AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ty touched her hand. “None of this is your fault. You did nothing wrong.”
Panes of glass cracking and shattering drew his attention. Must be an outer window. He had to move faster. Find his family. Find Owen. Subdue Dalen and at this point ride it out in the safest part of the home possible.
He quickly unlocked her cage.
“Okay, all we need is—”
“Love?” a deep male voice asked.
Ty froze, light-headed, and discreetly pocketed the key.
“You’ll need more than love to save you.”
“Dalen.” He pivoted and scrunched his eyebrows, confusion short-circuiting his thoughts.
Ty’s hands tingled like pins and needles, and his heart lurched into his throat. He’d been under Ty’s nose exactly like Ty suspected, like Violet had said. Inserting himself into the investigation and into their lives.
Dark, familiar eyes met his, although they no longer resembled those of a human being but a maniac locked into a dark fantasy, malevolent and drunk with power. In his left hand, he held a gun.
“Lysander,” he breathed.
Lysander looked more cover model than monster. He’d been a good kid, helping Mom in the garden and drawing. Often coming to Ty for help with shading or angles. He’d only been fourteen when Ty left. What was this all about?
“You have a wife and a kid.”
“Do I?” He cocked his head. “Do you know how many babies are floating around that house? A lot. You like this house?” He motioned around with his arm as if Ty was here to hang out for a barbecue. “It’s a design I found in your room.”
That’s why it seemed familiar. Ty had sketched the design over twenty years ago.
“Not the garden, though. That’s all my creative license.” His gaze landed on Iris Benington frozen outside of her cage and Catherine up on her feet, her good hand on the unlocked door to freedom.
“I see you’ve met most of my garden girls.”
“Where are Ahnah and Bexley and Josiah?”
“Drop your gun and slide it toward me.” He pointed his own gun at one of his victims, then at the two who’d been freed. “Back inside now.”
The women returned to their prisons. “Tiberius, I’ll ask one more time politely, and then people are going to bleed. Would you be so kind as to drop your weapon and slide it over here?”
Lysander had already murdered too many and was capable of anything. Ty acquiesced, then raised his hands in surrender. “Where are they?”
The corners of Lysander’s lips quirked. “All in good time.”
“We don’t have time. If your deranged brain hasn’t figured it out by now, we’re in the middle of a hurricane, and it’s only growing stronger.” Where was Owen? He should have made it to the second floor and to the open secret door leading to this room.
“I have enough time to do whatever I want, Tiberius. I brought you here. I have not only the upper hand but the only hand. Speaking of hands, I’d say sorry about breaking Cami’s if I were. I’m not. What a piece of tail. Right? I know you had a taste of that in Barbados. Cami told me her whole life story. It’s pathetic.”
Ty ground his teeth but stood firm, refusing to bite the dangling bait and revealing no emotion. Lysander wanted emotion. Wanted to see Ty’s suffering over the loss of Cami, wanted him to beg for his life and the lives of those he cared about. Wanted him to plead for mercy to spare these women.
They both knew he wouldn’t spare a soul.
His brother had been clear he planned to destroy Tiberius. The only way to succeed was to take away Bexley and his son. He’d been outmatched and outwitted since the get-go. Now they were face-to-face and almost on equal footing. Ty didn’t have a gun anymore, but he had Owen—an element of surprise if Lysander believed Ty came alone.
Where was O?
Could Ty overpower his baby brother?
“She was feisty. Didn’t matter how much punishment I doled out, she kicked against the goads. It should do your heart good knowing she believed you’d come for her—that the team would come. She was aware of the press conference. Knew you were on the island searching. I imagine the knowledge that you were so close gave her hope and kept her fighting. In the end, you failed her. I made sure she knew that before I shoved the Xanax down her throat. Take comfort, though. I didn’t let her die alone. I sat with her as she grew sleepy, and the last thing she heard was my voice telling her this was your fault. Taking her was consequence of your sin.”
