“Stay back!”
He holds up his hands.
In it is the key I’ve been dying to get ahold of, the key that opens the door to this cabin.
“You want this?” He dangles it as if it’s a piece of candy.
I swallow. Hard.
“Then tell me … is she alive?”
I shake my head. “I misspoke.”
“Bullshit,” he snarls, clutching the keys tight. “Tell me the truth. She’s alive, isn’t she?”
“Why do you think I’d come here?” I spit back.
When he steps closer, I lunge at him with the knife, catching him off guard. He maneuvers to avoid being sliced, but the key drops from his hand in the process, and I catch it. I storm to the exit, open the door, and rush out, but his roar makes my heart skip a beat. “JASMINE!”
Chapter 18
Liam
* * *
How could I’ve been so blind to the truth?
Jasmine was here for a reason.
Her sister … Jill … is still alive.
Adrenaline stokes the flames of rage in my body as I storm outside, following Jasmine’s footsteps until I’ve caught up with her. In the dark of the night, there’s barely anything to guide her, and when her foot catches on a tree stump, I know I’ve won.
I know this place, these trees, this forest. I’ve made it mine for three years.
There’s no way in hell she could ever outrun me.
In one quick jump, I grasp her by the legs and topple her.
She squeals. “Get off me!”
I pin her down on the ground and knock the knife out of her hand. I lean over and whisper into her ear. “Is Jill alive? Tell me the truth, or I swear to God, I will keep you locked up in that freezer forever.”
I’m right on top of her. There’s no way out of this. Not for her.
Tears well up in her eyes. “Yes.”
Nothing compares to the fury coursing through my veins right now.
“I should’ve killed her when I had the chance,” I whisper into Jasmine’s ear.
A single tear rolls down her cheek, but her eyes look anything but sad. “She’s alive thanks to your brother. Luca saved her. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
I frown and spin her around underneath me, forcing her to look at me. “My brother … he’s alive too?”
Clenching her jaw, she nods. “No thanks to you.”
So they both survived the fall.