Chapter 46
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
THORA
The first thing I notice when I start to wake is the smell of damp dirt filling my nose and coating the back of my throat.
My head still feels like jelly, and when my lashes flutter against the low light burning above me, the blurry shapes slowly turn into a thin, tunnel-like place with a dirt floor and one weak bulb hanging from the ceiling.
Where the hell did he take me?
I try to lift a hand to rub my eyes, but my arm refuses to move. Terror slices through the haze as I tug harder, only for the restraints binding my wrists behind the chair to bite into my skin. My ankles are tied too, and the rough edge of the wooden seat digs into the backs of my thighs.
At least I’m alive. I can still get out of here. I just have to stay calm and think.
Charlie is nowhere in sight at first, but when a groan scrapes from my throat, footsteps answer from somewhere ahead. He rounds the bend where the tunnel slants off to my left and walks straight toward me.
This tunnel must run deep underground. There’s no telling how long he plans to keep me here.
As soon as he approaches, he kneels, concern written all over his face. “You’re awake. Thank God. I thought I gave you too much.”
My heart pounds so violently I can feel it everywhere at once.
“What did you give me?” I choke out, my throat dry.
“Just some ketamine. You were supposed to come to in fifteen, but it took you about thirty. Don’t worry. It won’t hurt you.”
I can’t believe anything that comes out of his mouth.
Is Charlie even his name? I doubt it.
“Why…” I pull at the ropes. “Why am I tied up? You said…you said you wouldn’t hurt me.”
Though my head is still foggy, I’m starting to get clearer than before.
“I had to.” He places a palm on my shoulder, and I flinch. “It’s all right. Believe me, I only want what’s best for you.”
“If you want to help me, please untie me so…so we can talk.”
“I can’t do that, Penny. I know you’ll try to run, but you won’t once you know the truth. You’ll want to stay.”
“What truth?”
Nerves skitter in my stomach as I wait for him to explain what he’s doing. He’s obviously unwell.
“They don’t get to keep you anymore. You’re not theirs.” He says it almost to himself, his gaze growing more distant.
“Charlie, listen to me.” I force myself to keep calm, even though all I want to do is scream. “If you care for me, which I can see you do, you need to untie me so we can have a civilized conversation.”
He ignores me, pinching the bridge of his nose. “We are talking.”
As he starts to pace, I twist my wrists against the restraints, testing how much give they have.
“Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?”
No. And right now, I don’t care.
“When I found out you were alive, all I wanted was for you to know me. That’s all. I’ve waited for this my whole life, Penny. And now that you’re here, we can finally be the family we never got to be because of them.”
Venom coats that final word, making his hatred for my family impossible to miss. But how far is he willing to take it?
I can’t let him hurt them. I have to stop him. But tied up like this, I’m powerless.
“Charlie…” My pulse stumbles as I pull against the ropes again. “What are you talking about? Who am I to you? Please, just tell me everything. But first, loosen the ropes a little. They’re starting to chafe my skin.”
He watches me carefully before releasing a weary exhale. “Fine. Just a little, and only ’cause I love ya.”
Relief crashes through me when he steps behind the chair and works at the knots. The pressure eases enough that I might be able to slip free if I’m careful.
“That better?”
I nod.
“All right. I’ve got water too, if you’re thirsty.”
“No, I’m fine. But where exactly are we? Can you at least tell me that?”
He considers the question, his eyes narrowing before a grin spreads across his face. “We’re on the farm. Well…underneath it, anyway.”
A sharp breath snags in my chest.
“It’s a few miles from the house, and none of you had any idea I was building this bunker.” His grin sends nausea rolling through my stomach. “I knew once everyone realized you were missing, they’d search everywhere except here. Then, after they give up, I’ll take you away.”
“My family will never stop looking, and neither will Anton. We might need a different plan.”
He laughs. “I know what you’re trying to do. You’re smart, you know that?”
Shit. I’m terrible at this.
“No, I mean it. I don’t want anything to happen to you. You’re my brother.”
The word makes me lightheaded all over again, but it’s the only explanation that makes sense.
“Yeah.” He nods, clearly pleased. “I’m your brother. See? Smart.”
It didn’t exactly take a rocket scientist to figure that out, but if calling me smart keeps him talking, I’ll take it.
“You used to giggle whenever I told you something funny. You were only a baby when our parents died, but I never forgot you.” He leans against the wall and crosses his arms. “Mom and Dad loved you.”
