Vacant.
Ominous.
A stark emptiness echoing back.
Still, I couldn’t stop myself from pushing deeper into the rat hole, rushing down the short hall and throwing open the door to the only bedroom.
The sight bent me in two.
Pictures.
Everywhere.
All of them were of Nikki.
Baby pictures.
Ones of her as a little girl.
A few with Sydney as a teenager.
But it was the current ones that sent panic sloshing through my system.
There were a bunch of Nikki at the diner.
Some outside of Olive’s.
One of her walking up the steps to her apartment.
Motherfucker.
Her apartment.
It was him. It was him.
My eyes darted around for anything else, and I started to push out of the room, when my sight snagged on something in the closet.
The sliding door had barely been left open a sliver.
A floral box.
A box.
Anxiety gripped me everywhere, and my movements slowed as I edged forward. Slowly, I slid the closet door open farther. The lock had been broken, the lid ripped off, the contents tossed aside as if someone had frantically dug through it to find what was hidden underneath.
A groan climbed out from my soul.
Agony.
Sydney’s bracelet.
It was there in the middle of it as if the asshole had needed to hold it.
Sick and deranged and twisted.
“Oh God,” I whimpered, unable to stomach it.
Sickness clawed, and I was clutching my head, trying to see through the web of darkness that spun through me.
Cruelty.
Cruelty.
My sister.
Fuck, my sister.
It hurt. It hurt so damned bad.
The reality.
I’d hunted for so long.
And the proof was right there.
It was like the idiot wanted everyone to know. Or maybe he’d just realized once they’d found Sydney, there was no place left to hide.
I’d die before I let it happen again.
“Shit,” Seth whispered in shock from behind me, pulling me back. “Get out of here, Ollie. Don’t touch anything. This is evidence.”
I blinked at him, seeing nothing but red.
He didn’t have to ask me twice.
I was busting back out the door and running for my Mustang.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he shouted.
I jumped inside. “I’m going to find Nikki. You go to her apartment . . . he’s been there. Call me if you find anything.”
“Where are you going?”
“Up the river.”
“I can’t just let you take off like some kind of vigilante. I’m calling it in, everyone will be looking for them.”
“And you can’t expect me to stand aside and wait for that to happen. I’ll call you if I see anything. Swear, man. I’ll call. But you can’t expect me to sit here. Go. Find her,” I begged him.
He gave me a reluctant nod before he jogged back to his cruiser.
I was throwing my car into first when I met Nikki’s mom’s stare through the windshield. Her hands were pressed against her chin and tears blanketed her face.
I made her a silent promise.
I’ll fight for her.
I’ll die for her.
Most of all, I’ll live for her.
Twenty minutes later, I’d made it through town. Dusk sat heavily as I wound down the twisty, country road.
My nerves were speeding while I drove like a motherfucking snail, foot itching to hit the gas. But I was looking for a hint of . . . anything. Anything that felt off.
I passed the turn that lead to the lake and wound around a bend, heading for Row. There were at least a hundred little offshoots of deserted roads, no more than trails carved out between the trees.
Anxiety clawed, the sharpest talons in my flesh.
Flickers of awareness.
Realization and a tease.
Little Tease.
I jammed on the brakes in the middle of the road as a sticky feeling came over me.
Drawn.
Compelled.
Row would still be crawling with investigators.
And Nikki . . . she wouldn’t go there.
I knew it.
I knew it all the way into my soul.
Heart taking off at a sprint, I flipped a U-turn in the middle of the road, tires sliding off into the shrubs and dirt. The tail end whipped behind me when I forced the accelerator to the floor, and I righted the car when it skidded.
Two seconds later, I was cutting across the road to make the left.
Praying the whole way that she was there.
That she was alone.
That she was just seeking the solace this place had always given us.
Needing that peace when I’d done the exact thing I promised her I wouldn’t.
I’d hurt her.
Shunned her.
Left her.
When she was dealing with the same damned thing.
I was so finished with being this selfish prick. The guy who thought it was his duty to suffer. Only thing that stupidity accomplished was taking the ones he loved down with him.
Again, I was gonna be the beggar. Pleading for forgiveness when I didn’t deserve it. Couldn’t change that.
All I could do was fucking fight.
Fight for her.
This time, I would make it right.
The lake shone a vibrant pink as the sun sank at the far end of the sky.
Off to the left was the public beach.
I knew that wouldn’t be where Nikki would go.
I barreled on to where the road curved at its end, and I took the same worn-out path we’d used for all our lives.
It wound up through the trees and back down again.
My pulse thudded when I caught sight of the glint of metal in the dusky haze. I edged forward until it fully came into view.
Nikki’s car.
But it was the beater truck sitting next to it that punched the air from my lungs.
Sent a quiver of stakes through my spirit.
An earthquake.
Hate and fury and devastation.
I wouldn’t let this happen.
