Page 14 of Betrayed

As I close the door on my only family, I pray I’m doing the right thing.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Lucian

I wake alone.

The bed’s cold.

The room is quiet.

I reach for her pillow?—

Empty.

My pulse spikes.

I storm out of the room. Nothing. Not in the bathroom. Not in the kitchen.

Gone.

No note.

No goodbye.

Just a small black circle sitting on the counter.

The key fob, the gold Bachman Brotherhood emblem sparkling on its flat front.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Erin

A costly taxi ride later, and I’m at JFK airport.

I fight through the crowds, clutching my backpack tightly. After clearing security, I locate my gate and choose to stand by the counter rather than sit on one of the cushioned blue chairs.

If I get too comfortable, I might not board this plane.

And I can’t let anything hold me back.

Cass and I have friends back home. Using an account Bambi set up for us—one that can’t be traced—we sometimes stalk their socials. To keep tabs on Caleb. Last we heard, he’s hanging out in a town outside the farms where Cass and I grew up in Northern England.

I have to go back to the place I swore I’d never set foot in again.

I have to face the one man I never wanted to see.

And I have to do it alone.

They’re calling my boarding group. And I’m smiling at the flight attendant, letting her scan the paper boarding pass clenched between my fingers. Even though my stomach is filled with dread.

I endure a long flight, followed by a shorter one in a tiny, cramped plane.

The second plane lands with a jolt that rattles my bones. I keep my eyes on the window the whole descent, the gray English sky pressing down like a weight, clouds hanging low over the countryside as if they’re waiting to suffocate.

Welcome home, Erin.

The taxi ride is bumpy. Unpleasant. I see the landscape hasn’t changed. Farmlands stretch out on all sides of our tiny village, which is little more than a cluster of small homes and weathered shops.