Page 45 of Shattered Home

“We’re going to need food at some point,” Aiden added a few moments later.

My body protested, but I struggled to my feet anyway. I knew we should leave the area soon and, for now, I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing. Luckily, I knew there were fruit and nut trees nearby.

Walking to the perimeter of the clearing, I allowed the moonlight to guide my way toward the familiar trees. As I picked some food for us to snack on, I wondered about our next steps. Now that we had found the clearing, I knew the general area where we had walked to the next camp.

But even as the thought came, I realized they most likely weren’t there. After we were taken, Rainer must have moved the group somewhere safer. I had firsthand knowledge that he wasn’t one to stay in place after someone knew where we were.

Frustrated, I started walking back toward the others with an armful of food, keeping my eyes trained on the ground so I wouldn’t trip over a root. I was nearly back when a cluster of hazelnuts caught my attention.

There was a solid handful, pushed together in a perfect circle. There was no way that they would have fallen to the ground in that manner. My mind raced, thinking of Mina, who loved trees. Who had taught me about these hazelnuts.

Holy shit, was this a sign? Had they come back here and led a way to their new camp, just in case? I nearly dropped the fruit and nuts I had gathered in my hurry back to the clearing, a new energy coursing through my veins.

The sound of my steps must have worried Warner and Aiden because they were both standing alert when I made it back. Thrusting the food into their waiting hands, I couldn’t contain my giddy smile.

“I know where to go,” I told them, nearly bouncing on my toes with excitement.

“Fucking finally,” Warner said around a handful of berries and I rolled my eyes at his dramatics.

Obviously, I hadn’t been doing a good job of pretending I knew where we were. But now I did. The second the sun crested the horizon, we’d be on our way back to home.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The groupings of hazelnuts were sparse at best. When the sun had started to rise, we roused the twins, making our way back through the trees. Aiden and Warner had been hesitant about my plan to follow the nuts, but neither of them had a better option.

After at least half a mile of walking without seeing another cluster, I had begun doubting myself, my eyes crossing from staring so hard at the ground. But finally, we stumbled upon another patch, a perfect circle, just like the last, and I knew it was Mina leading me to them.

The sun was now at its apex in the sky, beating down on us. Stephanie and Lucas were back on the boys’ backs, their bodies tiring quicker with the lack of food and water. When we passed the sixth circle of hazelnuts, I knew we were still on the right track, but I also knew we needed to get there sooner rather than later.

“How are you holding up?” Aiden asked from my side, and I smiled tightly.

“I’m okay. But once we get there, I may sleep for the next week straight.”

He laughed quietly, but the humor faded when he took in my thighs. The stitches weren’t holding well under the strain of walking and blood was trickling down my skin, dotting my shins and shoes.

“Aiden, I’m fine,” I reassured him once more.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Warner hushed us, pausing in his steps. Aiden and I stopped at his back, my ears straining to hear whatever had him stopping. For a few seconds, I heard nothing but the whistling of the leaves in the wind, but then it was there.

The sound was so faint I wasn’t sure how Warner had even heard it, but it was there. The sound of soft voices. I had no way of knowing if it was the others, but the thought alone had my heart racing.

Warner dropped Lucas to his feet, telling him to walk with me, and Aiden did the same with Stephanie. Hand in hand, we walked behind the men, allowing them to take the lead in case it wasn’t someone we knew.

The further we walked, the clearer the voices became. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it was clear there were multiple people. Aiden and Warner kept a steady pace, but my feet urged me forward, wanting to break out into a sprint that I knew my body couldn’t handle.

Stephanie and Lucas must have picked up on my excitement because they bounced on their toes, their sleepy eyes widening as they started to hear the voices as well. We walked closer and closer and finally, I could make out the voices.

“It’s been three weeks, she would have been here by now if she could have.”

“Would she?”

I recognized the two voices immediately. And I knew they were talking about me. Refusing to stay behind Warner and Aiden any longer, I rushed past them, gripping the twins’ hands in mine. The three of us raced forward, passing a few large trees until another clearing came into view.

I didn’t have a moment to pause before Stephanie was yelling into the air. “Mommy! Mommy!”

Her small hand slipped from mine, her body racing forward into a stunned Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s eyes were round, tears springing in them as she held her daughter tightly in her arms. Lucas slipped from my hold next, racing after his sister and crushing them both with his weight.

My own tears slipped past my eyes as I watched their reunion, realizing I had done it. I had brought them back safely. Giving them a moment to themselves, I glanced at the others.

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