His gaze lowers to the ground, and unease prickles across my skin. June said she never saw any other children, so is he lying to me?
He could be. He’s certainly unstable enough.
“Tell me more about them.”
“Well…” He scoffs. “They were great to you.”
A low buzzing fills my ears as dread spreads through me.
“Did…did they hurt you?”
His eyes close. “You were the perfect little girl who lived upstairs.” When they open again, the hatred in his stare chills me. “And I was the thing they kept hidden in the basement.”
“Oh my God.” A shudder tears through me, my lips trembling.
This can’t be true. He has to be lying.
His chuckle carries no humor. “You don’t remember because you were too young, but I remember everything. The beatings. Being starved. They would bring you downstairs just to show me what I could never have.”
He advances toward me, and every instinct screams to back away.
“I never blamed you. You were innocent. All I wanted was to take you away from them so we could be our own family, just you and me. You were the only good thing in that house.”
The walls seem to press closer, leaving my lungs aching with every shallow breath.
“When they died, I was happy. I hid under the bed while your father shot them, and I smiled the entire time.”
My breathing breaks into uneven gasps as I fight to keep myself together.
“But then they took you away from me. It wasn’t fair.” His hand knots in my hair and wrenches my head back. “Were you happy with them? Living in your perfect castle while I spent my entire life trying to survive?”
Tears gather in my eyes and spill past my lower lashes. “I’m sorry, Charlie. I’m so sorry.”
“They would have killed me too if they’d found me.”
“No, they wouldn’t have. They—”
“Of course they would have.” His tone climbs, each word cutting sharper than the last. “I was ten, not a baby like you. Men like your father don’t care if a child gets in their way. They would have put a bullet in me.”
Maybe it’s true, but right now isn’t the time to disagree with him.
“I’m sorry. You’re right.”
He releases my hair and gives a careless shrug. “It’s not your fault.”
But the rage burning in his eyes tells me he doesn’t believe that, and my fear burrows deeper.
“Someone called CPS after I’d been living on my own for a year.” His focus drifts past me, trapped in memories that have been eating him alive ever since. “They put me in the system when I was eleven, and those people were awful. So awful, Penny. You have no idea what they did to me.”
“I’m…” A sob tears through me. “I’m so sorry. None of what happened to you was right. Had I known, I would have helped you without question.”
I force myself to meet his stare, even with every instinct warning me not to.
“But keeping me here will only destroy whatever chance we have of being a family, and I don’t want that. I want you in my life, Charlie. You’re my real family.”
That hurts to say because no matter what my family did, they’re still mine too.
He releases a long breath. “I know what I’m doing, and I know you’ll come around. You just need time to accept that you’re never going to see any of them again.”
My hands quiver as more tears spill down my cheeks, and he reaches out to wipe them away.
“Don’t cry. They don’t deserve your tears. You should have always been with me, Penny. They just got to you before I could. But that’s okay. I can fix it.”
“Charlie…please. We can talk about this.”
“No.” His eyes narrow to venomous slits as he retreats one step, then another. “My name isn’t Charlie.” A smile spreads across his face, turning my skin ice cold. “You can call me Drew.”
“Okay, Drew.” I fight to keep the shaking from reaching my voice. “I’m glad you found me.”
His smile widens. “Don’t worry, Penny. Your big brother will protect you now.”
I nod even as my fear inches deeper. “I know. I know you will.”
“You don’t sound like it.” Suspicion creeps back into his expression. “You’re scared of me.”
“Can you blame me? You have me tied up in this awful place.” I swallow against the panic clawing at my throat. “I just want to go home. With you. Can you at least untie me so I can hug you?”
His entire demeanor changes, the anger draining away until he looks almost childlike. “You want to hug me?”
“You’re my brother, aren’t you?”
He stares at me long enough that hope begins to rise, and I almost believe I’ve gotten through to him.
“Yeah, but I don’t know if I trust you yet. You’ve been a Whitlock for so long that you don’t understand what it means to be a Hale.”
A shiver runs through me at the cruel slant of his mouth and the coldness in his eyes.
“I can learn.”
“You will.” His hand travels down my arm, and it takes everything in me not to recoil.
“They’re not very smart, your family.” He leans close to my ear, sounding calmer now, almost proud. “Getting hired was easy. My fake credentials were convincing. I’m very good with computers, Penny. I can find anyone.”
His warm breath touches my neck and revulsion crawls through me, but I bury it beneath the need to survive.