Hands shaking like a bitch, I dialed Seth.
He answered on the first ring. “You got anything?”
“They’re here. At the secluded cove at the far end of the lake. Both of them. I’m parked behind both their cars.”
“Fuck,” he shouted. I could hear the siren blip on the other end before it became a full, shrill cry, the sound of his cruiser quickly accelerating. “Do not approach them, Ollie. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“Send help,” I told him before tossing my phone back to the seat without taking the time to end the call.
I reached for the glove box and pulled out the handgun I’d taken from the safe before I’d headed for Nikki’s grandparents’ land.
I jerked open the door, blood pumping so hard I could feel it as it slogged through my body.
Taste it on my tongue.
Rage and desperation.
Fear and hope.
As silently as I could, I edged up the path, terrified of what I was going to find.
If I was too late, I wasn’t sure I would survive it this time.
My guts clenched in both relief and misery when I heard the whimper. The rumble of a low voice came out behind it, but the words were indistinguishable.
The threat of night hugged the earth, the day slipping away and stealing the light. Twilight swam through the trees in a dreamlike haze.
Footsteps quieted, I inched all the way up to the spot where we used to jump from the cliffs.
I pressed against a tree, trying not to shout out when they came into view.
In pain.
In venge
ance.
In the violence that twisted through me like the blackest storm.
Ravaging.
Annihilating.
Destroying.
Nikki was on her knees, arms twisted behind her back as he stood behind her and shackled her wrists and ankles with a thin twine.
The sick fuck had her gagged, the same twine running across the rag he’d stuffed into her mouth and tied behind her head to keep it in place.
But the hardest part was the terror that blazed in her eyes.
I nearly dropped to my knees when I was slammed with the gutting relief that overwhelmed her when she saw me at the line of trees.
Tears spilled out, and she released a gurgled cry as she sagged forward.
And that energy.
It surged.
So intense.
The greatest thing I’d ever felt.
Wave after wave.
Blast after blast.
This girl was everything.
All of me.
“None of that,” the vile piece of shit seethed, yanking her back up, and I had no reservations left.
My feet were moving, the gun lifted in the air, boots crunched beneath me.
His head whipped up. “You little fuck. Always hanging around her. Thinking she belonged to you. I never should have waited so long. It needed to be perfect. It needed to be perfect.”
The last spiraled in derangement.
I almost laughed, an unhinged sound I felt bubble at the back of my throat. “Let her go. Let her go. Don’t think I will hesitate to kill you.”
He killed my sister.
He killed my sister.
Oh God.
Bile swam, and every muscle in my body bristled. Flexed with aggression.
With this possessive protection that seethed from the depths of me.
I took another powerful step forward, promising him I wasn’t playing games.
He yanked Nikki to standing, and her gaze was on me, mine on her.
Trust me.
Trust me.
It was a silent plea, praying she would feel me. That I wouldn’t allow anything bad to happen to her.
That I was there.
I wouldn’t ever leave her again.
I choked, stumbling to a stop when I saw the glint of the knife he had pressed to her side.
“I’d rethink that.” His voice was all sneer as he dragged her back against his chest.
They were teetering right at the edge of the cliff. The asshole had backed himself right into a corner, nowhere for him to run.
“Let her go,” I demanded, trying to keep the tremble from my voice.
I wasn’t backing down.
Like I’d let him take her.
“There’s nowhere for you to go. Nothing left. The police are already on their way, and they know what you did to my sister. The game is up. Let her go.”
He cracked a demented grin. “She and I have a little time, don’t we, Nikki?” he whispered in her ear.
She cried out.
Disgust and revulsion rolled through me. Sickness and that hate.
Hate. So much hate.
For so long, I’d pinned it on myself. No more. This was all on him.
He’d hurt my sister. Sammie. Nikki. God knew who else.
No more.
No more.
My head shook, and the bitterness quivered my lips, but my hand was steady. “Wrong, asshole. Time’s up.”
Somewhere in the distance, sirens blared, riding on the encroaching night. Coming closer and closer.
As soon as he heard it, deranged panic lit in the sick fuck’s eyes. Like he actually thought he was going to make it out of there with Nikki.
Saw it the second he let desperation take him over. He jerked Nikki closer and started to run to the side.
Nikki flailed, swinging her shoulders, kicking her feet.
She broke free, stumbling back and away from him.
He whirled back to look at her. Stunned. Like he couldn’t believe she would fight him.
Like he was witnessing his own kind of horror.
That was my chance.
I was taking it.
I rushed that way, intent on tackling the fucker to the ground.
His eyes met mine, and I saw the shift. When he realized he had no choice left.
Madness filled his eyes, his vile gaze darting all over, searching for escape.
The piece of shit started running my direction, charging me with the knife drawn.
Thinking I was going to let him get through me.
Disappear in to the forest.
