I forced myself to keep breathing, focusing on tying my boot and not giving in to the urge to vomit.
All I wanted was to get back up there and get my sister. When I rose, Calder was right in front of me.
“What’s the rule out here?” he murmured, taking my face between his palms.
“Obey.”
He started to pull away, and then, like he couldn’t help himself, his mouth came down on mine, warm and possessive, like the dawn reclaiming what had previously belonged to the night.
It was more than an ache for him that I felt that morning. It was an ache for us. For what came after this was all over. An ache for something that was wholly my own.
“Let’s go.” And then he was striding around our shelter like if he didn’t walk away now, he wouldn’t be able to.
Familiarity and adrenaline made the climb to the compound quicker, and before I knew it, we were at the edge of the trees. Calder looked at me, waiting for my ready. I nodded and he rose from his crouched position and headed along the wooded canopy until he reached the third cabin down where he’d be able to see the center of the compound.
He moved from the trees with the stealth of a panther, prowling to the back of the structure and flattening himself to it. My breath stuck in my lungs as he drew his weapon from the holster at his back, keeping itpointed at the ground as he peered around the corner and then turned back to me, giving me the go.
Heart thudding like cannon fire into my chest, I darted for the door to the cabin. Even though it wasn’t visible from the congregation area, the door was still exposed to the interior of the compound. If anyone wasn’t at the morning congregation ... was walking around ... but there was no one to see me. Calder made sure of that.
My hand was slick as I grabbed the doorknob, flinging it open like I’d expected it to be barricaded, the ease of its movement tempering my hope.
No one was being held prisoner or by force. They were here because they actually believed him.
I froze as soon as I saw my sister perched on the edge of the massive bed, her knuckles white where they gripped the blankets.
“Rachel.” I forced myself to breathe deep, the scent of baby oil clogging my nostrils.
Disbelief and confusion warred over her face.
“Lara?” Her dilated pupils took a second to focus on me, and I quelled the fresh burst of rage.She was drugged.“What are you doing here?” She stood suddenly—too suddenly—and started to sway.
Forgetting the open door, I went to her and grabbed her shoulders, and she stared at me like I’d just become real. “Lara.” She cupped her hand over her mouth, and a sob broke from her chest.
“It’s me. I’m here.” I pulled her into my arms, holding her tight. “I came for you. I came to bring you home.” The words felt thick in my throat.
“I’m sorry,” she croaked into my chest. “I’m s-so sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. This isn’t your fault. Not at all.” I scraped through her hair to draw her head back. “None of this is your fault.”
She stared at me, her lip quivering. “I thought it was something good. I thought Dr. Julia was helping—I believed—”
“Shh. I know. I know what they did,” I promised, but I couldn’t explain everything to her now. “But we have to go now, okay?”
“How did you find me?”
I turned us toward the exit and stopped short. Matthew stood in the doorway.
No.
“You have to let us go,” I said, keeping Rachel behind me, protected with one arm. The other lifted like the flat of my hand could stop a man like him. “Please. Eden drugged her because she doesn’t want to be here. Please, just let us go.”
His eyes narrowed as he stepped into the cabin.
Shit.
I scanned around us, but to get to any of the windows meant going toward him, not away.
I stepped back into my sister, feeling her stumble slightly. “Please, I’m begging you, Matthew. Please let us go.”
