Chapter 25 #2
“Christ,” I rasp when Alice’s distant scream cuts through the insulated quiet within the hedge walls.
March is right behind me when I break into a run, sprinting down the narrow pathway and whipping around turns with a familiarity that comes from having walked this maze at least a hundred times.
I can navigate it blindfolded by now, and as fear and worry collide, I remember how I lost her once inside these walls.
I’ll be damned if I lose her again. Not here, not tonight, not when I finally got her back.
Not where the best and worst of our memories together with her were created.
This is our place, our haven, where we’d come and escape the world.
I refuse to let this be where Alice’s story ends.
My feet pound the dirt as I race toward the maze’s heart. It’s lit by a few strings of light, and when I skid to a stop on the chessboard, I spin in a circle and roar Alice’s name.
“Maddox!” I hear her muted shout. “…here!”
Down here?
“Down here, where?” But I follow her voice to a hole—a fucking hole—behind the purple wisteria near the back wall.
March comes racing up behind me. “Jesus Christ, is that a fucking grave?”
“Stop right there.” Knavish, hidden by shadows, strolls out from a darkened corner behind the hole, and I realize Alice didn’t say “down here,” she said “he’s here.
” The pistol he’s pointing at me doesn’t stop me.
When he redirects the weapon down at that hole—at Alice—I freeze mid-step.
“She’s safe, for now. It’s up to you if she remains that way. ”
“Fuck you,” I growl, but I don’t move, not a muscle—and neither does March.
But he does whisper, “I can take him.”
“No, March O’Hare, you don’t.” Knavish tsks.
“But for argument’s sake, let’s pretend you can.
Are you willing to wager your speed against the squeeze of my finger?
” Then, to me, he asks, “How about you, Maddox? Are you willing to bet Alice’s life that either of you can stop me before I squeeze the trigger?
I mean”—he shrugs one shoulder—“she’s already conveniently in a grave, so… .”
“Scarlett!” Alice shouts. “She did this.”
“You shut the fuck up,” Knavish hisses, his glare remaining locked on March and me as he jabs the gun at Alice to punctuate his command.
I wish I hadn’t guessed that part correctly. I really do, because as bad as that bitch is, I didn’t want to believe she was this goddamn sinister. “Point that gun back at me. You don’t want to shoot her.”
“No, actually, I really do,” he replies, and because I can recognize mania in someone when I see it in their eyes and hear it in their voice, I know all it’ll take is a nudge for him to pull that trigger.
“Like I told Alice, Scarlett only wanted me to shake her up a bit. Paid me to give her a little scare. But once I got a taste of her fear…” He licks his lips, the gesture revolting.
“I couldn’t stop there. I wanted more. I wanted everything.
But she”—again, he jabs that gun at Alice—“was so wrapped up in herself that she didn’t even see me.
But I made sure she saw me. I made sure you all saw me. ”
“Congratulations, you’re a narcissist,” March drawls.
“Watch your mouth,” Knavish snaps. “Wouldn’t want my finger to get twitchy, would you?”
Of all the things I don’t do well—and there’s a whole long-ass list of things I’m awful at—feeling helpless is at the very top.
And right now, with this motherfucker holding the ace card, he has the upper hand.
My instinct is to rush him, but it’s safe to assume he can get at least one shot off before I can stop him.
March is farther away, so while he has that knife, he has even less of a chance of reaching Knavish before that prick fires his weapon.
Which, as far as I’m concerned, leaves me one option…
“Shoot me first,” I taunt him, hoping he’ll aim that weapon at me and not Alice. “Right in the head. Lights out. Come on, motherfucker. I dare you.”
Knavish rolls his eyes. “Where’s the fun in that?
I shoot you, he shoots me, we’re both dead, and Alice and your bestie over there walk away unscathed.
Boring. I like my plan better. I make you watch while I kill her.
Your friend kills me, and you get to spend the rest of your life knowing you stood there and couldn’t save her.
” He nods, a demented grin on his face. “Yes, absolutely. I like that plan much better.”
“You’re not that bright, huh? Yapping away like you thought up this grand plan.” I snort out a nasty laugh. “You’re a ten-cent villain, asshole. A little worm of a man who got his feelings hurt because his crush doesn’t like him back. Pathetic.”
“Sticks and stones, Maddox. Sticks and stones,” he says, but he can’t hide that I got under his skin.
His tell is how rigid he gets. At how his gaze jumps around as his brain goes into overload.
