Page 39 of Splintered Memories (Ember Hollow Romance #2)

Emersyn

T he look in my brother’s eyes was too much to take.

I let my eyelids fall closed as Amos—as the Shadow Stalker—held that knife to my throat.

His laugh lilted over my skin, but I didn’t open my eyes.

I wasn’t afraid to face him as he killed me.

No. If he was going to slit my throat, I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing the life drain from me.

And I refused to let his face be the last thing that I saw.

So, I kept my eyes closed as that knife bit into my skin. Through the fear and terror, I focused on only one thing. I clung to it like I had clung to the ledge of my window that night of the fire.

August.

His face materialized in my mind. That strong jaw and nose that was slightly crooked at the bridge. I remembered his beautiful light-gray eyes and the way his easy smile had once infuriated me. Now it was the only thing I wanted to see .

I clenched my teeth as tears seeped from my closed lashes. I was going to die here in this tiny room. The one thing I regretted in my last moments was that I never told August the truth.

It was so clear to me now, as tangible as the sting of steel slicing into my neck.

I was in love with August Ramsey.

I might have been in love with him from the moment I first saw him at that Christmas party months ago.

All that agitation and anger I’d hurled at him was nothing but a defense mechanism to keep him away.

I’d never seen myself falling in love with anyone, because falling in love meant getting married, and getting married meant having babies and I never wanted to be a mother—I never wanted to become my mother.

Until August came into my life, I’d only run away from the mere idea of love. Except, August actually cared enough to run after me. He’d given me what I’d needed, and he’d challenged me to grow. He’d made me feel safe, not only with him, but even inside my own head.

I’d never wanted to be in a family before, but I wanted to be a part of August’s family.

I would forever wish that I’d told him, just once, that I loved him.

Amos’s laugh grew louder, and the pressure of the knife disappeared. The shock had my eyes popping open.

The Shadow Stalker smirked at me. “You didn’t think it was going to be that easy, did you?”

Wetness rolled down my cheeks, the tears salty on my lips. I didn’t answer him as the nausea had my guts cramping. Amos shook his head, like I was an ignorant child who didn’t know anything about the world.

I should’ve known. The Shadow Stalker liked to torture his victims. He never made it quick .

My mouth went dry, but I tried to swallow the fear that was steadily escalating again.

A dull ache stung in my throat. The Shadow Stalker’s eyes locked on where he’d held that knife against me.

It was still in his hand, lingering casually at his side, but he reached toward me with his empty one.

I didn’t flinch as he pressed his fingers against my throat.

When he pulled back, they were smudged in red.

He had cut me with the knife, but not enough to cause any real damage.

Amos stared at my blood on his fingertips. A sort of hunger flashed in his eyes. It was as if he were fascinated by it…

My face pinched with disgust as I watched him. “You’re sick,” I hissed.

Amos’s eyes bounced back to mine. There was nothing left of the uncle I had grown up with. Maybe he had never existed at all.

“Aren’t we all sick in our own ways?” His head cocked to the side. “Why are my sins more evil than anyone else’s?”

I shook my head, not believing the words coming out of his mouth. He had to be messing with me. He killed people. He tortured women and he liked it.

It was too much. I hated him. I hated him more than I wanted to live at this moment.

And so, I did the only thing I could think of.

It didn’t matter that my mouth was bone-dry. I gathered what I could and I spat right in Amos’s face.

His flinch was almost as satisfying as seeing my saliva drip down his cheek.

My lips pulled back into a crazed grin.

One hand tightened around the knife as the other swiped over his face. Rage flashed in his eyes, hot and scalding. But it was worth it .

“You always were a problem,” he growled.

“I thought you liked that I was feisty,” I spat.

He glared at me. “Even the prettiest things eventually lose their shine. And you, Emy-Su, need some sharpening.”

Without another word, his hand lashed out. Stinging pain burned across my thigh, and I cried out. When I looked down, there was a long cut just below where my dress ended. Blood trickled from the wound, but it didn’t seem that deep. He was messing with me.

When I looked back at his face, he smiled. He lifted the knife. “Ready for another? The red looks so nice against the pale skin of yours.”

My lips wobbled, but before he could cut me again, a noise echoed through the room. Amos froze, a muscle in his jaw ticcing.

A phone was ringing.

Amos pulled his phone from his pocket with his free hand. He stared at the screen, frowning. He watched the screen until it stopped ringing. His mouth puckered as he typed something.

Amos glanced back at me. “I’ll be back.” He swiftly stood, pocketing his phone. He pointed the sharp end of the knife at me; my blood glinted on it. “I have a rather interesting guest, it seems.” His brows rose, and a ghost of a grin returned to his lips.

He turned, pressing his thumb against the pad on the door until the thick vault unlocked. He pulled it open and disappeared, securing it closed behind him.

I stared at the door. I didn’t know how much time had passed, but my pulse was still roaring in my ears when I heard my brother faintly calling my name.

