Page 18 of Until Death Parts Us

In his text thread, I find Tim’s name and type out a quick message.

Need you to come back. Something weird happened.

I don’t get a reply, but I search the entire house for signs Kaspian was here. There’s no blood to be found. Nothing is knocked over to indicate a fight. There’s no evidence to suggest he was brought here at all, but I know he didn’t just disappear.

With the dead man’s phone in my pocket, I go outside and look around. It’s then that I notice the disturbed snow. It’s similar to what I found near the trees, but it travels around the side of the cabin. I follow the trail until it leads me around back where a vehicle was clearly parked. The tire tracks disappear between the trees. He’s been taken farther into the woods.

I rush back to where I left my jacket and put it on before grabbing my belongings from inside the cabin. Outside, I follow the tire tracks and hope they lead me to Kaspian.

CHAPTER NINE

KASPIAN

I come to,my head throbbing, and the smell of burning wood in my nostrils. My body is restrained somehow, because I can’t lift my hand to touch my face. It’s pitch-black, but I believe I have a covering over my eyes.

“You’re awake,” a voice says. “Good.”

Before I can say anything, white-hot, searing pain burns through my side, and I let out a blood-curdling scream before something is shoved into my mouth.

CHAPTER TEN

QUIN

It was faint,but I heard a screech. Could’ve been an animal, but something tells me I need to hurry. If it was Kaspian, at least he’s still alive.

I pick up my pace, sticking to the compacted snow where the vehicle traveled, so it’s easier to traverse. My lungs burn from the cold air, and my face stings every time the wind blows.

It takes at least twenty minutes before I once again smell something burning. My eyes scan the trees and the spaces in between, but I don’t see anything.

The tire tracks continue for another few minutes, and then I find it. A truck is parked in front of an orange and tan tent. The fire must be on the other side.

The dead man’s phone buzzes in my pocket. When I read the messages, I realize I must’ve lost service for a while and these are being delivered late, because the time stamp reads eighteen minutes ago. Then thirteen minutes ago.

I’m on my way.

Daniel, what happened?

If he was on his way eighteen minutes ago, then why is the truck still here? I guess it doesn’t matter. I’m storming that tent and killing whoever is inside. If he’s not there, I’ll find him somewhere else. I’ll burn each and every cabin to the ground, innocent bystanders be damned.

I charge forward, my knife clutched in my fist as vapor pours from my nose with each exhale. I barely register the noise inside the tent before I rip open the storm flap and duck inside.

A man is on his knees, punching something in front of him. I don’t think. I rush in and pull his head back by his hair, my knife at his throat as I peer down at the lump in front of him.

It’s a pillow and a sleeping bag.

“What—” he starts.

“Shut the fuck up. Are you with Tim?”

“Who?”

I slide the blade across his throat and leave, my anger and frustration rising with each second that goes by that I don’t have Kaspian.

After a quick glance in his truck, I find the keys in the center console, so I climb in and start it up, heading back to the cabin.

I park in the back, emerging from the vehicle with my axe in one hand and my knife in the other. I barge into the house and immediately notice something looks different. Items in the room have shifted slightly.

I no longer care to be quiet and careful. I stomp through the cabin, hoping someone comes out to confront me. I check on the man I left earlier and find that he’s been covered up. Someone was definitely here.

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