My hand trembles as I reach out, my fingers brushing against the screen, stroking the photograph of the woman who was once the only ray of sunshine in a house determined to crush everything in its darkness. I caress her image as if she’s physically here, giving me that beautiful smile that melts away the sadness clinging to me. A wave of relief fills me—a violent shiver at the thought that she’s okay.
She’s alive, and she’s okay. She survived.
Footsteps behind me make my shoulders stiffen, but then I feel the warmth of Grey’s touch and catch the faint scent of his cologne we stole from a store. He pulls me into his arm, not saying anything as he lets me sob against his chest. It feels like my heart is being ripped apart, an unbearable ache inside me. Through tear-blurred vision, I look up at him. His eyes search mine before he gently wipes away my tears.
“Do you know her?” he asks, his voice laced with a familiarity that tells me he recognizes the poster.
“She was my roommate at Grimhill Manor. Everlee.” My voice cracks as the name dredges up memories I’ve tried to bury. “She was one of the many people I’ve lost over the years. That’s why I’ve always been so terrified of this thing between us. I always lose the people I love.”
More tears fall down my cheeks, but Grey lifts my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze.
“You may be terrified, fuck, so am I. But know this; I’m never letting you go. Even if all odds are against us, even if the world falls apart. You. Are. Mine, little doll.”
The intensity of his words hits me like a tidal wave, and myheart races, thudding loudly in my ears.
“We will find her,” he vows, determination etched across his face.
“Are you sure?”
“I fucking promise you, little doll.”
“I never knew what happened to her after I got sent to Dankworth Institute…it’s been so goddamn long.”
Grey’s face turns tense, biting his lips until I notice the blood trickling down, quickly disappearing underneath his tongue as he licks it away. Finally, he glances at me, but says nothing, even though I can see the gears turning in his mind.
“What is it?” I ask, but he shakes his head. “Tell me. No secrets, remember?”
“Do you remember the note I got from Daxton?” he asks, snapping back to reality from wherever his mind had ventured—he’s been silent most of the night since we escaped.
He’s as paranoid as I am about being found again; our hardened exteriors have been shattered like a bulletproof vest eventually giving up its functionality.
“What about it?”
“There’s something I never told you, but it all makes sense now,” he admits.
My eyebrow furrows, and a pang of distress and anger strikes me as I realize that he deliberately kept this from me.
“He wrote that we should uncover the dealings between Frederick Grimhill and Emilio Ricci. Only then might we find closure…”
Again, my heart pounds, nearly missing a beat at his words. I can’t help but pick at the skin on my heel again, seeking the solace it offers.
“Daxton’s note mentioned some business. Which must be why Emilio is after us.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before?” I ask, voice tinged withaccusation.
He abruptly stands, footsteps heavy as he paces back and forth. His fingers rake through his hair repeatedly in frustration, fisting it as if trying to yank the thoughts from his mind.
“I didn’t think it would matter.”
“Of course it would matter!” I exclaim, just as frustrated. “I thought we agreed on no secrets.”
“It wasn’t my intention, little doll.”
I sigh at hearing the stress in his tone, leaning against the wall and letting my hand rest in my lap. There’s no point in arguing, even if it stings that he kept the truth from me.
“There’s a place where all of this started. This entire fucking nightmare. Don’t you see that it’s all connected? In one way or another, it’s all tied together like a spider’s web, a thread impossible to untangle.”
I don’t like where his thoughts are headed, meeting his narrowing eyes staring at me. He studies me intently with lips pressed into a hard line, eyes sparkling with a sense of curiosity and hesitation that amplifies the tension in the room.
