She lifted Marissa into her arms again. “Come on, Marissa. We’re almost there.”
A grouping of boulders as tall as a man were lined up in a neat row. Between the first two, a small opening, big enough for someone to crawl through, looked like it led into the mountain.
Casey hated small spaces, but given the choice, she’d take a dank, dark cave over what was possibly hiding out here in the trees. She set Marissa at her feet and dropped to her knees. “In here, honey.”
Marissa hesitated. “It’s dark.”
“I know. But I’m right here.” Marissa glanced over her shoulder, clearly contemplating their options. Casey reached for her hand. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”
The answer seemed to satisfy Marissa. After one more quick look, she fell to her knees and crawled through the space after Casey.
The tunnel was no higher than about four feet, but luckily, it wasn’t long. Ten yards in, Casey had the impression of soaring ceilings and a vast space. She pulled the small penlight Theron had given her earlier from her pocket and flicked it on. Then gasped at what she saw.
Stalactites hung from the ceiling in a rainbow of colors. The fifteen-foot round room was tall enough to stand in and avoid being stabbed at by those giant fanglike cave formations. Another smaller room opened off this one, but it didn’t seem to have any outside access. And luckily, aside from a few bugs Casey didn’t want to think about, both areas looked to be deserted.
Casey gripped Marissa’s hand and led her as far back into the mountain as she could, into the smaller room and around the corner, so if something did come into the first room searching for them, they wouldn’t be seen. After wrapping her jacket snuggly around Marissa, she settled back against the rocks with the child cradled in her arms.
Marissa sniffled and snuggled closer. “I miss Minnie,” she whispered.
“I know, honey.” Casey ran her hand down Marissa’s hair.
“Can’t we go back for her?”
“No, Marissa. It’s not safe.”
“Casey,” Marissa whispered in the silence. “Are you scared?”
Casey hesitated, then nodded as tears burned behind her closed eyes. “Yes, honey. I am.”
“Don’t be. Theron will come back for you.”
Casey drew a shaky breath. And thought about how quickly things could change. Hours ago she’d wanted only to get away from him. Now she prayed the child was right.
The scent of death hit Nick’s senses the second he killed the bike’s engine and pulled off his helmet.
Casey’s house was dark, but he knew even before he stepped inside what he’d find.
With a sinking stomach, he walked around the house and found the back doorframe shattered, the door itself hanging from its hinges. The kitchen was neat and orderly, but even here he could smell what lay farther inside.
He made himself cross the hardwood floor, his boots clunking with each step. When he reached the arched doorway that led into the living room, he stopped and swallowed the bile sliding up his throat.
The couch was slashed and overturned, the coffee table nothing more than a pile of kindling. Books and broken trinkets littered the floor, and in the middle of the mess lay Dana’s lifeless body.
“Ah, shit, Dana.”
He knelt beside her, scanning what was left. Dana’s wide, unfocused eyes stared up at the ceiling, and her face was bloody and bruised. One leg was cocked at an odd angle, the bone jutting through skin and denim alike, and bloodstained scratches marred most of her body. But the most disgusting thing—and that which Nick had suspected when he’d first come upon the house—was the gaping hole in the center of her chest where her heart used to be.
He ran a hand over his mouth, shut his eyes and cursed himself for walking out on her the other night. He’d sensed her death was coming, but he hadn’t done enough to protect her. If he’d driven her back to the colony himself, if he’d been more insistent…Dammit, if he’d opened his eyes and tuned in to her, she’d be alive now.
If is for shit. She’s dead, no thanks to you.
He opened his eyes and stared down at her. Their relationship had been warped on more than one front, but in his own way, he’d cared for her. More than maybe anyone else in his life. She’d understood him and his needs, and she’d never once said no, even when those needs had been pretty fucking twisted. And how had he repaid her? With this.
She’d accused him of having a god complex. He knew she was right. But even a god wouldn’t fuck up this bad.
The cell in his pocket vibrated. “What?” he answered.
“Nick, it’s Helene. We have a situation.”
He rose slowly to his feet as those fucking scars on his back began to tingle. “What’s happened now?”
“Marissa wandered off this morning. Search parties are out looking for her. But the woman you brought here yesterday? Casey? She and the Argonaut are out there now too. And they’re the only pair that hasn’t checked in yet.”