“That’s how I found our aunt.”
I swallow past the lump in my throat. “What about her?”
He straightens and begins pacing. “She was bad too. She knew what our parents were doing to me, and she never helped. So I killed her.”
Nausea surges into my throat. “You…you what?”
His grin widens. “I couldn’t let her have you. She would have filled your head with lies about me, and then I’d have lost you all over again.”
I’m going to be sick.
“It might only be you and me now, but that’s enough.” He stops in front of me, conviction bright in his eyes. “We don’t need anyone else. We can leave all this behind and start over somewhere no one knows us.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I need to get out of here, but how? Is there a damn ladder behind me? How can I check without making him suspicious?
When he resumes pacing, I steal a glance over my shoulder and spot one a few yards away. If I can get him back to the part of the bunker where he was when I woke up, I might have a chance.
“What are you doing?” He rushes toward me, sending my heart into a violent rhythm.
“Wh-what do you mean?”
“Are you trying to run away?”
“No. Of course not.” I fight to keep my expression calm. “I was only looking at how big this place is. I’m really impressed by what you built.”
One corner of Drew’s mouth lifts, but no warmth reaches his eyes. “You’re lying to me.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.” He sighs. “You’re a terrible liar, Penny.”
“I’m sorry.” Tears spill down my cheeks. “I’m just scared.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.” He crouches in front of me and grips my shoulders. “I love you. You’re my sister and I’m supposed to protect you, so please stop making this harder than it needs to be.”
“I’m not trying to make it harder. I just don’t like it here.” I swallow and search for another way to keep him talking. “Do you have somewhere for us to live?”
“Of course I do. It isn’t much, not compared to what you’re used to, but we’ll make do.” His hold loosens slightly. “We used to survive with less, didn’t we?”
“I was so little. I don’t remember.”
“Yes, you were. I remember when they brought you home from the hospital. They left me alone for days, locked downstairs with barely anything to eat.” His eyes settle on me with a devotion that flips my stomach. “But I loved you the instant I met you, and I knew you would be mine forever.”
Another rush of fear splinters through me.
“Drew…” I lean forward as far as the ropes around my ankles allow, trying to sound gentle despite the terror slicing through me. “I want us to be brother and sister. I do. So why don’t we leave this place and go wherever you planned to take me?”
He studies me far too long, making my pulse pound, then some of the tension eases from his face. “Not yet. We need to wait a little longer. When they least expect it, I’ll kill every last one of them.”
The room tilts around me, dizziness threatening to pull me under.
He can’t do that. I won’t let him.
“And when I’m finished…” he continues. “I’m going to kill that Russian you keep letting near you. It’s a shame I missed the first time.”
Oh my God.
No. No. No.
My nails bite into my palms as I stare up at him, fighting to keep the horror from showing on my face.
He tsks when fresh tears spill down my cheeks. “Don’t do that. Don’t cry over him. He’s bad for you, Penny. You can’t see it because he got inside your head, but I saw how he looked at you, like he was convinced you belonged to him.” His features harden. “But you’re mine. All mine.”
My throat constricts until every breath becomes a struggle.
“Trust me, I won’t miss next time.”
A sick wave churns through me, and I fight to hide how badly I want to scream for Anton, my father, anyone who might hear me.
But I’m alone, trapped in the one place none of them will ever think to look.
ANTON
It’s been over thirty minutes since she left, and I’ve barely moved, staring at the crushed photo of her that still lies on the floor.
Blyat. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. She was never supposed to find out.
My fingers snap around the dresser, and I shove it so violently that everything on top crashes to the floor. Glass breaks, wood scrapes, but none of it does a damn thing to ease the rage tearing through me.
I should have burned the fucking photo the second I realized I couldn’t kill her, and I should have lied to her. Instead, I told the truth.
Why? What the hell is wrong with me?
But I’ve never had a reason to lie to anyone before. I’ve never cared enough to spare anyone’s feelings.
I let out a rough curse as I drag both hands through my hair, turning toward the bed where Volchok watches me from the floor, judging me with those dark eyes.
I deserve it.
My phone is in my palm as I load the tracker connected to her phone. The last time I checked, she was at the farm. I need to go talk to her, even though I don’t think I can make it better. But I’m going to try.
I shove my feet into my sneakers, grab my keys, and head for the door, needing to see her.
And if the Whitlocks have a problem with that, I will put a bullet in each one of them myself.