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“Yes, and he loves you.”

36

CHASING GHOSTS

ASHER

My breath caught as I watched Holland’s body convulse once before he became still. He choked on his own blood and died.

The silence his death brought was cathartic. “This is for you, Riles. This is my apology. I hope you’ll accept it.”

“I know she will,” Diya said, her hand on my shoulder.

The darkness within me parted. It hadn’t been this clear in my head for a long time.

I stood up, glaring at Ellis. She was like a statue of flesh and blood, but behind her eyes were a million emotions. Rage. Fear. Helplessness. Boiling over each other.

Oh, she felt it all.

But she would never get the chance to scream again.

I walked toward her and saw the fear in her eyes. “You’ll live with no power, no control. You’ll despise yourself as time passes, but you’ll live,” I said, unshackling her from the chair. As I wiped my fingerprints from my dagger, I could feel her desperate gaze on me, trying to figure out what came next for her.

I pressed the weapon into her trembling fingers before tilting the chair. She fell right beside Holland, and I put the dagger onto the floor right next to her.

Her eyes widened in panic as they landed on me. She wanted out of this, wanted to die… anything but to face the consequences of her sins.

“You’re a woman and you did horrible things to those girls..,” I shook my head. “That was your worst sin. You could have just killed them, and it would have been the most merciful thing. But you didn’t.”

Her chest heaved, and she squeezed her eyes shut, a tremor running through her.

I stepped back, far enough to let her suffer in her silence. My eyes flickered to Diya. She grabbed Ellis’s gun from the floor.

“Who is this registered to, Ellis? Holland? You?” Diya asked, handing me the gun. “Doesn’t matter. It’s all the same.”

I took the gun from her with a sigh. I aimed the gun at Ellis’s left knee and pulled the trigger.

Ellis’s body jerked violently as the bullet tore into her knee.

“This is the punishment you deserve.” I shot her on the right knee next.

This was for Riley. For the girls. For all of them.

I looked around the bunker. Maybe they would rot in here and nobody would find them. That would be one way to go.

“Let’s get the fuck out before the sheriff comes sniffing—” Before Layne could finish, the trap door opened again. “Fuck. I jinxed it, didn’t I? Shit, this isn’t good.”

Vincent flinched, eyes wide, taking in the horror before him as he came down the ladder. Blood drained from his face as he stumbled back, fists curling at the sides. “What…”

“He kidnapped me and tried to rape me and kill me,” Diya said, pointing to the mess of bodies on the floor.

Vincent flinched, before turning to look at me. “I got your text and met Jonah,” Vincent said. “He-he told me about what Holland did. How the hell did I miss that? I’m a cop.” He exhaled sharply, his face twisted with guilt. “Did Holland—did he really do that to Riley, to Millie?” He closed his eyes. “Jonah told me… how he kept us away from each other. Holland made sure we didn’t trust each other.”

“He’s clever, and he manipulated you and Jonah. It was one of the few ways he controlled you. He told me that he broke your toys and Jonah’s, and it wasn’t enough when he grew up,” Diya said, her eyes warm.

Vincent’s hands tightened into fists. “I always thought Jonah was the one who broke my toys, the one who killed my dog…” Vincent glared at his brother with disgust. “Holland did it and he blamed it on Jonah. I should’ve seen it. I should’ve figured it out.”

“He raped Riley, and they poisoned her with mercury. And she… Ellis killed her.” I bit my lip, blinking back the tears.