Chapter Twenty
Valen
The bank had been a nightmare. Three fucking hours of paperwork and signatures and waiting for managers who couldn’t find their own asses. By the time I signed the last document, my jaw ached from clenching it so hard.
As I drove back to the cabin, something else was eating at me. Seraphine’s text had been strange, almost incomplete.
OK, don’t be upset with me. Alright, you’re definitely going to be upset, so I’ll apologize up front.
Then nothing. Complete fucking silence for the last hour despite my obsessive texting. My hands were sweating as I gripped the wheel tighter, driving as fast as I could back home.
This wasn’t like her. Even when she was being stubborn or reckless, she would always answer me. Always had her bratty comeback ready.
The mountain road curved ahead of me, the woods seeming like they were closing in on me.
A million different scenarios ran through my mind.
Maybe her phone had died. Maybe she’d gotten distracted with painting and wasn’t checking her phone.
Maybe she’d burned the cabin down and I would find a pile of ashes when I pulled up.
I didn’t care. She could burn everything I owned as long as she was OK.
A worse thought kept popping into my mind, no matter how hard I tried not to think of it. What if Cyrus had gotten out and…?
I shook my head, trying to erase the paranoid thought. No, he was locked up in federal custody. In a cell where he fucking belonged.
So why did my gut tell me something was wrong? Why couldn’t I shake this feeling?
The cabin came into view, looking exactly as I’d left it hours ago. But something felt off the second I stepped out of the truck. It was like the woods were afraid to breathe. Everything was too quiet… too still.
“Seraphine, I’m back,” I hollered as I pushed open the front door.
Nothing.
Her coffee cup sat on the counter, half-empty and cold. Also on the counter were her sketching supplies. A half-finished drawing lay next to her pencils.
“Little lamb?” I called again as I moved through the cabin, checking each room. “Where are you?”
The bedrooms were empty, the bathroom too. I ran outside to check my workshop and found that empty also.
Panic started to build as I ran back inside, looking for any sign of her.
That was when I saw the note folded neatly on the coffee table, my name written across it. I picked it up, somehow already knowing that whatever I read was going to destroy me.
Valen, now that Cyrus’s been captured, I need to find myself, who I really am. I’m sorry, but we can’t be together. Don’t look for me. Xoxo, Seraphine.
The words hit me like a bullet to the heart. I read them over and over, each time my heart shattering more and more until it broke.
She was gone.
She’d waiting until Cyrus had been captured, until she didn’t need me anymore, and then she’d left. Just like a small part of me had always feared she would. Just like everyone else did when they saw the monster living inside of me.
I sank into the couch, crumpling the note in my fist. The cabin felt more like a tomb, but I wouldn’t flee. I’d let myself rot in here because maybe that was what I deserved.
My gaze traveled around the room; each corner reminded me of her. Her laugh, her heart, the way her body pressed against mine on this very couch every single night. The way she’d looked at me and told me I made her feel safe.
And all of it had been a lie.
Self-loathing ripped through me, the pain of knowing she was gone almost ripping me in half. I should have told her I loved her. Should have said it when I’d had the chance. There had been so many opportunities, but I’d been afraid she’d run from me. At least she would have known how I felt.
I pulled out my phone, desperate to talk to her. To tell her I loved her and to beg for her to come back. I knew she wasn’t going to answer, but I still needed to try.
Her voicemail picked up right away and I hesitated but decided to leave her a message. Maybe she’d hear it and come back, or at least call me.
“Little lamb, I know you want some time to yourself, but I just need you to know one thing. I love you.” My throat choked up, and I cleared it, making myself continue. “I just… if you come back, we can talk about things. Please, Seraphine.”
I felt raw inside, like my heart had been ripped clean out of my chest. My head fell back against the couch, and I closed my eyes against the empty feeling trying to swallow me whole.
I’d survived five years in prison telling myself I’d get my revenge when I got out. Telling myself one day I would make them all pay for what they’d done to me, for the life they had stolen.
But this… this was so much worse. I’d fallen in love with her. Had actually believed that I was enough and that she would want to stay with me.
I’d thought I knew what hell was like back in prison.
But that was nothing compared to how I felt now.
I wasn’t sure how long I sat there, staring up at nothing, but at some point, a familiar smell started to make my nose twitch.
Chemicals and pepper.
