Ducking low, I scampered across the field toward the front door. My feet fell lightly onto the porch and, quietly as possible, I turned the knob.
I had no idea what I was going to do if Abram had locked it behind him. Or if he was standing right on the other side of the door. I had never been the sort who thought things through. But the house was in the middle of nowhere, so it wasn’t likely he was expecting company, or that he had come all the way out here to sit the living room.
Luckily for me, the door sprang open. After slipping inside, I crouched down and looked around cautiously, praying Abram wasn’t standing there watching me. But the living room was as empty today as it had been the other night, though the quickly setting sun tinted the entire room orange and red.
I listened for sounds, trying to gauge where Abram might be. Suddenly, heavy footsteps stomped from a back room. Crap. They were headed this way. I sprang to my feet, bolted toward the steps, and pushed up them, hoping to get out of sight before he found me.
I shuddered as my feet fell across the staircase. The last time I had been on them, I had been tumbling down like a discarded sequin on a McCartney original. Shaking my head, I moved into the upstairs hallway just before Abram crossed into the living room.
Pressed against the wall, I found myself guarded in shadow. The sun would be down soon, and getting home from here would prove troublesome. But I needed answers. And right now was the only time I could get them.
Sorry, Lulu.
Abram stopped in the living room, and I shivered, thinking he would move up the stairs. I darted farther into the hallway. Remembering the layout from the last time I was here, I knew there were only two rooms at the end of the hall. One of them was the room I had almost died in and the other had been locked the last time I was here.
Now, with little bit of daylight remaining, I could actually see the door. And when I did, I nearly choked on air. The door was stamped with a similar crescent moon symbol to the mysterious room inside The Castle.
Realization slammed into me with a sickening thud. How could I have forgotten the way the doorknob had burned me that night? Of course Abram had something to do with all this. I was just the idiot girl who needed a damn symbol to spell it out for me. But that still didn’t explain what was going on. I needed to hide before Abram came upstairs. I needed to find answers before he found me.
I moved toward the marked door, knowing it would probably be locked but also knowing I would regret it forever if I didn’t at least check. Suddenly, a strange noise poured from the other side. It was a song; someone was singing one word.
My name.
A repressed memory from earlier in the night tried to push its way through. The room in the hall at The Castle… I couldn’t quite grasp the picture, though. It was like a lost dream. I tried to retrieve more from my mind, but footsteps bounding up the stairs interrupted my efforts.
Abram would be here in mere seconds, and unless I found someplace to hide, he would know I had followed him.
The crescent moon symbol began to glow, and I jerked back just in time for the previously locked door to fly open. A whoosh of cinnamon-scented air burst from the open space, almost knocking me down.
I slid into the room quickly and, without touching it, the door closed behind me.
Okay, so, that’s not a good sign.
A loud crashing and then a sound like glass shattering stole my attention before I was able to take the room in. A picture had fallen off a nearby counter. When I looked down at it, my heart skidded to a stop.
The old photograph lay face up under shards of broken frame. Two men stood by a lake, smiling for the camera and showing off their latest catch: a huge catfish.
I recognized both of the men instantly. I had seen one of them in my dreams almost every night since I was a child. When I was little, it seemed I would never stop seeing his face, watching him walk away from me night after night. It was my father and, beside him, untouched by time or trend, stood Abram.
“He looks exactly the same,” I muttered, mouth agape. “How is that…that’s not possible.”
“Miss,” a tired voice croaked, breaking me from my concentration and startling the hell out of me. “Are you here to help me?”
I spun around, the picture and frame slipping from my hand to crash to floor once again. A woman sat on the floor in the fetal position. She was pale and disheveled. Her face was gaunt, and she seemed as though she hadn’t slept in weeks. She looked up at me expectantly. When she shuffled, I realized both her hands and feet were fastened with chains connected to the wall.
I recognized her, too. With sickening clarity, I realized where I had seen this face before. It had shone, bright and smiling, from the missing poster I had seen when I first returned to town.
This was the missing girl. She was being kept here, in a house that Abram had something to do with.
This—the missing woman, the mutilated bodies, the strange creatures that chased me to this house—was all connected.
And Abram was at the center of it.
Chapter 13
“Are you here to help me?”
The words couldn’t have been more off the mark. Here I was, staring at this woman, mouth agape and wide eyed. I couldn’t help myself, let alone someone else—not with my mind spinning like a top.
“H-hurry,” the woman begged. “He’ll be here soon. He’s never gone for too long.”
There was such hurt in her eyes, such unadulterated broken fear; it sickened me. Could Abram—the Abram that I knew—be the source of that? It didn’t seem possible.
Cuts and bruises spotted her filthy face. Her hands hung limply at her sides, useless appendages bound by chains. As shocked as I was, I managed to shake it off and kneel beside her.
She reeked as though she hadn’t bathed in weeks, which I realized with stomach-churning horror was probably the case.
“Is there a key?” I asked, mouth dry.
“There’s always a key,” she answered, narrowing her eyes. “We just don’t always see it at first glance.”
