Sparkles begin to shine in the darkness behind my eyelids, and I know I’m close to passing out. If I do, my body will breathe for me, and I won’t be able to stop it. That thought slices through the panic with terrifying clarity. My time is almost up.
Lee. Lee’s going to find me dead, killed a few rooms away from him. The horror of that lends me the smallest amount of self-control.Think.
I could hear their voices before so they should hear me if I can make enough noise. I can’t scream, but I kick toward the small table at the foot of the tub that holds the large ceramic ashtray and my bath caddy, desperation giving me strength Ididn’t know I had. The sparkles grow brighter and my lungs seize in an involuntary spasm that almost makes me inhale. I have to consciously fight it by clamping down and forcing my mouth to stay closed. I can feel myself slipping, my strength draining, and my movements growing more difficult and sluggish.
One last desperate kick connects solidly with the edge of the table, and I feel it disappear a second before a muffled crashing sound reaches me.
The hands on me suddenly release, and my head jerks up out of the water. For a terrifying second, I can’t remember how to breathe. My muscles won’t obey, remaining locked down. I force myself not to try so hard, to let my body take over, and a few seconds later, it works.
The first inhale is full of razor blades but it’s the best feeling in the world.
I suck in breath after breath, choking and sobbing. My body folds forward as my lungs struggle to catch up and my throat burns. I’m dimly aware of water sloshing around me and Lee shouting my name as strong arms pull me out of the tub.
CHAPTER 21
LEE
A crash cutsthrough the living room, silencing the three of us, and I’m on my feet in an instant.
Silver.I shout her name, and fear speeds up my steps when she doesn’t answer. I draw my gun as I run down the hallway with Landon and Justus right behind me.
The bathroom is chaos. There’s water everywhere, splashed across the tile and dripping from the edges of the tub. The table is overturned and bottles lie scattered, their contents leaking out. Jagged chunks of ceramic lie in the puddles.
Silver sits in the tub, coughing hard, gasping and sobbing. Her hair is plastered to her face, and she grips the rim so tightly her knuckles are white.
I haul her out of the tub and she clutches at me. “I’ve got you. It’s okay.” Landon throws me a towel to wrap around her. She coughs and sucks in air again.
“What happened?” I demand.
“Someone was here. They held me under.” She’s starting to catch her breath, but her entire body is shaking, and finger shaped bruises are blooming on her shoulder. My vision wavers as rage slams into me at the sight.
“Did you breathe in the water?” She shakes her head.
“The windowsill is wet,” Justus says. He pulls out a flashlight and shines it outside. “There’s a footprint angled toward the woods.”
“Did you see him?” Landon asks Silver.
“No, he was behind me.”
“Landon, stay with her,” I order. “Make sure all the doors and windows are locked and shoot any motherfucker you see.”
“I’ve got her. Go.”
Justus and I dart out the back door toward the woods, and I grab my ax from the woodpile. Rage fueled adrenaline sharpens my senses and turns the forest into another world. Sounds seem amplified, the scent of the pines unusually sharp. Thin moonlight occasionally peeks through the quick moving cloud cover, briefly revealing our surroundings.
Justus moves beside me, gun in hand, his flashlight angled low with his thumb half covering the beam so it doesn’t carry. The ax hangs heavy and familiar in my hands.
“Do you have a knife?” I ask, keeping my voice low.
“A fucking big one,” he replies, patting his waistband.
“Good. Shoot if you have to, but the neighboring cabins will hear,” I warn him.
“As a last resort,” he agrees, scanning the ground for any signs that we’re headed the right way.
Recent snowmelt followed by rain has left everything damp and soggy. The sound of dripping water sneaks through the silence, a reminder of what happened back at the cabin. Every few steps, my mind drags me back there. The bright bathroom light, her panicked gasps for breath, the water sloshing and her hands clawing at me as I pulled her out of the tub.
This is a hunt, not just a pursuit. I’m going to kill this fucker with my bare hands.
