Chapter 13
Thirteen
IT’D SEEMED FOREVER since Joel and Jayce left, but in reality, it’d been less than a half hour, but a half hour in this severe weather and below-freezing temps was pushing it.
And the one fire trying to heat the wide expanse of the room they all huddled in . . . it just wasn’t happening.
Cassie sat forward in the chair she was settled in, her leg propped on the ottoman. “I have an idea.”
“Okay?” Penelope perked up.
“What is it?” Iz did as well.
“Joel didn’t want us separating outside of pairs, but that works perfectly for what we found.”
Nat narrowed her eyes. “What did you find?”
“Guest rooms. Nearly half of them have two twins in the room. One bedroom with a double bed, then an adjacent room for the kids, I imagine.”
“What are you suggesting?” Mia asked, still lying facedown on the settee, the wolf’s claw marks in her snow pants a steadfast reminder of what lurked around outside.
“We pair up. Two per room.”
“But the fire . . .” Mia said.
“That’s the beautiful part. Each room has a fireplace, and with the rooms being smaller—”
“They’ll heat a lot quicker,” Devon said. “Smart plan.”
“Thanks.”
“You start assigning rooms, and me and the guys will get fires going. We piled a ton of wood on the side porch under the overhang, and there is more under the large tarps we found.”
“I can go down.” Jayce argued against the decision they’d already made.
Ignoring him, Joel tied the rope around the smaller tree trunk that sat beside the large oak. He retied the other end around his waist and cinched it tight. Jayce stood on the cliff’s edge, clasping the rope.
“You sure about this?” Jayce said.
“Dude.” He cocked his head.
“Okay. You’ve got it.” He tightened his grip on the rope. “I’ve got you. I’ll feed it down as you go.”
Joel nodded on an inhale, the frigid air burning his lungs. He put both feet over the edge and rappelled down. Reaching the bottom of the drop, he grasped his flashlight. Swallowing hard, he turned, swiping the light over the snow-covered boulders at the cliff’s base.
He stilled as he hit red saturating the snow beneath the overhang. Squeezing his eyes shut on a prayer, he opened them and stepped forward.
Brady lay, arms and legs askew, red-stained snow encircling his head.
Joel’s chest compressed. His friend couldn’t be dead. Not like this. Not someone so full of life.
“You find him?” Jayce asked.
“Yeah,” he hollered up.
“Is he . . . ?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh man, what do we do?”
“I’ll tie the rope around him,” Joel said. “You pull him up, then send the rope back to me.”
“Got it.”
Joel bent beside his friend’s body, snapping pictures of the scene, then trying to determine the best way to lift him. He set the flashlight on the ground, ready to heave him over his shoulder, when something red caught in his flashlight’s beam.
He squinted. It couldn’t be blood all the way over there. He straightened, and, grabbing his flashlight, headed for it.
What on earth?
A red sled. How had it gotten down there?
“You sending him up?” Jayce asked.
“Yeah.” Joel left the sled, got Brady’s body secure in the rope, and waited while Jayce hauled him up.
“Oh man.” Jayce’s voice echoed through the air.
Joel grimaced. It wasn’t pretty, but there was no way they were leaving their friend dead at the bottom of the drop-off.
The rope swung back down. Tying it around his waist, Joel climbed up as Jayce pulled.
Reaching the top edge, Jayce yanked him over onto the snow-and-ice-covered ground.
Joel lay on the snow pile he’d flopped on, the cold permeating his snowsuit. Huge flakes fell on his face.
“You okay?” Jayce asked, standing over him.
“Yeah.” He got to his feet. “I just can’t believe it.”
“Me either.” Jayce shook his head. “What are we doing with his body until we’re rescued? We can’t carry him past everyone.”
“I know. We’ll go in the side door and put him in the first room.”
“What do we tell everyone?”
“That he had an accident.”
Jayce frowned. “Why’d you say it like he didn’t?”
“Take a look at his neck.”
Jayce moved for Brady’s body and rolled him fully onto his back, then stumbled backward.
“His throat’s been slit.”
I shifted. The boards in the passageways I discovered creaked far too often, but the liberties the walkways behind the walls afforded was marvelous.
I could get anywhere, be anywhere. Soon I was in Cassie’s room—standing by her bed, letter in hand.
Her face—so angelic—free from the horror about to overtake it.
I stood watch as I always did. Her chest rose and fell in that deep rhythm—up and down, up and down. I set the second letter on the bed, fighting the urge to brush hair from her face. She possessed a fire that fastened me to her.
Soon that sweet face would be stricken with terror. There was no need for it. If she’d just accept the inevitable. We belonged together. She just needed to accept it.
I curled and uncurled my fists. Why did she have to be so stubborn? Why couldn’t she just accept it, accept me? Heat spread through me, burning my limbs as my muscles coiled. Because of him. It was all his fault.
It was so clear. We can’t move forward until Joel is out of the equation. I inhaled and streamed it out. I’d tried so hard to avoid this, to not kill again, but they’d left me no choice. It was on them. If only she’d listened. One way or another, she would come to.
“Good night, my sweet,” I whispered.
Checking the hall, I slipped out, ready to head back to the passage entrance.
The door next to me creaked open. “What are you doing?”
Nat.
“I saw you.”
“Saw me what?”
“Sneak into Cassie’s room.”
“Are you sure you’re really awake?”
“What?”
“Maybe this is all a nightmare.” I stepped toward her, herding her in the direction I chose. Closer. Closer. I’d have to be swift. Grab her, muffle her, slice her, before someone saw.
“What are you doing?” She stumbled back, inches from the hidden passageway door.
I grabbed her neck and squeezed, pushing her into the passageway and closing the door. “Finally shutting you up.”
Terror bulged wide in her eyes. She was a fighter.
But so was I.