Her hand jerked toward my own, striking at me with long, unwashed nails. She sliced into my palm, breaking the skin and sending a trail of blood dripping to the floor.
“Ah!” I jerked away.
Her gaze transfixed on my blood, she ran her forefinger across the splatter. Then she looked back up at me, her eyes wide and sparkling.
“Chaarriissseeee,” she said in the sing song voice that had seemed to taunt me from behind closed doors.
I stumbled to my feet, grabbing my palm and glaring at her. There was a hunger in the way she looked at me now, something almost feral in her eyes.
“How do you know my name?”
“Did you know fear has a scent, Charisse?” She tilted her head to one side, her brow furrowing thoughtfully. “It’s sweet, like sugarplum. You stink of it at the moment, but it won’t be enough to make up for the blood. It won’t ever be enough.”
I was too stunned to reply. I stepped back, torn between helping her and being terrified she might hurt me.
“Let me out,” she hissed. She pulled toward me, jerking against her chains.
“I…I don’t have the key.” I almost tumbled with the next step back I took.
She held her forefinger up; it was coated with my blood. She grinned. “Just say the word.”
“Leave her alone!” Abram growled from behind me.
I spun, shuddering at the sight of him. He was just as big as he had ever been, but suddenly that size seemed more important, more threatening.
“You leave her alone!” I yelled, steeling myself. He wasn’t about to get away with this, not if I could help it.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” he said, looking past me. “Wipe it off, or I’ll take the hand. I mean it.”
The woman’s eyes slid from Abram to me. Slowly, she ran her forefinger across the wall, wiping it clean. She sneered. “We’re not done.”
“We never are.” He sighed and turned
his attention to me.
As they always had, his dark eyes disarmed me the instant they met my own. But this time, I couldn’t afford to let myself get lost in them, not when it was clear what sort of a person he was.
“Let her go,” I demanded.
Sure, the chick was acting strange—one charm short of a bracelet—but who was to say that being held captive for so long wouldn’t do the same to me? She was probably in shock, starving, dehydrated, and certainly scared to death.
“We need to talk,” he answered flatly.
“You can talk to the police. How about that?” I said, balling my fists.
I had been so blind, so stupid. How could I have let myself be seduced by someone like this, much less fall for him?
“I can’t let you do that,” he said, stepping closer to me.
I flinched, lunging backward and fumbling for my phone.
“It doesn’t work out here. Don’t you remember?” he asked. “Though I hope you know by now that I would never hurt you.”
“Tell that to her.” I motioned back to his prisoner.
“She’s a different story. A long story.” His jaw flexed. “I said we needed to talk, and we need to do it alone. Now, you can come with me, or I can throw you over my shoulder and take you.”
Though I couldn’t see myself, I was sure I paled.
“Listen,” he said, his tone a little softer now. “She hasn’t been harmed.”
“Save the bull. There are cuts all over her. She obviously hasn’t eaten or bathed in days.”
“She hurts herself, and if she hasn’t eaten or cleaned herself, it’s because she refuses to do so.” He moved closer, something dangerous darting through his gaze. “So what’s it going to be?”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“See it yourself,” he said, and before I could turn to dodge him, he had already slung me over his shoulder.
I could have sworn he grinned as he did so, but before I knew it, I was nearly upside down, my hips high at his shoulder and his strong arm pinning my legs to his chest.
I struggled against his grip, but between gravity and his hold on me, it was useless. He crossed the hall into the room I had been nearly attacked in and mercifully set me down on the edge of a bed. I tried to stand, but his hand came quick to my shoulder to hold me in place.
“Stay,” he ordered.
“Or else you’ll tie me up like you did her?”
A grin broke across his face, but he bit his lip and looked away.
“Not quite the same way,” he muttered suggestively. But before I could even chide myself for blushing, he added, “Hear me out, and then if you want to leave, I will not stand in your way.”
My mind and my instincts were at odds. There was a woman in the other room, beaten and captive. But as intimidating as Abram was, nothing about him seemed nefarious, and if he was going to hurt me, wouldn’t he have done so by now?
I squirmed beneath the weight of his hand on my shoulder. I was a fool. Now was not the time to test my instincts, which had a history of failing me enough as it was.
A loud crash came from the other room, followed by screeching. When Abram turned to look down the hall, I used the opportunity to escape from under his hand. I made it to the door within moments, but so did he. His arms circled around to grab to me, his breath hot on my neck.
Gritting my teeth and praying for a little luck, I drove my elbow hard into his gut. He didn’t crumble as much as I’d hoped, but I darted toward the steps regardless. Stairs were not my friends. I had fallen on both these and the stairs leading down to the Castle. So I hopped onto the bannister instead, sliding down it toward the first floor.
My feet thudded against the carpet, and I bounded toward the door, pushing through it with elbows in front of my face to break the impact.
The air hit me hard and cold, gusting through my hair and prickling my skin. The sun was almost down, and here I was—again—in these goddamn woods.
I barreled into the quickly darkening gray. Visions of that monster, the one that chased me, sliced into my thoughts. Would it be back tonight? Was it lying in wait right now, itching to pounce on me?
