Chapter 29
Chapter twenty-nine
We make it to the hidden bunker in record time, then stuff our faces with food and water. We shove all the extra supplies we can into my duffel bag and the backpack Lochlan found in the weapons room.
Both of us are armed to the teeth with knives. Lochlan carries the axe, while I feel more confident with the bow and arrows. I never thought I’d be thankful for that mandated archery course we were forced to take in my high school gym class.
“Need a hand there, lass? This bow looks bigger than you,” Lochlan teases, flipping my bow in his hands as he watches me struggle with the quiver of arrows around my shoulders.
“Shut up.” I roll my eyes, tightening the strap before grabbing the bow from him. “I just really hope I’m still as decent a shot as I was a decade ago. Now let’s get this show on the road. Everyone is counting on us.”
Lochlan tightens the straps of his backpack, and we both head out. I follow behind him, lost in my own thoughts as he leads us to the cabin.
What if I’m too late?
What if my daughter wants nothing to do with me?
How do I introduce myself to someone who might not know I exist?
How do I convince her to trust me?
All these fears and unanswerable questions plague my mind, nearly crippling me, but I won’t give up. I will save my child along with everyone else who has been forced to participate in these horrors under the controlling thumb of Pierce.
I wonder what he offered Josh to make him turn on me, if he’s actually done so.
Part of me is hoping that Josh saw me lying there and ran to get help.
The more rational side of me knows it’s a fool’s wish.
Josh and I aren’t exactly besties, but I know in my heart that he cares for both Teagan and Lexi.
Pierce must have offered him the world to get him to turn his back on their best friend.
There’s no way they'd forgive him after this if what I suspect is true.
“So…what’s your daughter like?” Lochlan asks. “Lee never said anything about her during our romantically bloody stroll through these woods,” he adds with a wink.
His question catches me off guard. It feels like ice water poured onto my heart.
I trip over a fallen branch and would have completely fallen flat on my face if it weren’t for his quick reflexes.
I pull out of his grasp and wipe my hands on my pants, thanking him for the assist as my heart does cartwheels in my sternum.
God, I hope I can trust this man because I need to get this weight off my chest, even if it just means sharing the burden with someone to get me through this.
Because I’m a coward through and through.
I can handle being shot at, chased, and nearly killed.
But coming face to face with the child I willingly gave up?
I’m absolutely terrified.
“I, um—” My voice cracks as I swallow, trying in earnest to smash down the guilt building in my chest. “I actually don’t know.
” He raises his brow at me, but says nothing as I continue.
“I gave her up for adoption when she was born. It was a closed adoption, so I have no idea who she is. I just know that I have to save her.” I pull the note Pierce left for me from my pocket and hand it to Lochlan.
“This can probably explain it better than I can.”
He reads the letter, then hands it back to me before wrapping me in a fierce hug.
My whole body tenses, then relaxes as I lean into him.
I didn’t realize how much I needed this.
A listening ear. Someone to share the burden of this massive secret I’ve had to carry myself since the death of my parents.
It’s like an invisible weight melts off as Lochlan holds me in a much-needed embrace.
A sigh of relief escapes my lips as I take a much-needed moment of silence amongst the chaos that my life has turned into over the last couple of days.
A caring stranger turned ally. A friend, even.
Lochlan gently releases me, looking down with that mischievous upturn of his lips. “Ready to meet your daughter?” He turns me so my back is against him, then he points toward a small overgrown path. And just past it sits a log wooden cabin.
My daughter’s in there.
I don’t even remember moving, but suddenly I’m rushing up the front steps and through the front door with Lochlan hot on my heels.
The most surprising aspect of the cabin is its warm, homey, and welcoming scent. It smells of apples and cinnamon spice. I hesitantly walk further into the cabin and take in my surroundings.
The faded brown couch has red and yellow throw pillows tossed onto it, with a dark green fuzzy blanket pushed to the edge. The fireplace is lit, and the mantle is covered in little wooden horses.
“What happened to all the dead heads?” Lochlan whispers from behind me.
I look back at him, raising a brow in confusion.
“When I woke up, there were animal trophies covering every inch of wall space. This cabin looks like the rustic Martha Stewart took over and kicked the drunk lumberjack out, along with his horrid decor. I don’t know which version is worse, honestly. ”
“Says the man with the crazy gator shoes,” I chastise, chuckling at his gasp.
“You’ll be happy to know Lexi loved them—”
A door slams in the hallway, cutting him off. We eye each other and raise our weapons as we slowly inch down the hallway.
We haven’t run into the Ghillieman or the Axeman. I’m starting to wonder if coming here was exactly what they wanted.
What if they planned this and waited until we left here with my daughter to ambush us? I shudder at the thought of the Ghillieman killing us the way he killed the other two guests in their tents.
There’s a muffled noise coming from behind the door on the left. Lochlan signals me to get behind him, then he turns the doorknob and pushes the door open. He steps into the room holding the axe tightly, ready to swing at a moment’s notice. I follow right behind him.
My pulse pounds loudly in my head as I scan the room. It’s decorated similarly to the tent. All hues of pinks, teals, and lavenders. This room clearly belongs to a young girl, but is that girl my daughter?
There are photos strung with twine and clothespins hanging above the twin bed. I can’t stop myself from getting a closer look at her life.
I don’t know her name, but I’d recognize her even if I haven’t seen her since the day she was born.
Before I can get a real glimpse at the photos, a noise behind me catches my attention.
Lochlan lets out a small gasp of surprise as I turn toward him, then follow his gaze to what he’s locked on.
My heart stops in my chest.
There’s a bright yellow bean bag tossed into the corner of the room, and sitting on it, like some type of mythical creature turned real, is a young girl.
She’s got a pair of white headphones on, and she’s looking down intently at a book in her hands.