Bear spray.
I sat up, the heel of my boot knocking against something metal under the couch. Why the hell was the smell of bear spray in here?
I dropped to the floor, peering underneath the couch. Sure enough, there was a can of bear spray down there, the nozzle still slightly damp. But that wasn’t what made my breath catch.
Next to it was Seraphine’s phone.
The screen was cracked, like it had been thrown or dropped hard. I tapped the screen, the Do Not Disturb icon glowing back at me. But it was here. Her phone was here, but she wasn’t. If she’d left, why wouldn’t she have taken her phone with her?
All of my senses were on full alert as I moved through the cabin again, this time looking for anything out of place or signs of a struggle. My eyes widened when I got to the kitchen and saw the dark spot on the floor. I knelt and touched it with my finger.
Blood.
Fresh fucking blood.
“Seraphine,” I whispered as a new type of fear started to spread through my body.
I was already grabbing my guns, knife and keys and running back to my truck. I’d been so obsessed with finding her in the house when I’d gotten back that I’d missed the different set of tire tracks in the snow.
And two sets of footprints. One set big like a man’s, and the other smaller, but they almost looked too big to be Seraphine’s. That meant I was probably dealing with at least two perpetrators.
At least two people who had taken her.
Who had hurt her.
And I was going to fucking kill them for it.
I backed out of the driveway, heading back down to the main road. They couldn’t have gotten far because it had only been an hour since she’d texted me. Fifteen minutes later, and I was at the main road. I could go either east or west.
I banged my hands against the steering wheel in frustration.
Think, Valen. Fucking think.
Pulling out Seraphine’s phone, I unlocked it and checked through her recent calls. I hit the call button next to Detective Flores’s name, sending a silent prayer he would answer.
“Ashford? About time. I’ve been calling you for hours,” Detective Flores said, his voice on edge.
“It’s Valen Creed. Seraphine’s been taken. I need your help.” As much as I hated asking the police for anything, I had to take that risk.
Flores let out a deep breath, muttering a slew of curses under his breath. “There’s something you should know.”
“What?” Panic gripped my chest, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
“The suspect we arrested isn’t your brother. His real name is Franklin Morris. DNA results came back hours ago. He’s another patient from Willowbrook. He… altered his appearance to look like your brother. I’m sorry, Creed, but your brother is still at large.”
My world seemed to tilt and twist, and I gripped the phone so hard I thought it would break.
Cyrus.
It was fucking Cyrus. He’d taken her, I knew it.
And then it hit me like a bolt of lightning. I turned left down the road, heading to the only place I knew Cyrus would have taken her.
“Look, I’m going to send some units to your cabin.”
“No,” I growled, pressing on the gas harder. “They went to the Kappa Theta house. I know it. It’s where it all began.”
“Fuck, OK. Don’t do anything stupid. I’m calling for backup now. Wait for us, Creed, don’t get yourself killed.”
“It could already be too late.” The thought sent a chill through me as I blasted down the road. I had to get to her. Save her from my demented brother.
I ended the call and drove toward the place where this nightmare had begun. One thing was for sure.
Cyrus was a dead man.
Five minutes later, the condemned sorority house was in my field of vision. It sat there like a rotting corpse, a horrific monument everyone wanted to forget. I parked a block over and made sure my guns were loaded as I ran over.
Everything in me screamed this could be a trap, but I didn’t care. If Seraphine was in there, then I had to get to her.
The back door hung open, creaking in the wind. I slipped inside, listening for any voices. The house smelled of decay and fire damage, making my skin crawl. Down the hall I heard a voice, a woman’s voice, but it wasn’t Seraphine.
I crept down the hall, peering into a bathroom. A young woman with dark hair stood hunched over a first-aid kit, muttering to herself. Through the reflection of the mirror, I could see her face was swollen, eyes red.
The bear spray.
This bitch had hurt Seraphine.
She looked up when I entered the bathroom, recognition flashing over her face. “What the hell?” Her eyes widened when I pointed the gun at her head, her hands going up in the air. The first-aid kit dropped to the floor, and I kicked it out of the way.
“Where is she?” I kept my voice low, calm, even though I wanted to put a bullet right through her brain.
“Downstairs… the basement,” she whispered, her hand slowly moving toward the sink where a knife lay on the corner. But I didn’t give her a chance to grab for it.