Page 73 of Backwoods
“Some of these people have been here a really long time.” Raven hurried forward clutching the rifle. “I guess your fireworks sort of woke them up.”
At the intersection, she cut to the left. It would take them in the direction they had seen Amiya headed with Westbrook. Raven guessed that Westbrook had taken Amiya to the wine cellar, which everyone knew was one of his favorite areas of the mansion.
Nick had been amazed at the exterior condition of the restored estate, but inside, traveling down these polished hardwood corridors, seeing the crystal chandeliers ablaze with candlelight, and passing through the sumptuously furnished rooms . . . it called into question all his years of scientific study. If they survived this night, he would be forced to seriously reevaluate some beliefs that he had once held so dear and sacred.
The residents behaved as if they were out of their minds. He saw men and women, all of them dressed as if attending a black-tie affair. Babbling and shouting and weeping, they stampededaimlessly through the house, and those that noticed Nick and Raven shrank away from them fearfully.
“We’re here to help them, but they’re looking at us as if they’re scared,” Nick said.
“Some of them we won’t be able to help.” Raven strode forward. “Like I said, they’ve been here too long.”
“Institutionalized.” He swept his gaze around. “I want to offer them a way out, but I need to find Amiya first.”
“Right around the corner.” Raven nodded toward an intersecting corridor ahead.
A man and a woman flashed through the intersection of hallways that Raven had indicated. Nick did a double take.
“Babe?” he asked.
Amiya turned, and saw him.
“Oh, God . . . Nick.”
They ran into each other’s arms.
49
Nick could have held Amiya in his arms for an eternity. She felt so vital, so alive—as if she were the only thing in his life that was truly real. He buried his face in her hair, and she twined her arms around his back. Her body shook with sobs, and he realized that he was crying, too.
There were others standing around them, but at that moment, none of that mattered to Nick. One of his unspoken fears had been that he would never hold Amiya in his arms again. It took feeling her body against him to draw the true depths of his emotions to the surface. They had stunned him to silence.
“I love you,” Amiya whispered. “You have no idea how much.”
“I’m so sorry,” he said, his breaths getting snagged in his chest. Tears blinded him. “I’m so sorry, baby.”
“Nothing to be sorry for,” she said.
“I need to tell you why I wanted to sell the land. The truth.”
Amiya drew back, blinking away tears. She put her finger against his lips.
“You wanted the money, for whatever reason you lied about,” she said. “It doesn’t matter anymore. What’s going on here is so much bigger, Nick.”
“I need to tell you.”
“Then tell me when we’re back home, safe.” Worry tainted her eyes. “We’re not out of the woods here yet.”
“I promise I will, babe.”
“Your granddad?” she asked, after a hesitation. “Did you ever find him?”
“He’s back home. It’s a long story. But he knows what’s going on out here and I’m going to put an end to it for good.”
From somewhere behind them, Nick heard a scream. It wasn’t like the cries of hysteria issuing from the long-term captives of the estate. It was a shriek of unholy rage.
“That’s Miss Lula,” Raven said.
“She’s pissed off for real,” the young man who had been with Amiya said. He glanced at Nick. “I’m Ossie. You set off the bomb, didn’t you?”
