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She had returned to her father, hoping that he would help her with this pregnancy, even after I’d warned her about him, and he had done what Barney Madison did. She had never been safe, and I hadn’t been steadfast enough to ensure she was.
Could she have gotten away?
It was hard to imagine my Little Bunny, her tiny form crashing that lamp over Barney’s unsuspecting head, but Briar had proven to be more than just a timid little girl.
And she had a baby to protect now.
“She was here all along,” Rachel huffed, joining my side.
I glanced at her in surprise. I hadn’t realized she had followed me from the estate.
“You couldn’t have known,” I muttered, steeling my blame.
I couldn’t put it on Rachel. Briar had been my responsibility.
“I should have insisted on checking the house,” Rachel sighed. “But Ash—”
Loud voices erupted from the street outside, cutting Rachel off as I bolted toward the wooden shutters, throwing them open to look at the street below.
“OPEN THE DOOR!” Draven yelled, banging harder. “I SEE YOU INSIDE!”
The team stood on the neighbor’s lawn, poised to shift, and I spun to race back to the ground floor as Rachel bolted after me.
“What’s going on?” I demanded, bursting out the front door. The entire neighborhood peeked through their windows, some on the phone, and I eyed them nervously. “Are they in there?”
“I see Barney Madison inside, sir… along with two fallen bodies.”
It was all I needed to hear. Bursting through the front door, I morphed into my demon form, face crimson and furious.
Barney screamed in panic as he reeled back down the hall, a shotgun in his hand. He had been trying to load it, but it was clear the man had no experience with firearms.
Stepping over one elderly woman crumpled in the corridor, I advanced on him.
“I-I didn’t do anything, Ash!” Barney howled. “W-what do you want!”
“Where. Is. She?” I hissed, advancing on him. Effortlessly, I snatched the gun from his hand and tossed it aside, my left hand encircling his throat. “Where is Briar?”
“S-she’s gone! I-I married her off!”
He was lying. He reeked of it, and it also contradicted what Avalon had told me about the timeline.
“To whom?”
Whimpering and gasping for air, Barney struggled against me, unable to talk. My hand closed tighter, relishing the crunch of his throat bones between my fingers.
“To whom?”
“C-can’t b-b-b—” he sputtered.
He couldn’t talk, but that was okay. He wasn’t going to give me an honest answer, anyway.
“You owe me a debt, Barney,” I told him conversationally. “You took a blood oath, remember?”
Sheer terror overtook his ugly face as life began to slip out of his complexion.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t come collecting?”
“Sir!” Draven called from somewhere in the house. “Sir, I found her!”
