Page 49 of Vow to Protect
Air packs out my lungs, but not enough to satisfy. I’m dazed, lingering outside of my body as my shoes clatter and my mind goes to dark, horrific places. Champ furiously scrapes freshly clipped nails down Tilly’s bedroom door.
My lungs burn and every rib aches with a well-known spasm. Blood stains my hands, drying under my nails and coating my skin. It’s symbolic of the danger I brought to my loved ones. No matter how many times I rub them over my trousers, they still look monstrous. I fling the bedroom door open. Champ’s strapping body whooshes past my legs. Toys litter the carpet where sanguine footprints bigger than my own lead a track to the bed. Rooted to plush purple, I scour the room and note dresses strewn on the closet floor. Champ barks twice, sniffing the stupid fucking unicorn like it’s the threat.
“She’s not here,” I say out loud, breaking the formidable silence. “That bastard has taken her.” A rage more consuming than an urge to drown in liquor rattles through every single muscle from my jaw to my shins. Hands fist, eyes bug and my heart withers to a deadly beat of anguish.
I’m shuttered to the whining and pawing. Lost in my head with acts of revenge and savagery, losing sight of humanity. The crazy dog can smell Tilly on the grotesquely immense beast of a unicorn. Champ burrows in a frenzy.
He can smell her.
He can sense her.
“Tilly?” My feet drag, and my legs shake. I crash to my knees beside the dog. A small hand ejects from the belly of the horse until it locates a wet Boxer dog nose. Without thought or breath, I lunge over white faux fur and mutilate the toy like a hunter gutting his kill, then haul my princess free. Taking her into my arms, I hug her so damn tight, aware of the rhythm of her beating heart. It rewards my fractious soul with love, responsibility and life.
“Daddy, bad men were here.” She hiccups through a sob. I remove the headphones clamped over her ears and smooth curls away from her blossom pink cheeks. My lips meet the tip of her cute nose with affection like I do every other day. “Mommy sent an angel to protect me,” she continues.
Joy and relief muddle into a contorted twine of confusion, twisting around my heart and yanking it back down to earth. “What do you mean by an angel?”
“It was her idea to hide inside Dazzle, but there wasn’t enough room for the angel to hide with me.” She rushes her story, huddling into me. “She said keeping me safe was all that mattered.”
“What did she look like?” A wave of goosebumps scuttle down my spine like a cluster of tiny spiders.
“She had dark hair like mine and sounded like mommy.”
I jolt in panic.Raen. How the hell did she get in here? “Where is she now?”
“All I could hear was music, Daddy. She told me not to peek, but—I peered out and saw the men in my mirror.” Her eyelids lower. Teardrops coat her lashes. “A big man with dirty hands put a gun to her face. Will they hurt her?”
Champ licks her toes. She squiggles around to hug him. My mind takes off, imagining the worst scenario. Blaine will sell Raen before I can reach her. Tonight, she’ll be owned, raped, silenced, forced to obey and eventually murdered. Casey is a ruthless fucker. Which means he could hack out her organs one by one and sell them instead.
Fuck!
My heart hammers. I fall silent because I can’t speak. Not yet. Not until I can process it all. “No, sweetheart. The bad men will go to prison, and I’ll personally toss the key into the ocean.” I’ll stuff a pipe bomb up his ass.
“Where's Gretchen?” she mumbles into Champs neck.
The nanny’s leaking like a burst pipe in the sitting room. It’s a bloodbath out there. “She’s having a nap. How about we let her rest for a while, huh?” I tighten my arm around her, stuffing my nose into her hair. “The shock of it all has made her tired. So let’s stay in here. I’ll phone Uncle Kaleb. He can take you to see Auntie Freya.” I do my best to disguise the truth for her sake. The sight alone would scar her innocence for eternity.
I drag out my phone, caught between two worlds. In one world, I’m a father. A man who untangles braids in his kid’s hair and reads countless tales where the prince rescues the damsel in distress. I didn’t rescue my damsel. She died. And I taught my daughter to be her own fucking saviour. To be one step ahead. How to defend. How to outsmart the enemy.
The other world is ruthless and destructive. My strategies turn rogue, planning tactics, plotting rebellion and wishing for Blaine’s death. Retribution is inevitable. Raen is at risk, and I’ll not let that bastard win. I won’t let him scratch her life from the living, and he damn well won’t see me coming.
Kaleb picks up in two rings. “I have a situation.”
“Brett?” he snaps. “Where’s Tilly?”
“Beside me.” I take a second to exhale, trying my best to hide the anxiety in my tone. “I need a helicopter and a cleaning squad.”
“You better tell me what the fuck is going on, Brett.”
“I will, once you get here.” I hang up.
The clock is ticking.
Raen’s existence is dangling on a knife's edge.
“What an adventure you’ve had.”Blaine lounges in a captain’s chair and props his chin up with his knuckles. He has a certain unpredictable expression that makes my blood curdle with dread. “I’ve carried out some research,” he says with accusation.
A waistcoat the colour of soot neatly wraps his torso. Long shirt sleeves are cuffed with golden daggers to give a playful twist to a volatile madman. When his intense gaze burrows into mine, my innards shrivel and die. His prolonged scrutiny deletes any hope lighting the end of the long dark tunnel leading to my future. There’s no way out of this, not now, not ever.
