Page 57 of Haven Bound
A few old family portraits hang along the walls, including a few of a young boy and his father in this very same cabin. They share the same blond hair and dark eyes as the man who dragged me here and suddenly, I know exactly where I am. Jason talked about this place so many times when we were dating, but timing just never worked for us to visit.
His heavy footsteps are a rhythmicthump, thump, thump, thumpagainst the wood flooring as he paces back and forth, muttering words and curses to himself. His hands are balled into tight fists at his sides, ahandgun gripped in one of them. He stops pacing a few times to throw his head back, raising his hands to tug at his mess of blond hair and inadvertently pointing the gun in my direction in the process. The move isn’t intentional, but it still makes my body jolt in response when it happens.
I have no idea what he’s planning to do or what could be going through his mind right now, but whatever it is, I don’t want to be part of it. I don’t know how long it’s been since I called Austin, but I do know that I need to do what I can to stay safe, which means getting Jason to calm down. I’ve seen enough mental breaks in my life to know that he’s not currently in his right mind.
“So fucking worthless. He ruined everything. She’s mine. Only mine. He can’t have her,” he spews, his footsteps quickening across the small living space.
“Jason…” I say softly. Approaching him in any capacity sort of feels like approaching a wounded animal. They seem aggressive and can lash out at any moment. With that in mind, I don’t dare move from my place on the couch.
“Shut up!” he screams, his voice louder than it’s ever been towards me. His cheeks are red, and his eyes are wet with tears, the dangerous combination of anger and frustration radiating off of him. “Shut. The. Fuck. Up!” he screams again, crossing the room and halting only when he towers over me, his legs bracketing mine. His chest heaves as he stares down at me. His brows pull together as his deep brown irises flick back and forth between mine.
My body involuntarily flinches away from him despite my desire to not let him see the fear he causes. He thrives off of it like a fucking sadist, and I refuse to let him scare me now.
His chin dips in a nod when I refuse to move or speak, and he steps back from me. His eyes drag over my body, and I have to fight back the grimace that threatens to spread across my face. Yet I’m helpless against the shivers that coast through my body.
Jason’s lips press into a tight thin line when he notices, a low growl emanating from him. He steps back and raises the gun in my direction, his finger resting alongside the barrel as he points the weapon at me. The pressure in my chest intensifies, my panting breaths coming in quicker, as I silently beg my body to remain calm.
Recalling Dr. Harper’s 333 rule for bringing myself out of a panic attack, or halting one in its steps, feels like an impossible task when I’m quite literally staring down the barrel of a gun. The things I can feel, hear, and see do absolutely nothing to calm the storm of nerves that is currently raging through me.
There’s a layer of sweat coating my palms and trickling down my back. My heart feels like it’s preparing to burst through my ribcage, and my stomach is threatening to empty its contents. I don’t let him see any of that. I swallow down every last warring emotion and keep my eyes locked on Jason’s.
“I bet you think you’re fucking boyfriend is on his way to save you, huh? Such a waste of hope, sweetheart. Nobody knows where you are. They’ll never find you. They’ll never find us. You’re finally mine just like you were always meant to be,” he grumbles.
His words spark a hint of doubt in my mind. Without my phone, I don’t have a way to reach Austin, but I have to believe that he’ll be able to find me. I have to trust him, just like he asked. Finding people, with Zack's help, is part of what he does every day. If anyone can track down someone that seems otherwise untraceable, it’s him.
I don’t dare respond. Not when there’s a lethal weapon pointed directly at me and the person wielding it seems intent on making sure that I do whatever he wants.
“Now you want to be quiet?” he scoffs. “Of all the times I couldn’t get you to shut up. Turns out all I had to do was make good on my threats, hm?”
