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That’s odd.
We don’t usually set it when he’s outside since he’s always in a rush to return to Berk’s side. It takes him less time to do his thing if his master isn’t out with him.
“If he’s out here alone, where are Berk and Berlynn?” Kayson poses the question. “They don’t usually leave him out here on his own without one or the other out here watching over him. I never see one of them not standing on the back porch when he’s out. Even in the middle of the night.”
“I have no fucking clue,” I answer him. “But I’m about to find out.” They weren’t supposed to let him out until I returned.
Berlynn promised.
She knew it could be dangerous because I told her that it wasn’t safe and to alert one of the guards if he needed to go out. That makes the eerie feeling I’ve had strumming through me all night come back tenfold.
I’m gonna paddle her ass red for making me worry like this.
I don’t do fear well. As a matter of fact, I have a tendency to overreact and painting her ass with my handprint sounds like a damn good way to alleviate my fright.
I didn't give them a chance to case the perimeter or pie any corners. My instincts were centered on one thing alone—checking on my family and making sure they’re safe and sound, nestled in their beds where I left them.
Taking the stairs two steps at a time, I run like I haven't ever run before. I know that I'll feel off kilter until I set eyes on both of them. My nerves are shot as I hit the top of the staircase. My temper is on the fringe of shredding. I bypass Berk's room and head directly toward Berlynn’s. When I make it, I notice that her door is ajar, but I quickly push my head in anyway and call out her name.
“Berlynn? Baby? If you’re hiding you can come out now. I’m home,” I call out to the still, dark room. After giving it an appropriate amount of time with no response, I twist on the balls of my feet and rush down the hallway.
“Aris?” Kayson asks as he hits the lip of the stairwell. “Are they alright?”
“Don’t know. Berlynn’s room is empty. I’m gonna check Berk’s,” I explain.
Tracker is sitting on his haunches as he waits for me to let him inside the bedroom. Pushing the door open, I notice one body sleeping in the bed. Tiptoeing that way, I pull back the sheet and notice that it’s Berk.
But where’s Berlynn?
Whenever their parents were on a rampage, or she was scared, she’d always crawl into his bed and cuddle with him. That’s what I expected to find now.
Exuberantly shaking Berkley’s shoulders, I call out his name until his eyes fly open. His nostrils flare when he takes in my anger and my fear. “What’s wrong, Ari?”
“Where’s your sister?” I boom out the question. Whereas normally, I’d approach him with more caution, I feel an urgent need to locate my woman.
“She was just right here,” he answers, pushing his hands around on the empty sheets looking for her. Panic sets in for him when he becomes cognizant of the fact that she’s not where she was when he fell asleep. “She was just here, holding my hand.” His whispered voice cracks and my resolve breaks.
“Where is my woman!” I roar.
As if the sky opens up and decides to rain down on me, my phone begins dinging. Glancing down, I see an incoming email from Berlynn. One that’s been forwarded from a nondescript number.
When I press play, my knees buckle as I listen to the disingenuous voice. A voice that lives inside of Berlynn’s nightmares.
“Hello, daughter. It's time for me to play my hand, and soon, you'll see that the cards that I've dealt are not ones you're going to be happy with. You will not come out a winner in this. I will be the victor here. You only have so many weaknesses and only one was easily contained and I have her at my disposal. Wanna take a gander at who that could be? No guesses? Hmm, let me show you.”
Dazedly, I watch as he walks around a dusky corner, and a woman tied to a chair with her head dangling to her chin comes into view.
When he speaks again, the hair on my forearms rise up.
“You have two hours to escape your guards, leave the grounds, and meet me in the parking garage at the library. If you don’t show up at that designated time and place, Addison will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. See you soon, my daughter.”
“That’s my dad,” Berkley whispers, his tone trembling. “Did she go to him, Aris?”
“I think so, buddy,” I tell him through clenched teeth.
“He’ll hurt her. You have to get her back,” he demands.
“I will,” I vow.
