“Got it,” I pull out my cell and type in the address to my maps, pulling up the directions. Roman does a one-eighty, swinging the truck back around and follows the GPS, putting the pedal to the floor.
“Seven minutes out,” I watch us move on the map, getting closer and closer to where I’m sure they’re going to be. My heart is in my throat, my stomachchurning with every possible outcome. What are we going to find when we finally make it there?
The track we drive down is deserted, overgrown, but it looks as if another car has passed through here recently, fresh tracks in the dirt, broken branches and crushed vegetation.
Roman slams on the brakes when we reach the end. At first glance, it looks like it leads nowhere until I spot tracks that lead directly into the woods and up an incline.
“There,” I point out.
“We won’t fit through there.” Roman snaps. He’s right. Darcy’s SUV is smaller than Roman’s truck; it would fit through that gap, but we won’t.
“Then we go on foot,” I shove out the car, keeping my fingers tight around my cell. We’re so fucking close.
“Split up,” I order my brother, “Move in on either side. Find her.”
Roman slips his gun into the back of his jeans, and we move together into the woods silently.
I don’t know when he veered off, but silence descends quickly. The air is damp here, colder since the sun can’t penetrate the thick canopy above my head. I move as silently as I can, pulling myself up using the trees around me, careful where I step. The tracks are fresh, skid marks in the dirt where Darcy struggled to get her vehicle up the incline.
It feels like an age passes by the time I spot the cabin, a log structure built for the purpose of seclusion. Probably intended as a retreat, but is now used for a nightmare.
I’m coming, Honeybee.I repeat the words in my head, steady my breathing, and calm myself. If I allow myself to spiral, I’ll be of no use to Juni. She needs me now more than ever.
A gunshot rips through the woods, the echo bouncing off the trees and vibrates inside my skull.
“No!” I roar, breaking out into a sprint up the hill. I’m so fucking close and yet it feels as if the cabin just keeps moving further and further away. I can still hear the shot; it’s burned into my brain.
Finally, I reach the cabin, but I don’t wait as I ram the door open and come face to face with Darcy.
Her wide eyes meet mine, a gun in her hand, her hair a mess and clothes askew. Behind her, Juni is on the ground, tied up but alive.
“What have you done?” The grip on my weapon tightens.
“Silas,” Darcy blinks, “I saved her. See! I saved her!”
She points to the body I hadn’t seen before, blood pooled beneath it. She killed Calvin.
“Silas!” Juni rushes out. “It’s a lie! Don’t listen to her!”
“I know,” I don’t look to Juni, not yet. I have to keep my sights on Darcy.
Her face twists, the mask slipping away, and she swings her gun on Juni, “Shut up.”
“Darcy,” I purposely keep my voice calm, even. “Put the gun down.”
She doesn’t; she keeps it pointed at Juni, but she turns to me, a coldness to her I’ve never seen before. This isn’t the woman I’ve worked with for the past few years. This is someone else.
“Don’t you see?” She cocks her head slowly.
“See what?” I edge closer to her.
“Stay where you are,” she swings her weapon on me, pointing it at my chest, and that’s exactly what I want.
“What do I need to see?” I ask again, putting my hands up.
“Us,” she chews on her bottom lip, “us, Silas. It’s meant to be us.”
“Why?”