Couldn’t think about that. I might not have been able to save that girl myself, but I knew where she was, and the instant my phone went back into service, I would have Dalton on the line. Abram would never hurt anyone again, not so long as that poor girl could hold out until help arrived.
A whoosh of wind shuffled past me, and then he was standing there. Abram. His massive chest heaved up and down in ragged breathes.
“Stop!” He growled, his eyes glowing bright red and his already huge frame somehow even more hulking. “You. Need. To. Listen.”
I dodged to the left, but he was there, too, appearing in front of me with impossible speed.
“I said listen!” He grabbed me by the shoulders, wrapping his huge meaty hands around my arms.
“That girl,” I coughed out, tears pouring down my cheeks. “How could you do that to an innocent girl?”
“She’s not innocent, and she’s not a girl,” he answered, red eyes burning into me. “No more than I’m a man. Not anymore.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I asked, trying and failing to pull away from him.
“This is going to sound peculiar, Ms. Bellamy, but I’m going to need you to trust me, regardless of how fantastic it might sound.”
I continued my futile attempt to free myself, which only resulted in him tightening his grip on my arms. His chest heaved, pressing against mine forcefully.
Swallowing hard, he said, “Ms. Bellamy, there’s a beast in me.”
For whatever reason, the revelation weakened his grip. I pulled away, spinning and running as quickly as my tired legs would carry me. The setting sun glared in my eyes, making it hard for me to see, but I pressed on. Even if I ran headfirst into a tree, it would be better than whatever Abram had in store for me.
There’s a beast in me…
He couldn’t possible mean—
He was in front of me again, once again huffing, once again staring at me with glowing, inhuman eyes.
“Fine,” he huffed. “Have it your way.” He grabbed me again, jerking me toward him in a fluid motion that both terrified and excited me.
“I suggest you brace yourself,” he said flatly.
And then he threw me.
Chapter 14
I went sailing through the air. The trees seemed to meet me and then I surpassed them. I was over the tree line.
But how was that possible? Even if I wasn’t what my agent generously described as ‘full-figured,’ this wouldn’t be possible. No person could toss another one so high into the air. No one could—
Oh God. Look at how high I was. There was no way to survive this. I was going to splat against the ground like a bug, if the branches didn’t impale me on the way down.
A scream, shriller than I thought I was capable of, escaped my lips. Suddenly, I felt colder. I would die out here in this woods, just like all the other women who looked like me.
And the worst part was I would never get the answers to the questions swirling about in my mind. No one would. They would all think I was just routinely murdered. Or maybe Abram would cover it up as a hiking accident. Hell, maybe my body would just go missing and no one would ever know what became of me. I would be a fixture on those Walmart missing poster boards, forgotten by time.
I began to fall. The earth sped toward me at lightning speed. I would have screamed again, but what use would it be? Screaming wouldn’t stop this. Nothing would, and I didn’t want my last moments to be spent howling like some doomed idiot. Even if that’s exactly what I was.
Instead, I shut my mouth, closed my eyes, and tried to settle both my stomach and my mind. If this was the end, and it most certainly was, then I was going to face it with as much dignity as I could muster.
Still, if I was gonna die, I wished I could do it in Versace.
Something caught
, and I jerked to a stop.
Was that the ground? Was I dead?
I opened my eyes, fully expecting to see either nothing or the golden (and hopefully bedazzled) gates of the afterlife. Instead, I had to begrudgingly admit what I saw was just a beautiful.
Abram had me in his arms, cradling me like I was friggin’ Scarlett O'Hara.
I brushed windswept curls out of my eyes. “How did—You just—”
“I told you. There’s a beast in me.”
“But you didn’t kill me.”
He growled as though I’d either hurt him or offended him. “Of course I didn’t ‘kill you,’ Ms. Bellamy I only threw you to prove that even the most unbelievable things can be true.”
“Mission accomplished,” I muttered, and I pushed my way out of his arms.
He didn’t fight me.
“So explain this unbelievable thing then,” I continued. “Tell me what ‘there’s a beast in you’ means.”
“Let me ask you,” he said, lowering his brow. “What do you know about magic?”
I fumbled through my purse, fingers grasping at the metal cylinder that held my mace. Abram’s eyes bore into me, though they lacked the sort of delusional flair you might expect from someone who just seriously asked you whether you believed in magic or what you knew about it or whatever.
Finding the fresh can of pepper spray (replaced after the last incident), I yanked it out of my purse and emptied its contents right into Abram’s glowing red eyes. He jerked away from the mist, covering his face with his hands and growling.
It was strange. Not twenty-four hours ago, I would have told you this man was someone special. Okay, so I probably wouldn’t have actually admitted that out loud, at least not before our massive sex session. But the truth was, deep down, in a place within myself that I so rarely went that I barely recognized it, there was a piece of me that felt like I might be falling in love with him.
What a difference a couple hours could make.
I turned to run again, but before I could make even a step, he was in front of me. His eyes were watery, puffy, and still red. He grabbed me hard on either arm and somehow looked even larger than he had just a moment ago.
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