Chapter 44
Palmer
Istared at the dark screen in Amos’s hand, even after the call had ended.
Roman’s voice still echoed in my head. It had felt like I could reach out and touch him—like he was right there, close enough to hold onto.
Now it was like that tether had been cut.
The urge to cry rose up, sharp and overwhelming, but I swallowed it down. I refused to give Amos that satisfaction. I knew exactly what he was. I’d read enough about him to understand what he liked.
He enjoyed it when women cried for him. When they screamed. When they struggled.
I wouldn’t give him that.
No matter what happened, I would do everything I could not to satisfy the monster.
“Well.” Amos slipped the phone into his pocket.
He grimaced at me like I was nothing more than a dead spider on his pristine desk.
“As much as I hate dealing with those godforsaken men,” he continued conversationally, “it’ll be worth the effort to finally get rid of them.”
My gut twisted.
“I thought you wanted the safe house?” I said.
Amos looked at me like I was a complete idiot.
“They would sooner die than give me the coordinates to that place,” he said calmly. “Which is exactly what they’re going to do.”
The air stalled in my lungs, making me dizzy.
“As soon as they’re disposed of,” he went on, “it won’t take long before I have access to my daughter again…and my lovely niece.”
My eyes widened in horror. Before I could speak, movement nearby pulled my attention. Nolan stepped forward.
I had almost forgotten he was there.
“I’m not exactly comfortable staying in a building rigged to burn to the ground, Anderson,” he muttered, voice low.
Amos flashed him an unsettling grin. “Don’t you worry,” he said lightly. “I have a way for us to get out.” He glanced at the fogged-over windows at the back of the room, facing outside. “There’s a fire escape out there. It’s intact and ready for use when we need it.”
Nolan didn’t seem reassured. If anything, he looked even more on edge.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, my voice sharper. “Are you going to set fire to this building?”
I stared at Nolan.
He shifted under my gaze, but he didn’t answer.
Amos laughed and reached out, patting Nolan on the shoulder.
Nolan flinched away.
“Nolan has been quite useful to me,” he said, delighted. “We used to work together, back in the day. Back before anyone knew who I was. When the town of Ember Hollow actually respected me.”
My mouth fell open as I looked between the two of them, stunned. “You worked together?”
Nolan’s expression strained, baring his teeth, but he didn’t defend himself.
Amos chuckled, sending goose bumps across my skin.
“I approached him many years ago about setting fires to certain properties I owned around the state,” Amos said casually. “He knew how to make it not appear like arson, and we would split the insurance money.”
His lips pulled back into an unsettling grin. “It was a win-win for both of us.”
Nolan blanched. “I never wanted to help you this time.”
Amos shrugged. “You made a deal with the devil, Nolan,” he said simply. “That’s not my fault.”
An unfamiliar rage lit inside me as my attention shifted to Nolan. Roman had trusted him. He was Hailey’s uncle, and he betrayed his own family.
“You could’ve stopped this,” I spat.
Amos was a monster, but Nolan—he was a coward. He was the reason Roman and his brothers were walking right into a trap.
Nolan’s green eyes flashed, reflecting only a fraction of the anger boiling in the pit of my stomach.
“You don’t understand,” he snapped, but there was no real bite behind it, just desperation. “You think I had a choice?”
“You always have a choice,” I shot back.
Something raw and ugly surfaced in his expression. “Not when someone like him owns every mistake you’ve ever made.”
I struggled against the bindings. I tried not to wince as they dug into my skin, drawing blood.
Amos watched the exchange like he was enjoying a show. “Such a fascinating thing, guilt,” he mused. “It makes people so…pliable.”
I glared at him, embracing the fire my rage had ignited because it felt safer than the cresting wave of fear. “You’re pathetic.”
The words seemed to echo around the room after they left my mouth. Nolan tensed, but Amos went still. So still he barely looked human at all.
Slowly, his gaze slid back to me. All amusement was wiped from his face, nothing but cold left behind.
“Oh?” His voice was soft, like the whisper of snow blowing in the bitter wind.
“You think this makes you powerful?” I pressed, my voice quaking, but no less sharp. “You’re hiding in an abandoned building, threatening people who actually have something to lose. That’s not power. That’s cowardice.”
They were both cowards.
Nolan sucked in a sharp breath.
Amos tilted his head, studying me. I’d probably gone too far, but I didn’t care. Maybe if he killed me now, Roman wouldn’t come.
My pulse thundered in my ears, but I forced myself not to look away.
Then, a smile crept over Amos’s mouth, showing his white teeth. “Nolan,” he said, voice low. “I think you should check that everything is prepared in the receiving area.”
Nolan shifted in my peripheral. “I already—”
“Now!” Amos barked.
Nolan didn’t say another word and exited the room.
That left Amos and me alone, and my burst of rage sputtered out under his icy expression.
He walked closer, each step measured, like he was stalking prey.
My throat started to close up, and every instinct I had was to thrash and try to get away. But blood already oozed from my wrists, and any further movement would only make it worse.
I stayed still, like a deer in the forest that knew it was being hunted.
As he moved, he took something out of his pocket that sent my mind spiraling in terror.
A knife.
Vomit burned at the back of my throat as he unsheathed it, gazing at the blade glinting in the dim electric lanterns hung around the room.
He sighed, almost longingly, as he reached the desk where I laid.
“It’s been so long since I’ve truly enjoyed myself,” he mused.
It was about six inches long, serrated on one side.
A knife exactly like the one described in the documentaries. The one he used to kill his many women victims.
I squeezed my eyes shut, focusing on not throwing up.
I shouldn’t have been so reckless and said those things. That wasn’t who I was.
Something cold pressed against my chin.
“Open your eyes,” Amos purred.
I did.
He used the knife to lift my gaze to meet his. He looked so inhuman, with his shiny skin that was pulled too tight.
He leaned toward me and whispered, “You’re feistier than I thought, hmm?”
His breath smelled like peppermint and cigarettes.
I stopped breathing through my nose as he glanced up and down my body.
“All you pretty butterflies get caught up in my web…”
He trailed one finger down the length of rope connecting my wrists to my ankles.
“Some of you think you’re brave…think if you beat your wings hard enough, you’ll free yourselves.”
He tsked, and I flinched.
“You only end up destroying your wings.”
He sighed. “That’s the thing about pretty things like butterflies…they’re so delicate. Fragile.” He licked his lips. “So easy to crush.”