My gaze shifted to him .

He was up on his knees on top of the mattress, pulling on his chains to no avail as he called for me. “Emy, are you okay?”

His words finally burst through the fog in my brain. He looked so scared as he stared at my thigh.

The pain was dulled by the adrenaline, but as I looked down at my wound, I sucked in a breath.

A shallow puddle of blood had formed on the concrete floor beneath me.

The bleeding was gradually slowing. The cut wasn’t deep enough to be life threatening, but it was gruesome anyway…

my skin flayed apart. I would probably need stitches to heal.

If I even got the chance.

My head snapped back up to Jake. “I’m okay,” I assured him.

He looked doubtful. “There’s a lot of blood—”

“I’m fine.” I didn’t want to talk about the cut anymore. There was something more important I wanted to tell him. “Jake, listen,” I said to him, keeping my chin high. “No matter what happens when he comes back in this room, I want you to promise me that you will not go down easy.”

Jake gaped at me. “Emy—”

I shook my head. “I don’t care what happens to me. Promise that you will put up the best fight that you can. Go with a fight, Jake. Promise me.”

He looked like he was going to vomit, but eventually, he nodded. “Okay,” he breathed. “I promise.”

“Good.” I leaned back against the wall, taking a few steadying breaths.

We sat there in silence for a while. The wound on my thigh burned, but the blood was less and less with each passing minute if I didn’t move .

Then, a strange noise sounded through the door.

My head snapped toward it, thinking that Amos was back.

But this noise had been different from the door unlocking.

I frowned as it happened again, two more times.

It was barely audible, but in the quiet of the tiny room, I heard it.

They were dull, muffled bangs. A sound I would have missed if it wasn’t so quiet in here.

My heart started to race. That door was too thick. Whatever that noise was, it was loud. And close.

I shifted carefully, my cut thigh twinging as I glanced at Jake. He looked as confused as I was.

“What the hell was that?” he asked.

“You’ve never heard that before?”

He shook his head.

We fell silent, listening for the noise again. It didn’t come. Instead, the door unlocked. I jumped as it was pulled open slowly. I prepared myself for Amos’s eyes to meet mine.

It wasn’t Amos.

I let out a strangled cry as my father stepped through that door.

His gaze went straight to me. “Emersyn!” He rushed toward me, falling to his knees before me.

“Daddy?” I croaked, barely able to comprehend his presence.

My father’s eyes bounced around my face. “Are you okay?”

I nodded automatically. His expression darkened as he took in the chains and the cut on my leg. “That bastard,” he growled.

I noticed, then, that he had specks of blood splattered on the side of his face.

Before I could ask him what happened, he stood and rushed out the door again.

I called after him, terrified that Amos was going to come back, that he was going to kill us all, but my father returned shortly, holding a ring with silver keys on it.

I gasped as he knelt in front of me again.

“It’s okay, honey,” he murmured, his hands shaking as he tried to unlock my handcuffs with one of the keys. “I’m going to get you out.”

I couldn’t reply as a lump of emotion clogged my throat. I watched as my father fumbled through the keys until he found the one that unlocked my cuffs. I cried in relief as my arms fell.

I was free.

I stared at my father, and for the first time since I was a small kid, I felt something for him other than hate. An ache of fondness for him sunk into my bones, and I threw my arms around his neck, burying my face in his shoulder.

He tensed as I cried. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around me, holding me to him.

“It was Amos,” I gasped.

My father shushed me. “I know,” he said. “I’m so sorry.”

I wanted to ask him what happened. I wanted to know how he had gotten here and what happened to my uncle, but a familiar voice cut through my thoughts.

My head snapped up. Standing in the doorway of this tiny room from hell was August.

Fresh tears welled in my eyes as he came to me. My father passed me off to him, and August folded me in his arms, holding me against his chest.

A sob bubbled up from my chest as his scent rushed over me. My fingers curled into his shirt as I clung to him .

“Emersyn,” August breathed in my ear, the relief evident in his voice. “I found you.” He sounded as stunned as I was.

I pulled back from him, just enough to look into his face. He was so tired. His skin was almost as pale as mine. “Amos is the Shadow Stalker,” I told him. I needed him to understand how dangerous he was.

August froze, his eyes widened. “What?”

I nodded. “He’s a monster. We have to get out of here.”

His grip tightened around me. “You’re safe.” His gaze shifted to my father, who was unlocking Jake’s handcuffs, but he looked back at me quickly.

“What happened?” I finally asked. “How did you get here? How did you know where I was?”

August’s lips thinned, then he shook his head. “I’ll explain later. We need to get you out of here.”

He tried to usher me out the door, but I resisted. “Where is Amos?” I had to be sure that he wasn’t going to ambush us and hurt anyone as we tried to leave.

August glanced one more time at my father. He was helping Jake stand up on quaking legs. When August looked back at me, his face hardened. “He’s dead, Emersyn. Your father shot him.”