They’re wrong. Because the devilI knowwill probably kill me if I stay. He’ll definitely kill me if he finds me before I’ve made it to where we need to go. But staying will just delay the inevitable.
That’s what’s brought me here, to the rocky Maine coast in the dead of night, with two little girls that monster will never have.
He only knows about the one, anyway. I’ve kept so much of my life from him, including the details of my pregnancy. Details like the fact that my body decided to releasetwoeggs that night he took what I’d kept from him for so long.
But none of that matters now.
All that matters is getting them away from him, forever.
“Come on, Lydia!” Agatha calls out over the wind as we start to run toward the approaching men.
I’d be truly lost without her.
She’s been like a mother to me these last few years, and the only reason I’ve had the courage to do this. It's even better that she’s coming with us.
We’re going to start a new life, the four of us. I don’t know where yet, or when, because it’s going to involve hiding for a while to stay off my husband’s radar.
But the Obsidian Syndicate has resources, and The Marquis has promised to take us in, for a very fair price, too. One I’mmorethan willing to pay.
He wants my husband’s secrets, so he can bring him under heel.
I want to run away from that husband.
It's so simple and elegant: I tell him everything I know about the inner workings of the Marchetti family, and he gives Agatha, the girls and I safe passage, shelter, and new lives.
I wince a little as I glance at Agatha, jogging beside me along the furious beach. She doesn’t know what’s about to happen: that I’m about to make the single hardest choice of my life, a choice no mother should have to make.
But I have to, for little Lark and Dove.
You can’t put all your eggs in one basket.
“Lydia Marchetti?!” one of the men in black wetsuits, like a SEAL team, says, flashing a light in our faces.
“Bancroft!” I scream over the wind, squinting into the glare. “Lydia Bancroft.”
I’m done with the name that was forced upon me. I’m going back to the one I was given at birth.
He nods, then shines his light on Dove in my arms, then at Lark, bundled up against Agatha.
“Boat’s moored just off the breakers,” he barks, turning and pointing into the black surf. “Which two of you are coming?”
Agatha’s face crumples.
I’m so sorry.
“Wait!” she screams over the roaring thunder. “There’s been a mistake! The agreement was for all four?—”
“This is safer!” I yell. “Youknowhe’s looking for us! If we’re all together?—”
“No!” she cries out, shaking her head madly. “No, God,no! Lydia!”
“I need you to promise me something!” I scream. “Keep her safe from him!Whatever it takes, Agatha!!”
The wind howls, the rain lashing my face mixing with my tears.
“Lydia—!”
“Just keep her safe!!!”
