Chapter 42
Chapter forty-two
Lexi and I take turns splashing gasoline throughout the halls of Windermere while Pierce and Teagan lead us toward the exit.
I can’t believe we’re actually getting out of here. I pictured this moment in my head so many times throughout this ordeal, but I never really thought it would happen. Every time I dreamt about it, I also dreamt that one of us was left behind.
We reach the front doors just as the canister runs dry.
It feels like fate.
We survived. We’re about to go home.
This place may have turned me into a monster and stained the walls of my soul for eternity, but it also gave me so much more. I would have never been reunited with my daughter if I hadn’t come here.
All the bad that happened doesn’t outweigh that miracle.
Teagan throws the door open, and Lee, Skye, Quinn, and Lochlan are waiting on the other side. They’re all huddled up near the front gate of Windermere.
We did it.
I run straight into Lee’s waiting arms and scoop Skye into the hug. “We made it. We actually made it out alive.” Lee kisses my head, and Skye squeezes me tighter before a tiny meow of protest breaks us apart.
“Oops,” Skye says sheepishly. “I forgot I was in charge of Paws.” She reaches into her hoodie pocket and pulls the kitten out to snuggle her. Quinn steps up and ruffles her hair before giving Paws some ear scratches, then makes his way over to Teagan.
“Where is everyone else?” Lexi asks from under Lochlan’s arm.
Lee points to the limousine waiting on the road just past the gates.
“Most of them are at the ferry waiting for us. Allison went into the garden with a few others to do one more sweep of the grounds to make sure everyone was out. Besides, we couldn’t let you girls do everything yourselves, now could we?
” he teases, pulling out an emergency flare from his back pocket.
“Figured you’d need something to start the fire. ”
Lexi’s jaw drops open. “How did we forget about matches? We can’t start a fire without, you know, actual fire?”
“Don’t worry, lassie. We got you.” Lochlan chuckles and takes the flare from Lee. “Found this puppy on the ferry boat. Who wants to do the honors?”
I set the rifle down, let it rest against the fence, and face my friends and family as Pierce keeps his head bowed next to me. He’s been nothing short of a model prisoner. “It doesn’t matter who does it as long as this place burns to the ground.”
Quinn steps up from behind Teagan, ignoring his brother’s presence entirely. “May I?”
I hand him the flare just as Teagan is yanked backward. She hits the wrought iron fence with a shout, banging her head and sliding to the ground. Pierce grabs the rifle, and he tugs her arm up with him, making her cry out in pain as she stumbles to her knees.
“Nobody move!” Pierce orders, pointing the gun at us in sweeping motions. “You really thought you’d win? You don’t get to come into my home and ruin my life. Windermere is mine now.”
We all look to each other, knowing it’s hopeless.
Pierce has the gun that I stupidly discarded because I thought we were finally out of this nightmare.
I was so stupid to believe it could be this simple.
The only way out of this is to tackle him simultaneously, but even that leaves too much room for error.
An error right now will result in more deaths.
“You don’t want to do this, Atlas,” Quinn says in a low voice. “Just let us go, you can have the castle. You can have it all.”
Pierce chuckles. “The only way I get everything I want is with all of you in the ground.” Skye whimpers from behind me, and he turns toward us. “Skye, my dear. Come here.”
“Don’t you touch her,” Lee says through gritted teeth, stepping sideways to help shield her. “Leave my girls alone.” I interlock my fingers through his and squeeze tightly.
“You silly idiot, did you not hear me? There’s no escaping this island. You’re all going to die here.” Pierce laughs maniacally. “Might as well start with you.”
The gun goes off, and I feel Lee’s body jerk beside me.
Everything is in slow motion as I look to him; his wide eyes meet mine before he looks at his shirt. Bright crimson oozes from his sternum before his body hits the ground with a muted thud.
Someone is screaming.
Hands are on his chest as hot, viscous liquid pours out of the wound.
Lee’s eyes struggle to stay open as he chokes on his own blood. “I love you. I’ll always love you.”
It takes a moment to realize what’s happening.
They are my hands.
I’m the one screaming.
And Lee is dead.
Rough hands are pulling on me, tugging me to my feet. “We have to leave! Now!” Lochlan shouts.
I look around, and I’m met with a flurry of activity.
A group of people comes running out of the garden.
The only person I recognize is Allison. She sees Pierce and lets out an earth-shattering scream as she runs at him with a hammer raised over her head.
She swings it down, and a spray of blood hits her face as she smiles.
Someone else comes running with a pair of bolt cutters.
There’s a frenzy of movement as the others follow suit with various makeshift weapons of their own.
They surround Pierce, pausing for what feels like hours.
Then the screaming starts. That weak, pathetic wail rings through the air.
It stops moments later.
Allison steps out of the circle surrounding Pierce, and I see what’s left of him. They’ve beaten him to a bloody pulp.
“Teagan?” I whisper, my heart pounding in fear when I remember she was handcuffed to him.
Lochlan picks me up and carries me. “She’s okay. They cut the handcuffs before it started. She’s with Quinn. Lexi has Skye.” His voice is clipped and odd-sounding, and I look up at him. I’m met with tears that match my own.
He’s crying because Lee is dead.
“I’m so sorry,” Lochlan chokes as he stops in front of the limo where Quinn is waiting.
I look back at my husband's lifeless body, swallowing the grief that’s come to life inside of me. “I can’t leave him here.”
“We’ll get him,” Quinn says before he opens the door for me. He’s still holding the flare. “We’ll bring him home.”
I fall into the limo and into Lexi’s and Teagan’s waiting arms, letting them hold me together as I fall apart. This can’t be real. It was supposed to be over. We were supposed to be safe. But now, Lee is dead, and nothing will ever be the same again.
“Capri?” Skye’s voice both calms and startles me, and I sit up to face her. Her lip quivers as she tries so hard to stay strong. “Mom?” she says hesitantly. I open my arms, and she falls into them, holding me tight.
Teagan and Lexi wrap themselves around us as others file in. I can’t decipher faces or think of anything but keeping myself whole for Skye. All I can feel is a weight crushing numbness as the limo starts to pull away from Windermere.
We watch the flames come to life in the safety of each other’s arms as we cry for the ones we lost here. We mourn the people we were before this place laid claim to our souls, taking pieces of us we will never get back.