Lucien unlocked the door.

The inside of the cabin was warmer than he expected. A blue rug covered the floor, white and blue flowers sat on the windowsill, and a small wind chime made from dried fruit shells hung near the open window. The bed was neatly made with pale linen, and sunlight spilled across the wood floor in soft rectangles.

Lucien looked around, surprised by how pretty it was.

He turned back to Leon.

"Thank you. I love it."

He assumed that was the surprise. The room had clearly been prepared for him.

Leon tilted his head toward the far corner.

"Look over there."

Lucien followed his gaze.

A padded mat sat beside a low cabinet.

Something small and white lay curled on top of it.

Then the small white thing lifted its head.

Lucien froze.

"Oh my God."

The lamb blinked at him with soft dark eyes.

It had been washed clean, its wool fluffy and pale, and a little ribbon was tied around its neck like it had been delivered as a gift.

Lucien crossed the room slowly and crouched in front of it.

"It's beautiful," he whispered.

He reached out and touched the lamb's head gently. The wool was warm and soft under his fingers, so soft that something in his chest gave a strange little ache.

"Am I supposed to keep it?" he asked, suddenly worried. "Because I don't know how to raise a sheep."

Leon looked down at him.

Lucien was crouched on the floor with wide eyes, messy hair, and both hands hovering carefully near the lamb like he was afraid of hurting it.

The lamb was cute.

Lucien was worse.

"No," Leon said. "Boer will take it back later. I thought you'd like meeting it."

Lucien relaxed visibly, then looked a little disappointed.

Leon noticed.

"There's a bottle on the cabinet," he said. "You can feed him."

Lucien turned and saw the bottle waiting there, still warm when he picked it up.

The lamb noticed too.

It stood up at once and stumbled toward him, nosing eagerly at his hands.

Lucien laughed, startled and delighted.

"You're hungry, huh?"

He settled on the floor and carefully gathered the lamb into his lap. The lamb latched onto the bottle immediately, drinking with such serious focus that Lucien couldn't stop smiling.

"It's so good," Lucien said softly.

Leon leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, watching him.

"Not as good as you."

Lucien looked up sharply.

"What?"

Leon's expression remained innocent, which made it worse.

"You were very well-behaved when I tied you up."

Lucien's face went hot instantly.

"You are not allowed to say that like it's normal."

"You didn't shout. You didn't run. You did everything I told you."

"I thought you were going to murder me with a chainsaw."

"I didn't have a chainsaw."

"That was not the important part."

Leon smiled.

"You slept pretty well that night."

Lucien turned his face away, cheeks burning.

"That's because I was emotionally destroyed."

Leon let him have that and pushed away from the wall.

"I'll let you change. Come out when you're ready for lunch."

"Okay."

After Leon left, Lucien looked down at the lamb and gently poked its forehead.

"You need to be careful around him," he whispered. "Very dangerous man."

The lamb continued drinking with complete trust and no survival instincts at all.

Lucien sighed.

"Honestly, same."

The lamb eventually finished the bottle and fell asleep on the mat, belly full and legs tucked beneath it. Lucien stroked one ear before finally standing to shower and change.

By the time he came back outside, Leon was waiting in the little yard between their cabins.

Lucien hurried toward him.

"Why didn't you go ahead?"

"I thought you might get lost."

"It's one path."

"You still might."

Lucien wanted to argue, but Leon was looking at him now, gaze moving over his outfit with a quiet intensity that made Lucien suddenly aware of his own body.

He had changed into a pink denim overall set he'd found in the original owner's suitcase. Since this was technically a trip, he had wanted to dress up a little and maybe take a few photos. The color made his skin look even paler, and now that Leon was staring, Lucien started second-guessing everything.

He glanced down at himself.

"Does it look bad?"

"No."

Leon answered too fast for it to sound casual.

Then he added, more carefully, "You look good."

Lucien's eyes lifted.

"Really?"

"Really."

The compliment was simple, but it hit exactly where it needed to. Lucien's mouth curved before he could stop it.

Leon watched that smile appear and had to look away first.

"Come on," he said. "Lunch is outside."

The meal had been set up under a long wooden shelter beside the farmhouse. The weather was bright and mild, and the tables were covered with roast chicken, grilled fish, ribs, corn, salads, bread, and pitchers of lemonade.

Everyone else was already seated.

Joey stood near the end of the table with a soda in one hand, deep in storytelling mode.

"I'm telling you, it was a real case," he was saying. "There was this ranch out west that looked totally normal from the outside, right? People would visit because the scenery was amazing, but the owner had murdered his wife and hidden her in the cellar. Then tourists started disappearing too because he'd—"

A crumpled napkin hit him in the head.

Joey stopped and turned, offended.

"What the hell?"

Then he saw Leon.

"Oh. Hey. You made it." Joey smiled with terrible innocence. "I saved you the biggest piece of chicken."

Leon's eyes flicked toward Lucien, whose face had gone slightly pale.

Then back to Joey.

"If you like cellars that much," Leon said, "I can arrange for you to sleep in one."

Joey's mouth shut.

Boer coughed into his fist to hide a laugh.

Lucien sat down beside Leon and tried very hard not to imagine murder ranches, giant spiders, or cellars full of missing tourists.

Leon placed a plate in front of him and added a piece of roast chicken without asking.

Lucien looked at it, then at him.

"I can get my own food."

"I know."

"Then why are you doing it?"

"Because you'll forget to eat if something distracts you."

Lucien opened his mouth to deny that and remembered the lamb.

Fair.

He picked up his fork instead.

Across the table, Joey leaned toward one of the fighters and whispered badly, "He's totally the lamb."

Leon didn't even look up.

"Joey."

Joey sat upright.

Lucien lowered his head and focused very hard on his plate, but he couldn't stop smiling.

The ranch stretched green and open around them, sunlight moving over the fields, the smell of roast chicken and grass warm in the air. For once, nobody was leaving him behind.