“Did she say where he could be?” I asked. The need to find this guy and rip him apart was so strong my fingers shook.
“No. But I have a feeling he wouldn’t go far, not with all three of his possessions here.”
“You are not his,” I demanded.
“He doesn’t see it that way.” Her voice was small. “Sadie and the widow seem to think so as well.”
“No,” I ground out. “I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks, says, or does. You are not his.”
Her hand flattened on my chest. “I know.”
I clutched her close, thinking about how all this time, evil lived right in our backyard. Did that make us all responsible? Was the entire town of Lake Loch at fault for not realizing what was happening right beneath our noses?
“I still don’t know where I came from,” Am said, drawing my attention back. “I have a feeling not even the widow knows. It’s like he just left one day, probably in a fit of rage about Sadie… and came back with me.”
And that psycho mother of his acted as if he’d brought home a dog and chained her up. Let him “keep” her.
Sick fucks. Both of them.
“It doesn’t matter where you came from,” I told her passionately. “Because you’re now where you belong.”
The door opened, and Mary Beth came in. My head snapped up so fast, my protective instincts on overdrive. Mary must have seen the wild look in my eyes; hers widened and her lips formed a small O.
“I, uh… Robbie is out of surgery,” she said, taking a step back toward the door.
Forcing myself to relax, I waved her closer. “How is he?”
“He’s stable but still in serious condition. The doctors are optimistic, but of course not promising anything. They want to give him a couple days.”
“Can we see him?” Am asked, perking up.
Mary Beth shook her head. “He’s still in recovery, heavily sedated.”
“How long?” I asked. It felt we’d been waiting here for days already.
“I’m not sure. They probably won’t let you see him until tomorrow.”
“Are the police still here?” Am wanted to know.
Mary B nodded. “They’re putting one outside his room once he’s moved. His parents are here, too.”
“Thank you,” I told her, sincere. “I really appreciate you calling me.”
She nodded and whispered, “You really think it was Sadie?”
Word got around fast. Big surprise there. Not.
“We can’t be sure,” Amnesia said, but at the very same time, I said, “Yes.”
She glanced up at me, surprised and worried. “Eddie…”
I touched her face, smiling sadly. “It’s okay, Am. I don’t want to believe it, but who else could it be?”
After hearing about Sadie being not only abused and tortured, but exposed to two freaking whack jobs for eleven years, it seemed nearly impossible for it not to rub off.
Brainwashed + Battered + Imprisoned = enough to turn anyone crazed enough to kill.
Glancing down at Amnesia, I couldn’t help but marvel at how fucking lucky she was. How fucking lucky I was.
She could have been just like Sadie. Just like the widow. But she wasn’t. Her mind figured out the greatest defense of them all.
Amnesia.
Protecting her seemed more important than ever.
“I hope they find her,” Mary Beth said morosely. “I hope she gets the help she needs.”
“Me, too.” I agreed.
“Okay, well, if you want to go home, I can call with updates on Robbie. I really don’t think you’ll be able to see him until tomorrow at the earliest. He’s going to be in recovery the rest of the day. The police probably won’t even be able to question him.”
“Thanks.” I nodded.
She turned to go, looking back. “Can I just say you two look like shit? I really hope you take my advice and go home. Get some rest.”
I laughed. “Way to keep it real, Mary B.”
Amnesia giggled.
“That’s what friends are for,” she quipped, then went back to work.
“I need to tell the police what I know. It’s not much, but maybe his name will help. It’s something.”
“Yeah,” I murmured. “It’s something.”
“Eddie?” Amnesia lifted her cheek.
I grunted.
“If you want to be out there looking for Sadie, I understand. You should go.”
“Are you kidding?” I scoffed. “I turn my back on you for one second and you’re off interrogating patients and having memories.”
Okay, I tried. It was a joke, but that shit just wasn’t funny.
“I promise I’ll behave,” she vowed, a little sparkle in her eyes.
Maybe it was a little funny.
“I’m staying with you.” I committed. “You’re the most important thing to me.” It wasn’t as if I wasn’t freaked out of my mind for Sadie. Part of me wanted to go search for her. I felt I might be the only one who could reason with her. Even though she probably tried to carve up my best friend, I still cared about her. I still wanted to get her help.
“This isn’t her fault,” I murmured. “She’s just…”
“I know.” Amnesia put her hand over mine. “I know.”
I pressed my lips to her forehead, and we fell into silence.
The whole time we sat there, I couldn’t help but wonder…
Where the hell could Sadie be?
Exhaustion clung to me like sweat in the summer. By the time we spoke to the police and waited around for more updates on Robbie, it was dinnertime when we left the hospital.
My eyes felt gritty, like there was a pound of sand beneath each lid. My mouth was dry, uncomfortably so. All of my body felt as though I’d taken some wild exercise class that made me exert every last bit of energy.
We went to Maggie’s first, where we found food warmed in the oven and a note on the counter. She was out looking for Sadie and would be back later.
I knew Eddie was torn about wanting to be out there looking, too, but his great sense of loyalty to me kept him back. It was touching but also made me feel guilty. I didn’t want to be the reason he did something he would regret.
