Ten years old and already full to the brim with her own personality. I couldn’t be more proud—or horrified. If my mom were here, she’d elbow me in the ribs and tell me that Skye’s just like me when I was that age.
Skye washes her bowl and dries it before she continues. “My uncle did tell me that I have to behave for you. And if I did that, you’d take me back to him. Apparently, he’s doing some important research for his next book and needed me out of the way, and that you’d keep me safe.Whateverthatmeans...” Her voice trails off at the end. She looks at me with confusion and fear in her eyes. I can tell she’s holding back tears, using humor as a deflection so we don’t see how scared she truly is.
I want to tell her I’ll never let anything else happen to her.
I want to grab her, hold her, and never let her go.
I want to throw myself at her and beg her forgiveness for giving her up all those years ago.
But right now, I’ll settle for being the strong adult she needs.
I step toward her, pasting a semblance of a smile on my lips, which isn’t easy to do when all I actually want to do is cry. “Hey, Skye,” I say, my voice breaking slightly before I set myself straight again. I kneel and gently grab her hands. “I promise I’m going to do whatever it takes to get where you feel safest.” I squeeze her hands, and she squeezes mine back, sniffling loudly, trying to hold back her own tears.
The front door bursts open, the door frame exploding and showering us in wood splinters and dust. I throw Syke behind me just as a man dressed in all black and wearing a mask strolls in.
“Well, isn’t this a touching sight?” The man takes another loud step into the room, making the hardwood floor of the cabin creak under us.
My jaw drops when I see the axe. I grip Skye’s hand harder, pushing her further behind me before risking a glance at Lochlan. The fear and anger written all over his features are enough to confirm that this is the guy who has been toying with him since he woke up in this heinous nightmare.
Lochlan’s Axeman has found us.
Chapter thirty
Skye whimpers, grabbing my waist and burying herself into me. She’s holding me tight against her like she’s trying to claw her way back into my womb. It’s almost as if some primal part of her remembers me and knows that I was once her haven.
Lochlan has moved from his spot next to the couch and has slowly made his way to my side. His body quivers in what I think is anger, but I’m too nervous to move a muscle and check his expression. All I can focus on are Skye’s terrified noises and her grip on me.
The Axeman lets out an amused, sinister laugh as his bright eyes take the three of us in before he confidently crosses the room, striding past us to the fridge tucked into the corner of the small kitchen.
I turn my body in sync with his so I can keep eyes on him, forcing Skye to step with me, and farther from him.
The Axeman says nothing as he tears open the fridge. My nerves jump with anxiety and terror as I watch him. I pull Skye closer. The Axeman grabs a water bottle, slams the fridge closed, then lifts himself onto the butcher block counter top, facing the three of us, arranging his mask slightly, before taking a large, lengthy gulp from the bottle—the plastic crackles and pops as he chugs over half of it.
Lochlan steps forward, his own axe squeezed tightly in his fists, and raises it above his head.
The Axeman pulls the bottle from his lips and glares at him. “Don’t even think about it. You harm a single hair on my head,” he gloats. “And they pay the price. My accomplice will make sure of that.”
My stomach drops. Accomplice? What accomplice?
“Now,” the Axeman says, jumping from the counter. “Give me the girl.” He glowers down at me. “I won’t ask twice.”
Skye cries quietly at his words, clutching me tighter.
“No.” Lochlan’s voice is laced with pure fury. A tone so unlike his usual, chipper self. “You can’t have her.”
The Axeman laughs, then steps toward me menacingly. The anger in his bright blue eyes could ignite the entire forest surrounding us with just one glance.
Lochlan lunges at him, screaming. “I said NO!” His face contorts with uncontrolled rage as his fist makes contact with the Axeman’s chin.
The window behind us explodes.
A loud, tortured, piercing cry of pain erupts into the air.
The world is a blur of noise and motion as someone grabs my arm and tugs me, forcing me back to my feet and out of the cabin. I hit the front steps, tripping over my own feet, falling to the ground hard. My head slams onto the wooden handrail, rendering my senses useless. The world spins as I grapple to comprehend my surroundings.
“RUN!”
I look up and see Lochlan. He’s pulling on me, his face covered in blood. When I notice he’s holding Skye, the terror in my chest eases. Her arms are wrapped around his neck, and he’s holding her with one arm as he reaches out to me again with the other. “Get up! We need to hide from the shooter!”