“Stop,” I shouted.
He just kept coming, the knife raised above his head.
“Stop,” I roared.
He made a sound to match as he rushed me.
Insane.
Crazed.
Unwilling to stop.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I pulled the trigger.
The sound was deafening.
Ricocheting on the cliffs and rocks and moving through me.
He crumpled into a pile at my feet.
My lungs squeezed, and I panted through the haze, everything set to slow as my mind tried to catch up.
Ears ringing, my attention swooped across the space for Nikki.
She teetered at the edge of the cliffs.
Bound feet sliding out from beneath her. Hands tied behind her and setting her off-balance on the slick, wet surface.
I was running that way as she struggled to regain balance on the slipping rocks.
Those indigo eyes went wide as her feet gave.
Falling backward.
A shout of agony tore from me as I watched her tip over the side.
My pulse thundered, and my heart screamed as loud as the screams that tore from my mouth.
“Nikki! Nikki. God, no, Nikki!”
I raced for the edge.
I skidded right before I hit the crumbling ledge.
Sucking in a staggered breath.
Blinking as I swore I saw Sydney standing at the cliff, her flowy dress billowing around her, hair soft as it whispered across her face.
Her voice lilted on the breeze. “You were my protector. My savior. My hero. It’s okay, Ollie. It’s okay to be hers.”
“Forgive me,” I begged, the words so small.
She smiled. The softest smile. “There was never anything to forgive. Just promise me one thing.”
“Anything.” It was my own plea.
“Never stop going after what makes your heart feel right.”
She angled her head toward the edge and lifted her chin.
“Fly, fly, dragonfly.”
I blinked, and she was gone.
And I dove over the side.
Falling.
I’d been all along.
I hit the water. It split, swallowing me in a pit of darkness.
I couldn’t see anything, and I started flailing, searching the water, my chest burning from the exertion and the loss of oxygen.
And I felt my sister. All around. And I wondered if she’d always been.
I pushed myself harder, a little deeper.
My fingertips just brushed against something.
Didn’t matter.
I saw it.
Could feel it.
The flash.
A spark.
Energy.
Light.
The meaning of life.
A half second later, I had an arm around Nikki’s waist, and I propelled us up. We broke the surface, and I was gasping for breath, frantic as I freed her of the bonds.
But Nikki.
She wasn’t breathing.
And I was crying out, floating on my back as I turned her so her face was out of the water, swimming back toward the shore with one arm.
The sound of the sirens traveled across the water, and swirling lights came into view from the shore, hitting the lake and blinking across the sky like an endless mirror.
“Nikki,” I cried, my feet finally
hitting the bottom of the lake. I gathered her in my arms and staggered up the rocky beach as officers came rushing down the incline.
I screamed with everything I had. “Help!”
38
Ollie
The monitor blipped quietly in the still of the room, the lights muted and her soft, soft breaths filling the air.
Swore, they breathed right back into me.
The sound of her where she slept on the hospital bed.
Olive skin and honeyed hair and freckled cheeks.
Sunshine.
She still hadn’t gained consciousness, but they thought she was going to be okay.
Her saturations and pulse ox had been good, but they would be taking her for scans to make sure her lungs were clear.
I leaned forward, taking her hand in mine, bringing it to my lips.
I was swept by an undercurrent of that energy. A sated fire that streamed between us. Our connection quieted but so goddamned bold.
Overwhelming.
I inhaled, and I swore, it felt like I was inhaling the breaking day.
Something fresh and new.
I stared at her, eyes tracing every unforgettable line of her face.
She was so pretty.
So pretty my guts clenched and my heart was drumming its song, the way it did whenever Nikki stepped into a room.
When she took up my space.
“You’re going to be just fine,” I whispered at her knuckles, praying she could feel my promise. That it was touching that bright, bright spirit.
That she’d know she wasn’t alone.
Her mom had been here.
Her sister.
Lillith and Rynna and Hope.
This girl surrounded by love.
Because that’s what she was.
Love.
The lightest tap sounded at the door, and I shifted to see Kale popping his head inside.
Thank God for Kale.
Kale, who’d come running when I’d sent out the distress call that we needed him. Even though he was no longer a physician at the ER, there wasn’t anyone I trusted more than him to be there, acting as Nikki’s intercessor, making sure no stone was left unturned.
“Hey,” I said, voice so low it barely broke the air. “Is it time for her to get the scans?”
He grimaced a little as he stepped inside. “Not quite,” he told me.
Unease wound through my being, and I couldn’t keep the quiver of distress out of my voice. “Did the tests come back?”
“Yeah. Everything looks good. CBC is good, and her O2 sats have been normal.”
Relief blew out on the heaviest sigh, and I was nodding, rubbing my face as this feeling came over me. This stunning gratitude that had taken the place of the weight that had been on my shoulders.
Fight for Me: The Complete Collection Page 102