Chapter 54 #2
I freeze. The panic in her voice cuts through the red haze and murderous thoughts. I blink rapidly as the anger recedes. Braum and I stare each other down, his gaze wary as he watches as the tension leaks from my body and rationality begins to return.
There’s nothing about these two that I like, but I can’t kill them. They’re not worth giving up my humanity for. Besides, now that I think about it, I could be wrong about their feelings for Everly.
I saw how they were with Everly, back while we were all tangled up in each other’s limbs. They worshipped her. The reverent gleam in their eyes as they worked to make her fall apart… It was a side of them I’ve never seen before. A softer one.
Maybe they do love her.
All of this, from Braum’s failed escape plan to Rowan’s desperation to keep her here with them, it all stems from their need for her.
A need I know only too well. Everly is our gravity, and without her we’re set adrift into a dark life.
Our love is a mixture of desperation and devotion to possess the girl that has tethered us to reality and who has accepted our flaws, as ugly and unpredictable as they may be.
If that’s the case, and this is their way of loving Everly, then there’s no need to step between them. She deserves all the love in the world. If that means I have to share her… fine. As long as she’s happy, I’ll allow it. Even if it’s with my two enemies.
My head swivels slowly until I’m looking down at Everly.
Her hair is a frizzy mess, her complexion is ashen beneath her pretty brown skin, and she’s shivering violently, but it’s her eyes that I latch onto and get lost in.
In those beautiful hazel eyes, I see her plea for me to come back to her.
She doesn’t want the killer who came barreling into this room.
Everly wants the man I promised her I’d try to be.
A blend of both old and new versions of who I was and what I’ve become while at Serenity Falls.
But beneath that plea, there’s relief. It’s like I’m her reason to live with how her eyes twinkle with such soul-shearing love.
It’s her love that breaks me free of the rest of the lingering madness I battle with.
My blood cools and my heart slows to a steady beat as I twist and crouch down to get to her eye level.
“I’m sorry,” I tell her. “I didn’t mean to scare you. My head is clear now.”
We both look down at her hold on my ankle.
“Hey.”
I look up at Everly’s gentle call for my attention. She gives me a small smile. “You didn’t scare me. I knew you were in there, you just needed a little help remembering who you are.” Letting go of my ankle, she then moves her hand to cup my face. “Are you okay?”
I reach up to grab her hand to hold it there. For a second I close my eyes and just melt into her warmth. It takes a second but the scent of chemicals reaches my nose. I pull her hand away with a frown and sniff it.
“What the fuck?” I pull the rest of her arm closer to find that she smells entirely of bleach. “What did they do to you?”
Everly’s lashes flutter before she looks down at the floor. “They bathed me with something. I think it was to prepare me for surgery afterward.”
If I wasn’t still holding Everly, I’m pretty sure that murderous madman would’ve returned. Gripping her hand a little tighter, I bring it to my mouth and plant a kiss in the middle of her palm.
“That’s not going to happen,” I promise her grimly.
When she looks up, there’s a tired smile pulling at her mouth.
“I know.” She pauses as her eyes slide over my face. “Are you okay, Mavie?”
Physically, I’m fine. But mentally?
“I will be once we’re the hell out of here,” I admit. “Until then, I… I might not be able to control myself,” I glance at the bodies around us.
“Good,” Braum says confidently. “We might need a bit more of that side of you before the night is up. I’ll help you however I can. If I can kill my father, I sure as shit can kill anyone else.”
When I turn to meet his stare, I find him smiling.
“You smile at the thought of murdering your family?” I ask suspiciously.
“I guess so. Honestly, I feel… free.” He looks over at his father. “We should all get moving.”
“Where are we supposed to go from here?” Rowan asks. He looks exhausted as he pulls himself out from under Braum’s protective stance and gets to his feet. “This place is a maze.”
Everly raises her hand. “I know how to get out of here. I got help from a… well, friend isn’t the right word, but from someone who works here. They said I was deemed worthy of helping.”
