Chapter Twelve
M urphy and I didn’t know what else to do besides leave. Emmanuel hadn’t been forthcoming with much more than apologies, although I thought that had more to do with the fact he didn’t have any answers. All he knew was that he had made a deal to protect his family and ensure their survival. If only he had cared as much about the rest of us.
Murphy stormed into the house, any buzz from the alcohol faded with his anger. I followed quickly behind him, Emmanuel bringing up the rear, his head bent low in shame.
When we entered the home, Elizabeth stood in the living room, her face solemn. “The kids are upstairs.”
I took the few steps until I was in front of her, now recognizing the sadness in her eyes from the day before. “You knew.”
She nodded sadly. “We had to protect the twins. If you were a mother, you’d understand.”
Anger bubbled under the surface of my skin and I couldn’t bring myself to bite my tongue. “Thanks to you, I’ll probably never have the chance.”
Her eyes widened, a small gasp escaping her lips, but I walked past her. I didn’t have time for their apologies. We needed to gather our things and leave before guards came back. And then we needed to figure out how to save the others.
Murphy was already filling the three bags with provisions, shoving cans of food into one, clothing into the other. Neither Emmanuel nor Elizabeth said a word, knowing they owed us at least this much.
I took over filling the bags with food as Murphy gathered the ammo and guns into another bag, slipping one of the weapons into his waistband. Within minutes, everything we needed was packed and there was nothing left for us here.
Turning on my heel, I faced the two people I had trusted. Emmanuel had reminded me so much of my father, giving me peace when I most needed it during our mornings fishing. But I knew my father. He had died instead of giving in to these people. Now when I looked at him, all I saw was a coward, no matter the reason for what he did.
“Can I say goodbye to them?” I asked Elizabeth, struggling to face Emmanuel without my anger spilling over even more.
Elizabeth nodded softly, allowing me to pass her and head upstairs to the twin’s room. When I opened the door, the two of them sat on the floor, whispering quietly together. The noise of the door alerted them and their faces turned toward me in unison.
“Mommy said you’re leaving,” Stephanie said.
I was surprised to learn that they had told them anything. Nodding, I dropped to my knees, welcoming Stephanie into my arms.
“We never got to collect more flowers together,” she sniffled against my chest and I ran my hand over her hair.
“I know, but that’s okay.” I looked to Lucas over her head, his face scrunched in deep thought.
“What if we need protecting?” He murmured and my heart broke a little more. If only he knew what his parents had done in the name of protecting them.
Holding out my other arm for his embrace, I told them, “Your mommy and daddy can protect you now.”
Stephanie sniffled harder. “What if they take us from them again?”
There was so much fear in her little voice. I hadn’t realized how much of a toll our kidnapping had taken on their young minds.
Backing away until I could look her in the face, I ran a comforting hand over her head. “Then it’s lucky Lucas has you. You’re even tougher than me.”
Stephanie shook her head, but I stopped her with a squeeze to her shoulder. “You are. And together,” I grabbed both of their hands, “together, you are stronger than you think. Never forget that, okay?”
They both nodded eagerly. Giving them one last hug, I left the room, hoping that their father’s deal saved them. I may be angry at him for his betrayal, but I truly hoped they survived. These two sweet souls had a bright life ahead of them, if only given the chance.
Making my way back down the stairs, I met Murphy at the front door, grabbing one of the three packs from his hands.
“Ready?” He asked.
I wasn’t. I wasn’t ready to give up the comfort we had found once again. But it seemed that no matter where we went, we would never be safe. So I steeled my spine, knowing there was no other option.
“Ready.”
We didn’t go far. Walking into town before we had a chance to formulate a plan was an idiotic move. I may be fuming, ready to break into that camp and find the others, but that wouldn’t achieve anything except for Murphy’s and my capture as well.
After walking the few miles to the next house, Murphy checked the inside, making sure it was empty, and then we settled in for the day. Unlike Elizabeth’s parents' cottage, this one was entirely empty. Clearly, whoever had lived here beforehand had taken the opportunity to raid all their cabinets before they left.
