Page 83 of Fighting Shadows

Tobias sits to my left, his hand holding mine tightly and squeezing until I feel like my bones are grinding together to bring me back into the moment instead of lost in my memories of that night. Atlas sits to my right, his hand drawing lazy circles on my exposed thigh while he talks with Zander and Brenn about a new gun he just bought to try down at the shooting range.

“You ok, Babygirl?” Tobias asks me, his hand tightening around mine briefly.

“Mmhmm, just enjoying being around everyone. It’s been a good night,” I murmur, leaning closer to him so he can hear me.

He nods his head, his eyes sliding over everyone, and then scans the surrounding trees, “I’m safe,” I mutter, squeezing his hand just as he has been doing with mine.

They’ve all been trapped in their minds since I’ve been back, terrified that I’m going to be taken from them again. All I can do is offer them comfort with my touch, a way to reassure them that I’m still here.

Apparently, I spoke too soon, though, when a loud bang on Zander’s front door had all of us jumping up.

Zander, my dad, Brenn, and Atlas take off through the house as Dominic, Tobias, and Sebastian surround me.

Noah comes running over from where he was talking to my dad and stands protectively at my back as Aidan follows Brenn through the house, grumbling about him running off without him there to protect him.

They all return not a moment later, a white box in their hands, and I know right away what it is.

He’s back.

Charlie’s back, and he’s coming for me.

Chapter 41

Charlie

Iwant them all dead.

It’s a mantra that plays on repeat in my head as I assemble the perfect box for my Little One—mine, not theirs.

Her dad won’t be able to hide her from me this time.

I spent weeks hiding in the underground bunker under the cabin, the food reserves there along with the medical kit allowing me to patch up the gaping hole in my shoulder left by one of the bastards that stole her from me and then burnt my cabin to the ground.

I had no other option but to hide down here as they spent hours searching the woods for me. Thankfully, the entrance to the bunker is hidden deep in some bushes that no one can ever find unless they know where to look.

It's taken me weeks to get everything set up again. This time, I’m taking no chance when I get her back. None of them will find her.

I’ll play nice for a while, gain her trust again, and remind her how much she loves me, that she needs me and can’t live without me.

My bastard son helped them steal her from me. I’ve seen him hovering around her like the mutts of hers that she has, just begging for scraps of her attention.

I understand why they are so captivated by her. The need to bask in her light, even for a moment, is intoxicating and overpowering.

I know it all too well, but she is mine, and they will have to find another object of their obsession because she’s been mine since the first moment I laid eyes on her.

The white box laid in front of me is perfect like my Little One, an ideal representation of how pure she was when I met her.

I pluck the daisies from one of the plant pots, the soil dripping from the roots and staining the bottom of the box.

No matter, though. It won’t matter. I just need to get this message to him, her dad, who obviously thought moving her to that boy's house would keep me from finding her.

They don’t know the lengths I will go for her, how much I would sacrifice to have her back in my grasp.

I grab the knife from the table, bringing it to my inner wrist, and slice, breaking the skin until blood wells from the wound.

I let it drip over the daisies and then fill the small dish to the side. I dip the pen in it and scribble the note for Kelvin hastily, not wanting the blood to dry out before I finish.

She will be mine again, but I want them to know I’m coming. For them to jump at the slightest sound, wondering if I’m back to take her from them.

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