“C’mon, baby,” he said, lightly touching my elbow. “You gotta eat.”
I glanced down at the plates he was holding. They were filled with baked chicken, mac and cheese, and vegetables. My stomach grumbled, but the rest of me revolted.
“I’m not hungry.”
“I hear your stomach,” he deadpanned.
My stomach was stupid.
I followed him out into the breakfast room and sat down. He dug in immediately, while I was more content to pick and push food around.
“I’m sorry,” I finally said.
His fork froze partway to his mouth. His gaze slid over. “For what?”
“For putting you in the middle. For making you feel you have to choose between me and Sadie. You don’t, you know. I would never ask you to not see her. To not care.”
A loud clattering sound filled the silence when he dropped the fork. His entire body rotated toward me, his knees bumping the side of my leg. “You didn’t put me in the middle,” he said, firm.
“But you feel like you have to choose.”
He pressed his lips together. “Yeah, maybe.”
My heart sank a little.
“But really, there is no choice. I think that’s what makes me feel the worst.”
I glanced up. He met and held my stare with his own. Love shone in the depths of his blue eyes. “Remember what I told you, Am. I choose you. Always. No matter what.”
Moisture prickled the backs of my eyes. He was everything to me. Eddie had given me so much. “I love you,” I whispered.
“Ditto.” He twisted his lips in a smile.
I laughed.
“I’ll come with you!” I said, realization dawning.
“What?”
“I’ll come help look for Sadie. The
n you can be with me and look for her.”
His face darkened. “No.”
“But why?”
“I am not exposing you to any more shit that could traumatize you. Jesus, Am. You’ve been through enough.”
“I’m stronger than you think.”
“Oh, I’m well aware. It’s your strength that scares me, baby. But even the strong can become weak.”
I frowned, not quite sure what he meant. Was my strength a good thing or a bad thing?
“You’ve been strong a long time. All by yourself. You don’t have to do it alone anymore. Let me protect you.”
Maybe I should have fought him, but I was too weary to try. Truth was I wanted his protection. I craved it.
“How about we stay at my place tonight?” he suggested, pushing back from the table.
“How about we stay there from now on?”
He stilled. “What?”
I stood, taking his hand. “Is that invite to move in with you still good?”
Eddie’s eyes flared. “Of course.”
I smiled. “Good, then I’d like to come home.”
He swept me up and spun me around. I giggled. When his feet stilled, he let my body slide down his. Our faces became parallel, my feet still hovering over the floor.
Eddie came forward and linked our mouths. I held my breath the entire time we kissed, not even missing the air.
When at last we parted, he smiled the biggest smile I’d seen light his face all day. “Get a bag,” he told me, swatting my ass. “Let’s go home.”
I felt it again.
The pull of the lake. It was like a magnet, a song that only I could hear. The urge to go to the shore, to allow the icy lances of the waves grab at my flesh and chill me to the bone, was massive.
I don’t know why, but I had a connection with Lake Loch. Almost as if the body of water and I were friends. Or maybe enemies.
Either way, we were close. The lake played a large role in my life, as if it were a person, a character I knew. It spoke to me, took from me, gave back to me.
All I knew was when it wanted something, no matter what it was, I was powerless to fight it.
I was hard pressed to carefully slip out from beneath Amnesia. Her bare, silky skin directly upon mine was almost more powerful than the summoning of the shore. I could roll over, press her body into the mattress, and bury myself in her liquid heat just as I had the minute we stepped into this room just a few hours before.
But I was intrigued. Intensely so. There was always a connection with the water, but nothing like it had been the night I found Amnesia.
The night the lake gave me back my heart.
A hollow pit formed in my belly, a feeling I remembered well. Back when my heart still belonged to the sea and the hollowness owned my chest, how it echoed with the sound of emptiness, reminding me day in and day out of what was missing.
The feeling scared me. Scared me more than almost anything, because it was the feeling of loneliness. The feeling that perhaps the lake changed its mind and wanted to take back what it had gifted me.
Friend or enemy?
After tugging on a pair of sweats, I stood at the side of the mattress and stared down at my heart. My gift from Lake Loch.
Please don’t take her away from me.
Moonlight shone through a small gap in the curtains, a slice of silver streaking over her, illuminating her short hair, making it glow. Her skin was creamy and pale in the dark, her body still curled toward where I’d been, her cheek resting against the pillow.
Cross my heart.
Hope to die.
You will be forever mine.
I turned away, left the bedroom silently, and moved through the familiar darkness. I would abide the pull of the lake tonight if for no other reason than to deny whatever it thought to take back.
Even though the temperature outside was cold, I went bare-chested. My feet were also bare. I felt the first slap of wintry air as I stepped off the porch into the grass, more like tiny ice daggers than the green, friendly carpet.
After the initial shock of my skin meeting the air, I forgot about it. Tightened nipples, contracted muscles, and blowing hair—I ignored it all and stalked across my yard down toward the black, ominous water.
The whistling of the wind flew past my ears. My hair tugged fiercely away from my face and forehead as if it were trying to pull me back into the comfort of my house.