“Was it a nurse with a weird mask?” Braum asks quickly.
Everly nods, her eyes widening with surprise. “Yeah, how did you?—”
“Because she helped us get to you once we made it out of our predicament,” I explain quickly. “We must’ve been deemed worthy too.”
Braum steps closer to us. “I’m not sure why she’s helping us but I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. If she gave you directions on how to get out of here, then we should get going now .”
Still holding onto Everly’s hand, I use it to help her to her feet.
She’s barely halfway up when she hisses in pain and collapses.
Fear causes my heart to freeze up. Without thinking, I bend down and scoop her into my arms. Her arms immediately lock around my neck.
When I rise, I clutch Everly close to my chest like she’s my lifeline. Which is undoubtedly the truth.
“What’s wrong?” Rowan asks before I can, stepping up to her side.
“My feet…” she says, her voice trailing off as the three of us look toward them.
The skin on her toes and the bottom of her feet is nearly nonexistent. At the sight of them, the blood on the floor makes a whole lot more sense.
“They dragged me in here, and at the time I was so cold I couldn’t feel the damage being done,” Everly explains.
Her face twists up into a grimace. “I have a first-aid kit in the car. It’s full of all sorts of stuff that will help.
Even antibiotics.” She looks around at all of us, her expression tight with fear.
“But we can’t use any of it if we don’t get out of here. ”
Rowan immediately kneels and begins to pull off his shoes.
“What are you doing?” I ask him.
He yanks off his socks and tosses them to Braum. “Put these on her. The shoes will be too big, so there’s no point giving them to her, but at least the socks will give her a little bit of protection and keep her warm.”
The consideration is so out of character for Rowan I can only stare at him as Braum takes great care in carefully sliding the socks over Everly’s feet. By the time he’s done, Rowan is back on his feet.
“Look at that, teamwork,” Everly says with a weak smile at the three of us.
“Alright, Evie,” I grumble, ignoring the comment as I hate the thought of working together with these two. “You have to lead the way.”
I move, heading for the broken door. Behind me, Braum and Rowan follow. They’re so close that when Everly reaches a hand out behind me, someone instantly takes it.
“It’s soft, but I can hear The Universe rejoicing at our union, Everly,” Braum mutters. “Can you hear it yet?”
I roll my eyes as Everly shakes her head.
“No, but I’m rejoicing, so I believe it.”
To my great annoyance, Braum agrees. “I am too.”
Just before I get a chance to step over the body that stands between us and the hallway, Everly stiffens.
“Mavie, wait,” she says.
I stop instantly. “What is it?”
Everly looks down at the body before asking in a small voice, “Can… can someone remove his mask?”
I grimace at the request. “What? Why?”
“Because that’s… that’s my biological father. I just want to see what he looks like.”
Braum bends down with a sigh and removes the mask, tossing it to the side.
The man beneath it is average looking. His skin isn’t as dark as Everly’s, and his sightless eyes are hazel but without any of the depth Everly’s have.
I’m sure, even if he was alive, I’d think the same thing.
His face is clean shaven, more round than angled, and his hairline has receded several inches despite him not being much older than fifty or so.
“Do you know who this is?” Everly asks Braum when he stands.
He tears his eyes away from the corpse on the floor to meet her gaze. “No, sorry. They keep their identities hidden. I wouldn’t recognize any of them. Sorry.”
“Can we go now?” Rowan asks from behind us. “It won’t be long before someone stumbles upon these bodies or the other ones and sounds the alarm. These hallways could be flooded with cult members any minute.”
It’s his warning that gets us all moving. When we step out into the hallway, Everly says, “Turn right.”
“You sure, princess?” Rowan asks. “’Cause if you’re wrong, we might not have time to backtrack.”
With a confident nod, Everly looks straight ahead. “I’m positive. I’ll get us out of here, you’ll see.”