“I love you. I love you, I love you. I promise I loved you.”
But there’s just so much blood. As his eyes close, and his breath starts to rattle.
“What did you do?” Paul asks me, one last time.
“I loved you...”
—
I wake up screaming. Or maybe I’m sobbing. It’s hard to be sure which. Piper is curled up against my lower back. I focus on the sound of her rumbling purr as I stare into the dark, willing my breathing to ease, the horror to fade.
Paul is gone.
Two girls are missing.
And I am still me. Afraid of everything. Of anything.
I will find Angelique and Livia, I promise myself, hands fisting the sheets. I will bring them home. I swear it. Because I need this. Need it.
Which explains the phone call I get next.