And how his arm lowers just the slightest bit.
Enough to move it off of Alice. Still, he grits out, “But you know what does hurt? A bullet to the head.”
Fuck it.
We’re damned if we do, damned if we don’t.
Might as well go down fighting.
Every demon trapped in my mind busts loose as I lunge for Knavish.
Everything feels like it’s happening in fast-forward as I catch him around his legs and topple him backward.
In my peripheral vision, I see March dash toward the hole as Knavish and I grapple.
I’m a man possessed as I bite the fingers he has wrapped around the weapon until blood floods my mouth.
Until he opens his hand and I’m able to snatch the gun from him.
I spring to my feet. Squeeze the trigger and…
…nothing.
Nothing fucking happens.
The gun isn’t loaded.
The fuck?
Knavish is lying on the ground, cradling his bloody hand, and when he struggles to sit up, I place my foot on his chest and press him back down. “You really are as crazy as they say if you believe I’d actually shoot her.”
Alice’s kick to Knavish’s face snaps his head to the side. “I don’t like it when people call him that.”
It takes a second for me to register that she’s okay.
She’s dirty and her dress is ruined, but she’s alive.
I also see that her mouth is cut and swollen, and there’s blood smeared on her chin.
But she’s alive. Wish I could say that’s all that matters, but it’s not because this motherfucker hurt her, and now I’m going to hurt him.
Hurt him to death.
“Get her out of here,” I snap at March.
“What? No!” She protests when he takes her hand and pulls her away, fighting him every step of the way toward the path that leads back to the maze.
“March…” I say, my tone laced with warning.
“You don’t worry about her,” he says, gently dragging her away. “You worry about that motherfucker.”
“Maddox, I swear to God—” she yells, trying to break away from March.
But Knavish cuts her off. “Go ahead, kill me.” His laughter is manic. “But you better kill Scarlett, too.” He pulls a mocking pout and, in a singsong, asks, “Aw, now what do you think her daddy will do to you if he finds out you murdered his precious daughter?”
“That’s none of your concern. In fact, nothing is your concern anymore.
” Roman strides into the center of the maze and walks right over to Alice.
“On Scarlett’s behalf, I apologize for…” His strained apology trails off to a heavy sigh.
He’s never been a man at a loss for words—until now.
“I promise she will be dealt with accordingly.”
“Roman…” Alice whispers. “You don’t have to—”
“Yes, I do.” Roman cups her jaw and turns her head this way and that, examining her damaged face. “I left Ivory by the entrance of the maze. She’ll help you clean yourself up while this…problem…is handled.”
Which is his gentle way of demanding that she leave.
Alice drags in a shuddering breath, and I expect her to protest, but instead, she gives him a curt and reluctant nod.
Before she leaves, though, she comes over to me, and I clench my jaw, molars grinding, when I get an up-close view of her face.
I close my eyes for a moment to catch my breath, to calm the fresh wave of rage that crashes over me.
But when she cups my face, I open my eyes to the magnificent glimmer of strength reflected in her eyes and the determined lift of her chin. “I knew you’d find me.”
“Always.” I kiss the tip of her nose. “You can’t get away from me, Malice.” I snake my arms around her trembling body, needing to feel her against me because, loaded gun or not, I could have so easily lost this woman. “Go pack your shit. I’ll come get you when this is over.”
She pulls away, her eyes watery. “I love you.”
Her whispered admission levels me. “I love you, too.”
I watch as she strides over to Knavish, ready to break every bone in his fucking body if he so much as twitches a finger. And then I croak out a laugh when she spits right in his face. Without a word, she spins on the heel of her bare foot and glides away like a fucking queen.
“Just us now.” I look around, with every memory Alice and I made in this place flashing through my mind.
This is where our story began, and it’s oddly fitting that this chapter of our story ends here.
I remove my vest and shrug off my shirt, carefully folding both and setting them aside.
I place my top hat on the pile, then glare down at Knavish. “Shall we begin?”
“Fuck all of you,” Knavish hisses.
March holds up his sleek tactical knife. “No thanks, I’m not into shitbags who harm women,” he quips. He hands me the blade. “Gotta tell you, Knavish, Maddox is good at making a mess of a person.”
“I’m not scared of him.” He’s lying; I can see how badly he’s shaking.
“Yeah, well, you fucking should be,” March says with a bitter laugh. “I sure as hell would be if I were you.”