Page 45 of Hostile Saint

“Yes, sir.”

As Lynx turned and walked away, he pointed to the ground at his side.

Soaking wet, I walked out of the water. When I peered down to where he had pointed… I fell to my knees. My shaking hand reached out to touch the earth that had been under her perfect little feet. “Lace.” Her petite toe marks showed she had, indeed, walked away safely.

How I had known she had even been in there was still a mystery.

I exhaled. New footprints. I wasn’t the only one searching for a better life.

How many more steps it would take to get to her mattered not. Seeing her face was worth millions of footsteps.

Determined, I rose from my knees. “I’m coming, baby.”

CHAPTER TEN

Seeing Fates

In the final steps to Serenity, my shoes barely touched the ground. My skin tingled, sensing her so close. My heart prayed for her to remember me. She had to, right? Isn’t that what evermore meant? Never forgetting their true love?

Getting to the edge of the trees, Vice crouched down as he continued forward, informing us of how close we were. The appearance of dark grey walls had me taking a deep breath. I’m here, Lace.

The establishment was even more notable in real life than what I saw in Vice’s pic. We were only seeing the left side but could easily tell the castle-like home was beyond impressive in size. It was clear that, a very long time ago, an extremely wealthy family lived in this neck of the woods.

The lawn in between where we were—the line of trees and the building—was immaculate. All shrubbery along the castle walls was incredibly well maintained. Vice giggled as he pointed past a small parking lot that only had two cars, and to the front of the property that was in absolute shambles due to his knife. Little dirt mounds showed how a company had been digging to find mysterious leaks flooding the grass.

Still hunched over, Vice waved for us to follow him as he walked along the edge of the trees, carefully staying hidden. Vice knew this place best because, out of us four, he was the only one who had been here.

From the woods, as we turned the corner of the back of the building, I immediately recognized the electric fence. Seeing the webbed wires on Vice’s phone was one thing. Seeing it in real life, I instantly became agitated, feeling as though someone was imprisoning my girl.

Quietly, I asked, “Why are they caged?”

“It’s a good thing, kid,” reminded Dagger.

Lynx nodded. “It being hard for us to get to her means the same for others. Capeesh?”

On the inside of the fencing, there was an array of tall, pretty flowering bushes that would please almost any girl.

Vice kept sneaking us through trees. “We’ll have a perfect view of the courtyard over here.”

In the center of the rear of the fence, there was a break in the flowers. Beyond that break was a sight I had so desperately longed to see, that I didn’t stop walking. I even stood straight up, not caring if I were seen. That’s because everything, every goddamn tragic thing in my life faded away so that my destiny could shine as soon as Lacey was in my view.

Bam! I suddenly flew forward and crashed flat on my stomach.

Forced onto the ground by my friends—who were laughing and quietly cursing—I peered up and whispered, “Isn’t she beautiful?” while trying to break free of their hands.

“He’s a slippery little fucker,” chuckled Vice.

Grabbing my arms because I kept pulling them free, Dagger whispered, “This is because you spoil him, Lynx.”

Lynx, half on top of my back, kept grabbing for my hands that I kept reaching out toward Lacey. “Me?” he angrily whispered, “You’re the one making him waffles!”

“You videotaped it!”

“You watched that video twenty times!”

A pair of strong hands grabbed my ankles and started pulling me back into the woods. “Hey, can Mom and Dad get along while we save Junior from getting busted?”

More muffled chuckling took place as weight shifted on my back.