I choke back a sob, bringing my hands to my mouth.
“Capri?” Lochlan steps closer to me, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Is this her?
The girl looks up before I can answer him, her bright blue eyes catching my own. Her mouth drops open in surprise as we stare at each other. She pulls her headphones off, tosses them onto the bed, and stands.
“Hi,” I say, tears brimming as I take in her beauty. She has my nose and my mom’s freckles. Her bronze skin makes her blue eyes pop like sapphires. She’s everything I hoped she’d be, and so much more.
“You’re finally here!” she exclaims, rushing toward me with a smile.
“Nanny told me to hide in my room once we left the campsite. She said I wasn’t allowed to take my headphones off until the woman with the colorful braids found me.
And now that you’re here, I’m free to roam the snack cabinet.
” She pushes past me and out of the room, then pops her head back in. “And you took, like, forever.”
Lochlan chuckles from behind me. “She’s definitely gotta be yours. She’s already got that pep in her step and sass locked down.”
A piece of me breaks all over again the moment she disappears from my sight.
I can’t believe I’ve missed ten years of her life.
Ten years of smiles and frowns.
Ten years of laughter and tears.
Ten years of the purest, most undiluted love I’ve ever felt. Love, I didn’t know could exist in a world filled with so much hate.
I thought I couldn’t love her more than I did the moment I held her tiny body in my arms. How wrong I was. I don’t know how I’m supposed to go back to a world without her in it, and that realization feels like a bullet to my heart.
“Hey, you okay?” Lochaln’s hand squeezes my shoulder again, bringing me back to the present.
She may not know or care who I am. But I know who she is, and I have to keep her safe.
I quickly pull myself together, turning on my heel and facing Lochlan.
“Yeah, I’m just wondering who would put a child in the middle of all this.
” I twirl my finger in a circle. “All this death and bloodshed? Why would he put a child at risk? His own niece! Does she know what’s happening around us? ”
He shrugs. “Maybe her being here is just another test.”
I raise my brow at him. “Test?”
“Yeah, like the escape room nonsense, and having Lex push me off a cliff. The dude is certifiably insane. I wouldn’t put it past him to use a child to harm you.
He knows you’re tough as nails, so he dug deep to find what would hurt you most,” he states, his cheeks reddening slightly with his admission.
I don’t know what to say, so I just nod and give him a weepy smile.
“Now let’s get back to the castle and keep that little one safe on the way there. I’m quite looking forward to seeing Lexi’s face when she realizes she didn’t actually murder me,” Lochlan gloats, holding the bedroom door open for me.
I step out of the room, my eyes searching like I need to see her to continue breathing. Before we reach the living room, I hold my hand up to stop Lochlan. “Just cool it with the whole ‘my little’ thing. She may not know who I am, and I’m not ready to scare her away,” I beg Lochlan.
“You got it, mama bear,” he teases, saluting me as I roll my eyes at him. “No, really, my lips are sealed from here on out.”
“Somehow I doubt you can go longer than five minutes without hearing yourself talk,” I tease. He answers by pretending to zip his lips up.
When we make it back to the living room, we find her sitting on the couch, eating what looks like a bowl of Fruit Loops.
“Hey, I’m, um, Capri,” I introduce myself as I walk toward her. “That’s my friend, Lochlan.”
Her blue eyes flick up to meet mine. I wonder if anyone else can feel the earth shifting around me the way I do when I look at her.
“I’m Skye.” She tips the bowl back, drinking the last of the milk, then walks her dirty bowl to the sink. “Are you going to take me home now?”
Skye. What a perfect name.
Lochlan appears from behind me before piping up again. “And where is home, little lady? Is this not where you live?”
I stifle an amused snort. He lasted about a full minute before having to speak.
Skye shrugs. “I don’t know. Sometimes I live here with Nanny. But mostly I live in the castle with my uncle. He’s such a bore. Always harping on about ‘keeping it down’ because he has to write the next best thing.” She rolls her eyes dramatically.
Ten years old and already full to the brim with her own personality. I couldn’t be more proud—or horrified. If my mom were here, she’d elbow me in the ribs and tell me that Skye’s just like me when I was that age.
Skye washes her bowl and dries it before she continues.
“My uncle did tell me that I have to behave for you. And if I did that, you’d take me back to him.
Apparently, he’s doing some important research for his next book and needed me out of the way, and that you’d keep me safe.
Whatever that means...” Her voice trails off at the end.
She looks at me with confusion and fear in her eyes.
I can tell she’s holding back tears, using humor as a deflection so we don’t see how scared she truly is.
I want to tell her I’ll never let anything else happen to her.
I want to grab her, hold her, and never let her go.
I want to throw myself at her and beg her forgiveness for giving her up all those years ago.
But right now, I’ll settle for being the strong adult she needs.
I step toward her, pasting a semblance of a smile on my lips, which isn’t easy to do when all I actually want to do is cry.
“Hey, Skye,” I say, my voice breaking slightly before I set myself straight again.
I kneel and gently grab her hands. “I promise I’m going to do whatever it takes to get where you feel safest.” I squeeze her hands, and she squeezes mine back, sniffling loudly, trying to hold back her own tears.
The front door bursts open, the door frame exploding and showering us in wood splinters and dust. I throw Syke behind me just as a man dressed in all black and wearing a mask strolls in.
“Well, isn’t this a touching sight?” The man takes another loud step into the room, making the hardwood floor of the cabin creak under us.
My jaw drops when I see the axe. I grip Skye’s hand harder, pushing her further behind me before risking a glance at Lochlan. The fear and anger written all over his features are enough to confirm that this is the guy who has been toying with him since he woke up in this heinous nightmare.
Lochlan’s Axeman has found us.