Lilah
West
I’m awake to see my last sunrise, but I miss it anyway. Reece tucked me away in the same room I’d been placed in upon my arrival, so I stare at the dark westerly woods. The bright and pungent odor of spruce permeates the air after last night’s downpour, and I inhale forcefully, savoring the scent.
It’s hard to sleep under the same roof as a homicidal maniac. There’s no way out of this predicament…I know that. I just hope Connor doesn’t try some kamikaze stunt.
I had to warn him off several times while making dinner the night before. Connor kept eyeing the guns, taking stock of the knives, and plotting moves to turn the tide. Sensing every option he was considering, I was so distracted I nearly burnt the meat. As if he could hear my thoughts, Connor stroked my hair.
“Lie—” Before he could say any more, Merle stuck a gun in his back.
“Other side of the counter, Garrett.” Merle’s bloodshot eyes made him less attractive than ever. “No fraternizing.”
Connor glared at Merle like he wanted to rip his throat out, and Merle stepped away. Luckily, Connor followed Merle’s instructions. He was only a couple of feet away, on the other side of the island, but it may as well have been miles. It didn’t stop our communication. We just talked with our eyes. His pleaded, mine apologized. I caught Reece watching us, and I had to look away.
Merle’s compulsive coughing did nothing for my nerves. Patrick looked just about as bad as Merle sounded, and I wondered if I’d live long enough to catch the flu, or whatever plague they were coming down with.
“Delilah, you can’t do this.” Mom leaned on the breakfast bar, commanding my attention. “I won’t allow it.”
“I said no frat—” Merle started, then coughed thickly. The phlegmy sound made me want to gag.
“Ask me if I give a shit what you have to say, Merle,” Mom snapped, and she turned back to me. “I didn’t bring you into this world to watch you trade your life for mine.”
“This is my fault, Mom.” Her battered face strengthened my resolve. “I should have told them where I found 9. We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for me. They hurt Dad, Andi, now you…all because of me and my childish secrets. I gotta make it right.”
Our last supper was a sober experience. Even though Connor and Mom had just washed Stephen’s blood off of themselves, they ate. Connor cleared his plate, but Mom ran from the room mid-meal to vomit.
Afterward, they marched us up the stairs and forced each of us into separate bedrooms. Reece followed me into mine and locked the door behind us.
“We can walk out of here. Right now.” Reece was stern and completely serious. “We can go anywhere you want. That much gold—”
“Don’t you get it?” I jabbed an accusatory finger at him. “You could have stopped all of this. This all could have been different if you’d just been honest. You disgust me. If anything happens to Mom or Connor, you’d better hope I’m dead.”
His injured expression repulsed me and I turned my back on him. Big mistake. Reece swung me around by my sore wrist, forcing a frantic kiss on me. I could feel his erection against my belly and, disgusted, I shoved him hard. I expected that to be the end of it, but he came right back at me, tackling me onto the bed. My ribs throbbed, but with gritted teeth, I reached up to gouge his eyes. Then he backhanded me, hard enough to stun me and scramble my brain, leaving me cloudy.
Oh my God, this was really happening. This son of a bitch thinks he can just help himself…to me.
As he struggled with the button on my pants, one clear thought clawed its way out of my gut and into my swirling mind.
I am nobody’s bitch.
I relaxed under him, lifting my hips. The corner of Reece’s mouth turned up in a sly grin. He actually thought I was eager for him to undress me. Too bad for him, I was retrieving the gun from the back of my waistband. He sat up on his knees to tug my jeans off of me, and I pulled the hammer back with a satisfying click. He froze, his eyes glued to the iron barrel pressed against his unzipped fly.
“Get the fuck off of me and get the hell out of here.”
I trained the trembling gun on him until I couldn’t see him anymore. I heard him lock the door behind him and once I heard his retreating footsteps, I collapsed back on the bed, struggling not to hyperventilate and blinking back unwelcome tears.
Now, I wonder if I should have just gone with it. Maybe I should have seduced him. I might have been able to turn him against his father, then clubbed his sorry ass over the head. I breathe, therapeutic and decisive. I don’t regret my decision. I’d rather die with my self-respect intact, thank you very much.
I spend my last hours focused on Connor, allowing the tears to fall. These aren’t sad tears, they’re grateful ones. I’m so thankful to Connor, for seeing past his bitterness to help me find Mom. I’m also grateful that I finally had the chance to tell him about our daughter, and I hope one day he’ll see all the mementos I kept of her. I double over, physically aching as I recall our night in the tent. Knowing that he missed me like I missed him affords me some measure of peace, but knowing he still loves me is absolute torture, and fate’s final cruel joke.
When the door swings open behind me, I hurry to wipe my eyes.
“Rise and shine, beautiful.” It’s Hawkman. His voice has lost its bitter edge. Curious, I glance over my shoulder. He looks frazzled, and the bags under his eyes imply he’s had a sleepless night too. “It’s time.”
He leads me downstairs, past the bloodstained hardwood, and out onto the stone-paved drive. Reece glowers at me from the pilot’s seat as I cross the lawn. I breeze by Ronald, and as I climb into the plane, I notice Patrick and Merle look as pale as vampires, and Mom and Connor’s heads are covered with black hoods.
“What the hell—” I start, but Ronald silences me with a blistering glare. His devious smile is nowhere in sight, and he just seems perilously close to some sort of cataclysmic breakdown.
“If you want them to live, they can’t see where we’re dropping them.”
I feel my pulse spike, but I see his point of view, and I try to sound collected. “How will I know they’re safe?”
“We’ll leave your boyfriend a knife,” Reece snaps in response, and my eyes widen at his blatant hostility. “Now shut up and get in the plane or you’ll be wearing a hood, too.”