Luckily, they also had a wood-burning stove and Murphy heated up some cans of soup for the two of us to eat. As the food warmed, Murphy took a seat on the chair in the living room, the house a similar layout to where we had just been.
Opening his arms, he gestured for me, and I fell into his embrace. I needed his support right now. The nightmares that came nightly always featured me at the hands of Vex once again. But this, the people I loved, the people I was beginning to care about, being in his grasp? This was worse.
“I understand how you felt now,” I whispered to him.
Murphy had blamed himself for my kidnapping. And now the guilt swirled in my gut, making me nauseous.
“We couldn’t have done anything to stop it.” Murphy ran a hand along my shoulder, trying to comfort us both, but I heard the regret in his voice.
Maybe we would have been taken like the rest of them. Maybe we would have been able to fight them off. We would never know. All I knew was that I had been caught up in the way he looked at me, ignoring the reality around us.
“What do we do now?” I asked, curling deeper into Murphy’s arms.
His hands continued to caress my back, soothing some of the ire burning in my veins. “First, we eat. And then we make a plan to go after them, just like we should have done for you.”
It wasn’t much. But for now, it would be enough.
We ate our soup in silence, able to scrounge up a few spoons from one of the kitchen drawers. Once we finished, Murphy found a knife and together we etched a map of the camp from my memory on the wooden slates of the floor.
Now we sat crisscross on the floor, debating our next move. And so far, we couldn’t seem to agree on anything.
“You said there was a gap in the fence here that Aiden and the twins snuck out of.” Murphy tapped the knife against the back of the drawing. “That’s the best way to sneak in without being caught.”
Groaning, I tried to explain again. “They probably have guards everywhere now. Plus, I’m sure they reinforced the gates after we escaped.”
He didn’t understand that Vex was, first and foremost, a vengeful man. Our escape was a hit to his pride more than the absence of any information I may have had.
“That’s all a guess. You don’t actually know they did any of that,” Murphy argued, and I threw my hands up in the air.
“But I do know! I know the man in charge of that camp. You need to trust me on this.”
Murphy was silent for a while, scanning the map as if a new answer would suddenly come to mind. Finally, he sighed, flipping the knife between his fingers.
“I do trust you, Alessia. But we can’t just go in there, guns blazing. I may be a good shot, but nowhere near as good as Rainer. And one against however many? The odds are not in our favor.”
I knew he was right. I had seen Rainer take on three at once and walk away unscathed. Murphy could hold his own, but not when he was constantly looking over his shoulder, worried about me. Gulping, I realized what I had to do. Even if I never wanted to.
“Then you’ll teach me how to shoot a gun. Two weapons are better than one.”
Murphy’s eyes widened. I hadn’t been vocal about my distaste for guns, but it had been obvious. Whenever the weapons were around, I refused to grab them. Part of it was the fact I had never held one before, I didn’t want to mess up and cause an accident. But the bigger reason, the reason I had been avoiding, was I didn’t want to be responsible for taking a life.
Working in healthcare, I saved people, I didn’t kill them. But the desperation I had avoided was now inside of me. It was us or them. And every moment I was given the chance, I would choose us.
As the thought swirled in my head, I realized I was starting to understand Emmanuel’s decision. But in this case, he was the them. And damn him for hurting us.
“That could take time,” Murphy said, his voice hesitant.
“We don’t have time. As long as I know how to pull the trigger, I can work on my aim as we go.”
Murphy nodded in understanding, dropping the knife to the ground and standing to his feet. I followed him, watching as he grabbed a gun and a box of ammo from the bag. Together, we stepped outside into the silence.
And after a quick rundown of safety measures and the anatomy of the gun, the weapon was placed into my hand. The weight was heavy in my hand and in my heart, because I knew before this was all over, I’d have blood on my hands. And the worst part was, the thought didn’t bother me as much as it should.