“No. I’ll be here and I won’t allow anyone to open the door. Then you can play your game when you return.” He squeezes again. “Do as Asher would while you’re here.”
32
KANE
Iwas taken out of the creepy cabin with a hood over my head.
It’s only removed once I’m on the jet, the hum of the engine vibrating through the seats. Dread sinks its claws into me as I blink into the light.
Rowan isn’t sitting opposite me.
It’s Lennox, tilting his head so I can see his neck.
“Turn the fuck around.” I stand, ready to take my chances with the drop.
He wraps his gloved hand around my wrist, tugging me into the seat. “An adjustment has been made.”
Kid is going to be alone. I left him a video on my phone, promising I’d be back, because he was still asleep. Lennox promised me he’d be there, that he’d make sure he wasn’t scared when he wakes up alone.
“You lied to me,” I seethe.
“That wasn’t my intention. Like I said, an adjustment was made.” He places his phone on the table between us, sliding it across so I can see Kid happily playing with my phone. I don’t even need sound to know he’s whispering, “Butterflies,” tohimself as he gently moves his finger around the screen while he lays on his side.
The next breath becomes easier when he flicks to another screen, showing all the locks are engaged and the system is locked from anyone else accessing it.
Easier again when he allows me to watch my kid climb off the bed to curiously look into my bag on the chair. He takes out a sandwich, smiling at it before he takes a bite and goes back to watching his face in the middle of the butterflies.
I spend the entire flight watching over him. Lennox doesn’t say anything until we land in a small, private airstrip. He pockets his phone as he stands, beckoning for me to follow him. It’s all too normal without the masked guards lining the steps. Even the driver opening our doors is dressed in a suit, like we haven’t left a building full of torture.
It's discombobulating to witness true evil while the world continues turning. On the island, it felt like the world had stopped in outrage of all Helene had done. Now, it’s all…normal.
The privacy glass between the front cab and the back stops me seeing the time as people run through a park we pass. People going about their lives, laughing with their friends, walking to work, couples holding hands. Normal. Painfully fucking normal while the buttery leather seats accept me as if I’m one of them, who’s profited off evil.
We slow down due to the traffic building ahead. If this is how I’m reacting when I grew up in normalcy, how will it be for Kid to adjust? He’ll be terrified of everything around him. How will Delilah cope after everything?
We’ll need to find somewhere secluded enough we’ll all feel comfortable while slowly building connections with the world.
The driver pulls through a cordoned-off area to an underground garage entrance. Two guards are at each side of the gates, doing a visual inspection of the car before they raise thegate, allowing us through. Lennox doesn’t react to any of it as he stares at the privacy screen like he can see through it. We stop in front of a waiting elevator, and the privacy glass lowers an inch as Lennox says, “Enjoy your afternoon, James. We’ll be staying in the suite for the remainder of our trip.”
“Thank you, sir. I’ll have my phone on hand if you need anything. Have a good stay.”
“It’s not necessary, spend the time with your children.” He gets out as the security guard steps away from holding the elevator.
I catch sight of my reflection in the tinted windows—eyes bloodshot, my hoodie creased while Lennox wears a three-figure suit and an equally expensive overcoat. There’s not even a small pill on the back of it as we step into the elevator. The security guard doesn’t follow us when Lennox nods his head, and they press the button for the penthouse while outside the metal box.
“A barber will meet you in our suite,” he says, adjusting his gloves.
My mind is in a daze, moving from space to space without really absorbing the information as we exit the elevator. The glare from the sparkling marble sideboards makes me squint, so I stare at the parquet floor. It doesn’t get any better when we walk through the suite to a large bathroom, every inch covered in white marble.
The gold inlays are even brighter as a barber pauses setting up his station at the vanity. “Is it the usual today?” he asks, holding his clippers like a weapon.
“Not today,” Lennox says, lightly pushing me forward. “It’s for my nephew.”
They shoot the shit—still normal. I’m like an alien who doesn’t understand the world as I sit on the adjustable tub chair. The murmurs of their conversation can’t translate to words while I watch them interact as the barber cuts my hair. Whenhe’s done, he places a hot towel over the lower portion of my face and neck.
Delilah, Kid, our baby.
Those three are why I don’t fucking scream. I need to make sure they all have a life.
