Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 61868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
"I can't do this without you." Her voice is a whisper.
"You've got us, Skye. You're not alone. You'll never be alone."
Moments pass until we break away from each other. She pads slowly across the room to stand before Jack. He doesn't let go of the gun as she bends to kiss his lips. I imagine him turning away from such gentle affection, embarrassed to show this side of him in front of us, but he doesn't. His eyes drift closed as Skye's hand rests against the messy rasp of his beard. "Jack."
Just the soft murmur of his name communicates so much.
West carries his gun in one hand and moves to take Skye's hand in the other. He leads her from the room, and the creak of the wooden floorboards tracks their retreat. Eventually, the door to her room clicks shut.
Jack nods a simple goodnight, and I scan Shona, finding her staring at me with wide, fearful eyes.
She's not a foe, but she's also not a friend.
I'm wary that she might be a honey trap, and it's evident from the way Jack has his gun aimed just above her head that he feels the same.
I decide that I need to be armed, so I load the spare rifle from the gun cupboard. Back in my room, the chill in the air grips me tightly, and I grab an extra shirt, pulling it firmly around me.
I tug the curtain aside, staring into the inky blackness. For the first time in a long time, the expanse of the forest outside gives me shivers, like a cloak concealing a thousand pairs of eyes. The cabin, which has always felt like a haven, a home, now feels like the target of some deep-rooted hatred, revenge, and intent.
It is just a matter of time until the whole thing implodes.
Jerking the curtains shut, I return to take my place next to Jack. We've been a team for as long as we've known each other through whatever has come our way. It'll always be like that. He lowers his chin in acknowledgment and then closes his eyes. I hope he can rest a little easier knowing I'm by his side.
Despite the thoughts that linger in every corner of my mind and a creeping sense of dread, increasing waves of exhaustion take over my body, pulling me into an ocean of vivid dreams of past times that can never be resurrected. Of another little girl out there in the world who’ll never be found.
19
SKYE
A WING AND A PRAYER
Everybody in my life has let me down at some point. My parents cut me off when I made choices they disagreed with. My friends drifted away when Carter became a controlling presence in my life. Carter pretended to be one person, then morphed into another when I was at my most vulnerable. Shona, who I thought was my friend, was quick to fill the space I left in Carter’s bed and in my daughter’s life.
There isn’t a person in the world who’s proven themselves to be loyal.
Yet three men are risking everything for me, and I don’t understand why.
I should be nothing to them.
They bought me at an auction, like a car or a piece of furniture. A convenience to make their lives easier. But they keep me between them like they’re a security detail protecting a head of state. They hold me while I cry and rest with me during my fitful hours of sleep. They secretly make plans to help find Hallie and put the two halves of my heart back together.
It’s terrifying because I promised I wouldn’t let anyone in again. It was the only way I could force myself into this year-long arrangement. Trusting takes too much strength, and I’m weak.
So fucking weak.
But they’re strong.
West is like a block of granite. There’s nothing that can break his resolve. Finn is a trunk of hardwood. The sun, the wind, and the rain don’t penetrate. Jack is a black diamond, hard enough to etch steel and too dark to see to the heart of.
Next to them, I feel as vulnerable as a baby mouse, reliant on them for food and warmth, close to getting consumed by a predator at any second.
“Don’t worry. Everything’s under control,” West tells me as he watches me dress. His eyes on me aren’t sexual. They’re concerned. I’m thinner, and it makes me look breakable.
Even last night, when I wrapped myself around him, feeling needy and wanting him to make me forget, he whispered that I needed sleep, and held himself back with restraint I didn’t know he possessed.
West has his rifle in his hand, but it doesn’t bother me. That’s how sure I am that none of them will ever hurt me.
They’ve chosen to go into battle for me and my child, who they’ve never met.