My head hangs to my chest as tears prick behind my eyes. All of the insecurities that I’ve carried with me over the years are threatening to make a reappearance as his words sink in. Not only the words he just spoke, but every mean and hurtful snide remark that he’s ever thrown my way. It’s Jason’s voice that I hear in my head telling me that I need to be quiet, that I need to lose weight. It’s his voice that I hear telling me that I’m stupid and worthless and that nobody would care if I wasn’t here anymore.
But as the words settle in my mind, another man’s voice comes through louder. A voice that is kind and patient and understanding. A voice that sends shivers down my spine in the most delicious way possible. A voice that belongs to a man who has done nothing but show me how much he loves and adores me since the moment that he walked back into my life.
It rings louder and more true than any other.
Austin Anders loves me exactly as I am. Imperfections and traumas be damned. He’s never asked me to change. Not when we were younger and not now. For all the men who have told me that I’mworthless, Austin tells me that I’m wortheverything.It’s his words that I will forever be clinging to when I find myself becoming immersed in darkness.
47
Austin
Despite cutting the drivepractically in half by completely ignoring the posted speed limits and nearly causing a few accidents, getting to the cabin takes far too long. To my surprise, Zack insisted on coming along for this one. I can’t recall a single time when he’s ever willingly stepped out of his office for a mission, but then again, we’ve never dealt with a situation like this before. We have never had to rescue a victim that we have personal connections to.
The familiar cabin comes into view and for a brief moment, I’m assaulted by visions of Jason’s dad strung up like a pig for slaughter in the abandoned warehouse where I ended his life. It almost feels like an entirely different lifetime ago. Like a fever dream I once had.
My entire life within the Phoenix Legion sort of feels that way. I’m good at this job and if I had never come back home, I could’ve spent the rest of my life cleansing the world of human scum. But being with Chelsea makes me want to be good at other things, like taking care of her, showing her how much I love her, and someday, maybe raising a family together. However, for those dreams to even be a possibility, I first need to make sure that Jason Reed will never be able to get his hands on Chelsea or anyone else.
“We’ve got this,” Zack murmurs from beside me. I don’t know if the words are more for him or me. If the nerves and tension radiating off of his body are any indication, I’d say he was likely talking to himself. He’s no stranger to wearing bulletproof vests and being strapped down with weapons thanks to his background, but I know that it has been years since he’s stepped out of the comfort and safety of his office and into the line of fire.
“What’s the plan?” Hailey asks, leaning forward from her spot in the backseat. It would’ve been pointless to ask her to stay behind, and quite frankly, I’m curious to see how my sister will handle herself. She’s had all of the same training as I’ve had but has never taken any assignments. The closest she gets to being directly involved with the Legion is treating stab and bullet wounds when shit gets a little messy.
Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I recall everything that I remember from the last time I was here. “There are three points of entry. The front door, sliding back door, and a side door off of the kitchen. We can’t be sure where he’ll have Chelsea or what his current mental state is, so we need to approach this with as much caution as we can. If anything happens to her because we—”
Hailey holds up a hand to stop me. “I will follow your lead here, Ace, but if there’s anyone who can handle someone like Jason, it’s Chelsea. I know this is likely the last thing you want to hear, but she dated him for a long time. She knows his triggers. As much as she’s trusting us, trustingyou, to save her, we also have to trust that she knows how to stay safe. Ethan and I… we haven’t left her completely defenseless. She can handle herself with a gun if it comes to that.”
As much as I’ve been begging her lately to carry some kind of weapon, even a pocket knife, I hate the idea of Chelsea having to wield any kind of weapon to protect herself. Still, it brings me a modicum of comfort to know that if it comes to that, she will be okay.
We end up spending a few more minutes formulating a plan. Jason is likely expecting me, but he won’t be anticipating Hailey or Zack. The large front window will make entering through the front door a bit of a challenge, though not impossible. Hailey, being the shortest of the three of us, will be taking that entry point. Her smaller stature will allow her to move around quietly and make her harder to detect. Nothing about the cabin has been maintained over the years. It sits surrounded by tall trees and overgrown foliage, providing the perfect coverage for us to be able to move around undetected.
