The Last Echo

When at last she saw the building, she stopped dead, her entire body going rigid. It seemed to appear from out of nowhere, large and looming, blotting out an entire section of forest. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn’t a house.

Violet stilled beneath the cover of the trees and squeezed her eyes shut, feeling for him, trying to locate Caine in the shadows around her.

He was there. Somewhere. But not so close that she worried he would see her if she crept closer to investigate.

She had no idea if she was making a mistake, if she was walking into yet another of Caine’s traps—like the wire that had encompassed his property. For all she knew, this building belonged to him too. It was the first sign of civilization she’d seen since she’d left the house he’d been holding her in.

But she was growing weary. Hunger and exertion were getting the best of her, and she had to take the chance . . . had to see if there might be help nearby. Maybe inside.

She slipped free from the brush. The heavy jacket draped around her, concealing the stark white of her nightgown as she moved away from the foliage. Her feet were caked in mud, making the socks invisible in the night.

Her voice ached to be free, to call out for help, but she bit it back. What if no one was around? What if no one but Caine could hear her? So she choked on it, letting it die in her throat.

She reached the outer wall of the building and moved quickly, using her hands to guide her along the wooden structure as she searched, feeling her way, for an entrance—a doorway, a window, a crack in the siding, any way to get inside. For too long, she felt nothing, and when she glanced up, scanning the exterior, it seemed to go on forever, reaching all the way to the sky.

Whatever it was, it was enormous.

She rounded a corner, her pulse hammering and blood rushing noisily in her ears. She stayed as close as she could to the wall. She checked over her shoulder time and time again, expecting to find Caine there at any moment, ready to strike.

But she knew he wasn’t. She couldn’t smell him.

Her fingers fumbled over a variation in the wooden surface. A window frame.

It was above her head, and she balanced on her toes, trying to feel for a latch, but there was nothing. At least not that she could reach.

Her shoulders sagged defeatedly, but she kept going . . . somewhere there had to be a door.

She turned another corner and came to the front of the building where the trees had been stripped away, creating a large clearing. There was something along the perimeter . . . something that looked like fencing. But it was leaning and gapped in places, as if it had succumbed to years of disrepair.

The building itself, Violet realized, was a barn, and she looked up at the huge double doors.

The closer she examined it, even in the dark, the more she realized how run-down it really was. She hadn’t noticed the way the paint had flaked beneath her fingers and the way the boards were soft, like they were rotting. She hadn’t seen the thick clumps of grasses springing up from the foundation at her feet. It was crumbling . . . a bad sign.

Violet scanned the shadows that stretched ahead of her, searching for another building, maybe a house. But there were none that she could see. Just a wilting old barn.

She staggered forward. It didn’t matter; if this was the only shelter she could find, then it would have to do. She needed to stop, just for a little bit. Just long enough to come up with a plan.

Until then, she’d have to rely on her senses to warn her if danger approached. If Caine came near.

Estrangement

FRUSTRATION LICKED THROUGH HIM, SETTING his veins on fire.

He shifted the beam from his flashlight over the forest floor, angry that she’d eluded him for this long. He didn’t know how that was possible. She was all alone . . . in the woods . . . in the dead of night. She couldn’t get far. And she couldn’t avoid him.

Yet, so far, she’d done just that.

He was angry now. Furious with himself.

How had he made such an error? How had he miscalculated so grievously?

She’d tricked him, that’s how. She manipulated him into believing she was the one.

And he’d believed her.

He slammed his fist against the solid tree trunk, ignoring the fact that he’d just torn his wound open and was bleeding again. He didn’t need her, he told himself, words he’d repeated before. There were other girls. Better girls.

But before he could find one of those girls, he had to stop this one. He had to find her and give her one last kiss, silencing her forever.

He stood there, trying to decide which way to go next, trying to tamp down the fury that made him irrational. He had to be clear. He had to think. He didn’t know what he would do if she got away, didn’t know what his next move should be.

And then he saw it. Something that he’d almost missed as he’d been casting the flashlight’s beam across the shadowy terrain. There was something out of place. Something white.

Everything in him went on alert as he lumbered toward it, his feet landing heavily as his eyes searched everywhere, looking for her. Hunting her.

He stopped as he plucked the small piece of fabric from the shrub it was hanging on. He recognized it, of course, this particular piece of fabric. It was a piece of lace from the nightgown, the one the girl was wearing.

Which meant she was close.

He was on the right track.

Chapter 24

INSIDE THE BARN IT WAS EVEN DARKER THAN IT had been outside. The doors hadn’t been locked, but the rusted hinges were old and protested loudly when Violet finally pried one of them ajar. She’d only managed to create enough room for her to squeeze through before it had creaked shut once more behind her.