“We’ll get you a new one. I promise. But we have to gonow, Lily.”
“Okay.”
The neighbors door slams and the dog stops barking.
Silence.
I can hear his cursing as he stomps back toward the house.
Fuck.
I duck back to the windows, hiding my massive form behind a curtain.
It’s not perfect, but it’ll do in a pinch.
“Izzy,” the little voice trembles. “Izzy, he’s coming back.”
“I know, baby. I know. Come on, we’ll go out the back?—”
The front door crashes open.
“ISABEL!”
The roar shakes the walls. I hear the little girl scream, hear Isabel shushing her, hear footsteps pounding up the stairs.
“You think I’m fucking stupid?” His voice is closer now, climbing. “Think I don’t know you’ve been sneaking around? The Duncans saw you creeping through their yard!”
“Lily, hide. In the closet, like we practiced. Don’t come out no matter what.”
“But Izzy?—”
“Do it!”
A door creaks, and I hear Isabel’s voice, steady despite the looming threat. “Leave her alone. I’m the one you want. Let me take her and we’ll go. You’ll never see either of us again.”
A bark of ugly laughter. “Let you take her? She’smine. My blood. You think I’m gonna let some ungrateful little bitch steal what belongs to me?”
“She doesn’t belong to anyone. She’s achild?—”
The crack of flesh on flesh. A cry of pain.
White-hot fury floods my veins.
I’m moving, pounding across the room toward the stairs.
“You always thought you were better than me,” he snarls. Another blow lands. “Too good for this family. Running off to that hospital, making me look like a fool?—”
“I fell down the stairs.” Isabel’s voice is thick, wet. “That’s what you told everyone, isn’t it? That’s what youalwaystell everyone?—”
Another crack. She cries out.
My jaw locks so tight I feel my teeth creak. My vision narrows to a single red point. Every muscle in my body is screaming for violence—the kind of violence I’ve spent years burying, years pretending I outgrew.
I’m going to kill the fucker.
I hit the top of the stairs.
He’s standing over her, massive and mean, fist raised for another blow. Isabel is on the floor, arms protecting her head, blood streaming from her nose. The closet door is cracked open an inch—a small, terrified eye peering through.
