Chapter 38
Chapter thirty-eight
“Just kill me,” Teagan sobs. “Don’t make her do this! She’s just a child!” Her gaze meets mine as I shake my head in protest.
He can’t kill Teagan, he just can’t. We've barely gotten each other back. I’m not ready to lose her again. I shout obscenities through my gag at Pierce.
Pierce narrows his eyes at me before turning on his heel to face Teagan again.
“And which weapon would you like me to use? Maybe I should get the rifle you lot murdered my brother with? I admit, I had my own issues with him. Yet, he was still family, and somebody needs to pay for his death. You would have all been welcome to stay here at Windermere as my staff, but you’ve gone and thrown that opportunity away with your hysterics and rash actions.
” He shoots a look of loathing at Lee. “What to do, what to do,” Pierce muses while he paces in a circle around us, tapping his chin.
“Oh! I know! Let’s make this a game! You all know how I adore games. ”
Pierce stands behind me and taps me firmly on the top of my head before moving on to Capri, then Lee, and so on. “Duck, duck, duck, duck,” he sings, bopping us each on the head while Skye stands in the center of the room watching with eyes wide with terror.
She looks so much like Capri. I’ve never been maternal, but I would kill to have the chance to scoop her up and get her far away from this horror.
“Goose. I choose her.”
The psychopath that Pierce is points directly at Skye.
The whole room ceases to breathe before we all start screaming through our gags.
She wasn’t even part of his circle of headbops!
How can he willingly murder a child? Isn’t she his niece?
This man is more deranged than I initially thought.
Somehow, he outdoes himself at every turn.
He looks at each of us. “You only have yourselves to blame for this. We need more staff to keep Windermere standing now that you’ve gotten so many of the others killed.
I can’t risk losing any more of you. Now her?
” He gestures toward Skye, who is standing there shaking in place.
“She’ll take more effort than she’s worth now that Rebecca has perished. ”
Noises I’ve never heard from another human being, or any animal for that matter, escape from my best friend next to me. Capri tries to stand in her chair, then slams it down to the ground. Repeating this over and over again, as we can do nothing but watch.
Pierce grabs Skye by the arm and tugs her along with him.
“Come, my dear. But they need to be punished. I know you don’t understand, and for that I am sorry.
” He digs through his bag and comes up with a small black case.
He unzips it, and the air leaves my lungs when I see the syringes inside.
“This will only sting for a moment. Then you’ll go straight to sleep. ”
He doesn’t have to say that she’ll never wake up again.
Lochlan and Lee both struggle to stand, both of them fighting to yell through their gags.
All I can do is sit here frozen in shock.
They always say you find out if you have the fight or flight instinct when something truly horrible happens around you, but they never warn you that some of us have a full-on shutdown mode.
I’ve become completely immobilized as the adrenaline and fear fight for dominance in my system. There is no fight or flight in me; there is only numb, crippling, uselessness.
Skye fights against him—her screams of panic nearly rival Capri’s.
But no one in this room fights as Capri does.
How someone so tiny can erupt with so much rage is almost magical to watch.
She’s gone completely and entirely feral, slamming her chair over and over again until it finally breaks apart under her weight.
She falls to the ground next to me in a heap of wood and velvet.
I watch awestruck as she gets to her feet and untangles herself from the rope, her breathing rapid and her eyes glazed over with a primal fury unlike any I’ve ever known.
“What—how?” Pierce proclaims loudly. For once, he looks shocked, something I didn’t know any of us could do to him and his perfect, uncrackable demeanor.
If I could smile under this tape, I would. It’s not often you see a man look as terrified as he does while looking at my tiny, rage-filled best friend.
Capri savagely rips the tape from her mouth. “Don’t you dare touch my daughter.”
Pierce drops the case holding the syringes and rushes toward the wall behind Teagan, releasing his grip on Skye in the process.
Skye’s eyes widen before a small, hopeful smile sneaks through her mask of terror, and then she runs to her mom. Capri scoops her into a bear-crushing hug and kisses her head. “Go help Lochlan get free, okay? I promise he's a friend.” Skye nods and takes off toward Lochlan.
Capri watches her for a moment to ensure Skye’s safety, then she picks up the butcher knife and inspects it the same way Pierce did. His features turn ashen as he cowers away, hitting a bookshelf as he steps further from her.
“Now, Mr. Pierce,” she coos. “Which weapon would you like me to kill you with?” Capri cocks her head, looking more insane than I’ve ever seen her.
I’ve never been so proud of her, or so terrified.
Pierce runs from the room, slamming the door behind him as he lets out a tortured, high-pitched wail of terror.
Skye gets Lochlan free, as Capri rushes to get Teagan untied.
“That might have been the greatest thing I’ve ever seen,” Teagan says before throwing her arms around Capri. “You went like, full on mama bear.”
I nod my head in agreement since I’m still tied up with my mouth covered. A body blocks my view of them. I look up to see Lochlan grinning down at me like a madman.
“Fancy meeting you here, lassie.” He disappears for a moment, then I feel my wrist go free before he kneels in front of me and carefully peels the tape away from my lips.
As soon as the tape is off, I throw myself at him, slamming my lips to his. His lips smile against mine before he kisses me back.
I’ve never been so happy to see this Scottish idiot as I am now.
Someone coughs, and we break apart, both of us blushing furiously.
Lee chuckles. I look up to see him, Capri, and Skye standing together, holding hands. They make a damn cute family. “How about we figure out how to get out of here before we start the celebratory smooching? We still have a crazy author to take down, don’t we?”
Lochlan gets to his feet and pulls me up with him. “Aye. That we do, but I know where the limo keys are stashed. We can drive it to the ferry and finally get off this island of death.”
“I can’t leave Quinn,” Teagan says, grabbing the dagger and handcuffs Pierce left behind. “Can you guys get Skye to the limo?” She points to Lee and Lochlan.
Lee looks down at Skye with so much love in his eyes already. “I’ll keep her safe if Lochy-boy can show us where to go.” Capri gives them both a hug, tactfully avoiding touching anyone with the butcher knife she’s still holding before joining Teagan at the door.
“What am I supposed to use?” I complain.
Lochlan pinches my behind. “Your sass and good looks have gotten you this far, aye lassie?”
I smack his hand before pulling him in for another kiss. “Stay alive for me, okay? I’m not done with you yet.” He winks before heading out with Lee and Skye.
“You girls ready to finish this?” Teagan says.
“Absolutely,” Capri responds.
“I was born ready to take down the evil white men of the world,” I chime out, flipping my hair back before noticing the case of lethal syringes on the floor. I grab it and pull one out. “Let’s end this.”
The three of us stare at each other for a few seconds.
None of us says anything; we don’t have to.
I choke back the rush of emotions I have for these two women.
I’m so proud to have them by my side, especially in this insane place we found ourselves in.
While I never want to go through something like this again, I can’t deny that it showed me what true friendship really looks like.
I would happily kill anyone who hurt them, and I know they’d willingly do the same for me.
“Okay, okay. No sappy stuff or I’ll start crying.” I quickly wipe my eyes, careful not to stab myself with the deadly poison I’m holding.
“Where do we start?” Teagan asks.
Capri’s face twists into a knowing smirk. “I know exactly how to find where that cockroach of a man is hiding. Follow me.”