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One single emotion clogs my throat and makes my entire body tremble.
Dread.
That’s what this is—the stone-cold knowledge that I’m walking into the proverbial hungry lion’s den—without any sort of weapon or defense—to offer myself to him as a tasty snack.
You can do this.
You have to.
I can’t even begin to fathom the consequences of the alternative—turning around and going home—despite it being what Dad would want. Deep down, though he forbade me from coming, we both know this is the only way he’s getting out of this shitstorm he created alive.
Why did you have to cross the Barkers, Dad?
He never gave me an explanation, never offered any sort of information that might have shed light on the very clear message he had received that sent me up here, but he should have recognized what the consequences would be for upsetting them, and now, it’s up to me to ensure he doesn’t suffer them.
Ensuring his life means sacrificing mine.
Not that there’s much going on in it right now other than endless hours at work and nights spent curled up under a fuzzy blanket with a great book, but that’s beside the point.
This has to happen.
Suck it up and drive, Callista.
I tighten my hands on the steering wheel, still staring up at the massive, ominous mountain—the trees so dense and tall I can’t even see the house that stands at the top.
The Beast’s lair…
No gate blocks the unmarked, narrow gravel road that ascends the steep peak because no one is stupid enough to set foot on Barker property.
The Beast doesn’t need a gate or any sort of warning sign. The consequences are implicit, understood by anyone who has ever heard the name, including me. Yet, I still take my foot off the brake and press the other pedal, inching onto the rustic drive.
Stone crunches under my tires as I move forward at a snail’s pace, as if advancing so slowly will somehow change the inevitable.
It won’t.
That reality twists my gut, and I force myself to depress the gas and drive up the first part of the switchback that leads into the thick, hauntingly beautiful forest.
A claustrophobic canopy envelopes me, blocking out the last of the late afternoon light until it’s almost midnight dark, the way I imagine it always should be around anything involving the Barkers.
You’ll be okay.
There isn’t any other option.
I have to stand my ground. No matter what the man at the top of this mountain does or says, I can’t let him hurt Dad because of one stupid mistake. That wouldn’t be fair in any world, and I could never live with myself if anything happened to him.
Let it be me.
The higher I climb up the winding, narrow gravel road, the tighter my chest becomes and my grip on the steering wheel whitens my knuckles. My body continues to tremble, and I reach out and crank on the heat as high as it’ll go, hoping it will quell some of the chills. But it’s only wishful thinking, since they aren’t caused by anything other than my own nerves.
“I forbid you to do this, Callista. I’ll figure something out. Figure out a way to appease him…”
Remembering the tears in Dad’s eyes as he made the plea only makes them prick in my own, and I swipe them away to clear my vision as I take another turn up the steep incline, the tires of my car perilously close to the massive drop-off at the side.
If he knew I was here right now, that I disobeyed his order, he would do everything in his power to stop me. Which is precisely why I waited for him to leave town on his business trip to make the three-hour drive here from Helena.
By the time he realizes what’s happened, it’ll be too late.
I’m going to have to face The Beast of Barker Mountain, beg his forgiveness, supplicate myself, and offer the one thing I have that he might want—my body.