Go back, it warned.
I kept moving forward.
The moon hung low tonight, partially blocked by dark clouds but visible enough to shine a spotlight that stretched out over the water, highlighting the way it churned rather portentously. The trees all rustled, leaves scattering the ground pushed and pulled in various directions.
A few stars shone overhead, but not enough to make an impact. Not enough to draw the eye.
The sound of the shore grew louder, seemed more violent as I approached. Stuffing my hands in the pockets of my sweats, I carried on. My shoulder blades drew together with tension. I didn’t bother to try and fight.
I had a feeling the lake wanted a fight tonight.
So a fight was what it would have.
The toes of my right foot hit the water first. The skin began tingling immediately. The inclination to recoil from the frigid temp was natural, but I held firm. Both feet sloshed into the dark waves. I walked forward just enough that the water was able to swallow both up to my ankles.
I spread my arms wide, staring out at the unforgiving body of water. Marveling at the secrets it held and the way it so casually homed an island of a madman.
“I’m here!” I yelled. “I know you want me. Here I am!”
I sounded like a lunatic, appearing to yell at no one. But I knew to whom I spoke. My words might have fallen on deaf ears, but the lake heard regardless.
“I don’t understand why you took Sadie. Or why you gave me Amnesia.” I went on, hurling the words into the wind. “You can’t have her back!”
A wave crashed close, splashing up my legs and saturating the lower portion of my pants. Maybe I was dreaming. Perhaps I was going insane, but my words seemed to evoke a reaction. A great gale blew off the water, and the waves became defiant.
“What do you want?” I flung the words. I was angry and confused. I was also slightly embarrassed.
I was standing in a freezing cold lake in the middle of the night, with barely any clothes on, challenging it as if it were suggesting war.
The violent reply from the wind and water was all I got. I stood there until my feet were numb and the numbness began moving up my legs and teasing the tips of my fingers.
I didn’t know what I expected, but it was more than I got.
Suddenly, a sick feeling plunged into me, coming up so quick my stomach revolted and the urge to vomit tickled the back of my throat. My body flung around. Turning my back on the water, I stared at my house. Scanning its outline, the yard, and everything around it, I searched for something. Anything. My eyes ultimately landed on the bedroom window, where Amnesia lay sleeping in my bed.
Knowing I left her in there alone gave me a creepy feeling. Maybe that’s what the lake wanted. Maybe it wanted to tear me away so I couldn’t fight.
A large wave crashed into me, hitting me just behind the knees. My legs buckled, but I didn’t go down. The drenched material of my sweats clung to my legs, the weight shackles around my ankles.
A sound ripped from my throat, and I lifted one foot to trudge back home. Something bumped against the other leg. The one still anchored in water. I paused. It collided into me again, briefly tugged away, then clashed against me once more.
Whirling around, I stomped down, and the water splashed around me.
It took a moment for the sight to register. For the actuality of what I was seeing to seep into my mind.
The boat appeared out of nowhere. A small wooden craft not much larger than a canoe. The front end was pointed. The point was what bumped me, the surface rough even though
it was wet. The edge caught my pants, snagging the material as if to yank me out to sea.
I kicked it back, sending the boat sideways. It was long, enough for a few people to fit inside. On the edge was a long wooden oar anchored by a clamp.
On the back of the boat, I could make out what appeared to be a tall metal rod sticking straight up into the night. There was a hook on the end, and I knew it was for a lantern that wasn’t there.
I didn’t know the boat; it wasn’t one I’d seen before. The idea of using a lantern seemed archaic but also served as a precursor to other thoughts.
Visions of blinking, bobbing light out on Rumor Island replayed in my head. The glow of what we always thought was Sadie’s lantern. Sadie roaming the island at night, waiting for her… master to return.
To bring back her sister, her replacement. What was his.
I gasped, the sound more like a yell of enlightenment.
Holy shit.
The boat rammed into my shins, forced close again by the ferocious water. I might have thought the lake was working against me, trying to stop me from rushing back to Amnesia’s side.
I have to get back to Am.
But it wasn’t.
The lake was warning me.
Friend or enemy, I still didn’t know. Maybe it was ever changing like the tide. But tonight? Tonight, Lake Loch appeared to be a friend.
As I shoved away the wooden vessel, just beyond it, something rose from the water. A paper-white arm shot up from the inky depths. From finger to elbow, the arm reached up as if it were trying to grab hold of some invisible rope to tow itself up.
I watched as the figure emerged from the water, inch by inch at first, then surged up the rest of the way, water droplets spraying out around the body like Jaws coming up for a bite.
The man was tall and stocky, not built, but not thin. His hair was dark, of undeterminable length, and plastered to his head. Dark brows slashed thickly over his eyes, harsh and garish against his deathly pale face.
The white button-up shirt he wore was see-through from the water. It too was plastered against his body, showing off soft areas, for example, around the middle.
The shirt was buttoned up all the way, appearing like a noose around his neck and wrists. He moved stiff and slow, and I wondered why the fuck he was in the water and not inside his boat.
Amnesty: Amnesia Duet Book 2 Page 23