Silence settles back in, and I sit on the edge of the bed, trying to steady my breaths.
Being chosen isn’t what you think it is,her words repeat in my head.
I press my palms against my eyes.
It’s ridiculous. It has to be. Because if it isn’t…
Then my entire life has been a lie.
Kane
The late-morning light bleeds through the narrow cabin windows, showcasing the particles of dust floating in the beams, and the second night of being a kidnapper has officially passed. On the couch, Kylie is drinking a cup of coffee, tucked into Rook’s side, and Cal sits across from them.
Blair is upstairs, locked inside my bedroom, and still asleep in my bed.
“Are you ready to hear the good news or the bad news?” Cal tosses out. For the past twelve hours, he’s been on a surveillance run, trying to get ahold of any intel he could. We’d prefer not to be sitting ducks if the elites have sniffed out this cabin and are planning on knocking down our fucking door.
“Honestly, I’m surprised there’s even good news,” I joke to lighten the mood, and Rook snorts. Truth be told, if Cal is saying there’s bad news, that means it’s pretty fucking bad.
“Let’s hear the good news first,” Rook comments.
“They haven’t sniffed out the cabin yet,” Cal updates. “They have no idea we’re here.”
“But they’re looking for us,” I say, and he nods.
“Huntingus,” Cal corrects. “They hit up Concordia…”
Rook raises an eyebrow. “And?”
“They destroyed everything,” Cal answers through a firm jaw. “My house, my shop, both of your places, it was burned to a crisp after they ransacked all of our shit.”
“Well, that’s a real kick to the balls,” I comment and scrub a hand down my face. “Though, I know I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s the whole reason we came out here in the first place.”
“I guess it’s a good fucking thing we’ve all been hoarding cash since we turned eighteen,” Rook acknowledges. Real talk, the three of us aren’t rich like the fucking elites, but our experiences in foster care instilled at an early age never to count on anyone but ourselves.
And when we got jobs and started living on our own, that mentality stuck with us. Between the three of us, we could stay out here in this cabin for the next sixty years and be fine. Now, that lifestyle doesn’t include fucking private chefs and staff and drivers like Blair’s, but when material shit doesn’t matter to you, it’s a satisfying way to live.
“Welp.” I huff out a laugh. “I guess it’s also a good thing we learned early on not to stuff it in some bank account we could be traced to either. Almost as if we’ve been preparing our whole adult lives for this. I mean, fuck, we even purchased this land with aliases. It’s kind of crazy when I think back on it.”
“Yeah.” Rook looks down at Kylie, and I don’t miss the way his whole fucking heart is in his eyes. “Fate is smarter than we are.Though, that’s not a surprise. The shocking part is that she chose us as a vessel.”
As I laugh at his joke, Kylie just snuggles into him further, unwilling to interrupt us but wanting to be close to her mate.
When I watch the two of them together, it only makes my chest ache with the need to have that very same thing with Blair. She’s my whole fucking world, even if she keeps trying to convince herself to hate me.
“What about Blair?” I ask Cal. “Did you stop in Boston?”
“I did.” He shakes his head and runs a hand through his hair. “And I didn’t hear a single fucking peep.”
I furrow my brow. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, her family is going about their lives as if it’s business as usual. Her face isn’t plastered on a missing persons poster or showcased on the national news. There isn’t a grid search or a town meet point. It’s as if she isn’t missing at all.”
My jaw drops, offended. I may be the fuck who took her, but I’d sure as shit have the grace to be concerned if I were the one she was taken from. “What the fuck? Why aren’t they trying to find their freaking daughter? I dropped two bodies in their driveway. I didn’t clean up. I left their car and everything.”
“I don’t know yet.” He shakes his head. “But I’ll keep trying to find out.”
If Blair knew that her family was just living their lives like normal, I know it would break her fucking heart.
