town that we called home, with its adorable shops and idyllic beauty, there was always darkness. And we’d both learned the hard way that pitch-black could hide behind the tidy yards and smiling faces.

I shivered, and Maverick pulled me closer, always making sure I was okay. But as he did, I felt his wince. Heard the hiss of air between his teeth.

I instantly sat up. 'What’s wrong?'

Mav grimaced but shook his head. 'Nothing. Come back. You’re my personal heater.'

A scowl twisted my lips as I tugged up his flannel and the tee beneath. Even in just the moonlight, I could see the bruises. Angry, black-and-purple mottling that I knew meant more than one blow. And I didn’t miss the scars below the bruising. Or the tattoo that spanned his chest and some of his rib cage. I’d seen the scars before, knew what they were, but they never ceased to stop me in my tracks.

My fingers itched to ghost over the raised and puckered skin as if they could magically erase all the pain that had come with them. Pain of the mind and the body.

'What happened?' I gritted out.

Mav’s hand covered mine, pulling down his shirts. 'Nothing new. Ben and his goon squad got me outside the party last night.'

My scowl only deepened, both at Ben’s assholery and Maverick’s need to hit up every party graduation week had to offer. Sometimes, it felt like he was determined to swallow up everything life put in front of him. Like if he missed one tiny thing, he’d cease to exist.

I bit the inside of my cheek, feeling the sting of my teeth against the flesh. 'What was it this time?'

Maverick shrugged, shoving up to sitting and leaning against the cab of his truck. 'The usual. Doesn’t want my serial killer blood tainting his town.'

Anger flooded my system, making my face flush so hot it felt like my cheeks were burning. 'You need to tell someone.'

Maverick stared back at me, those dark-hazel eyes going the same inky black as the forest around us. 'Tell them what? That he spoke the truth?'

Anger swirled with worry, creating a riotous stew. 'You’re not your father.'

Pain swept across Mav’s face, digging grooves that spoke of things far beyond his eighteen years. 'He’s in me.'

I moved on instinct, placing my hand on his chest and pressing my palm hard against the spot over his heart. The beats came faster than normal, more erratic. 'You’re nothing like him. You are good. Kind. Caring. He has nothing to do with you.'

I couldn’t imagine all Mav and his four older brothers had been through. He’d only talked about it a handful of times since coming to live with his great-uncle Waylon in Starlight Grove seven years ago, when he’d arrived still recovering from injuries at the hand of his father—a man they’d discovered had killed thirty-six women and nearly one of his sons.

Much of the town hadn’t been pleased about their arrival—my parents included. Others became obsessively fascinated by the Archer brothers, wanting to know every gruesome detail. But me? All I could think about was the emptiness in the eyes of the boy who sat two rows over from me in class.

Maverick’s hand covered mine, pressing it harder against his chest as if he were trying to permanently meld us together. 'You don’t know. Maybe a switch will flip someday, and I’ll want to hurt people, too.'

Pain swept through me. I wanted to burn out every doubt Mav had, shine light on every demon. 'Do you really think that?'

His gaze drifted to the left, toward the forest, the place he’d escape to when he needed to breathe. 'I don’t know what I think.'

'Mav,' I whispered.

Those haunted eyes came back to me.

'I see you. All of you,' I said. 'The good and the bad. The light and the dark.'

A hint of fear edged into his expression, the muscles around his mouth tightening.

'You’re impulsive. Sometimes, downright reckless. But there is nothing in you that wants to hurt others. The only thing you want to do is help: fix a broken tractor on the ranch, help a mama cow give birth, make sure no one you care about is alone when they need you.'

'You sound so sure.' His voice grew rough, as though his throat were strangling each word.

'I am. Because you shine that light on me.' And there was nothing like basking in the glow of Maverick. No other high could touch it.

'Rebel.' He lifted a hand to cup my cheek, the roughened pad of his thumb gliding over the apple of it.

I tried to grab hold of every sensation, burn it into my brain so I’d never lose it. His nickname for me ghosted over my skin, and I tried to hold tight to that, too. The moniker he’d given me from the moment I’d snuck onto the Archers’ ranch, trying to catch a glance of the infamous boys.

'Gotta be a rebel if she’s brave enough to steal away over here. I say we keep her.'

And they had, in a way. He had.