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Instinct stronger than anything else I’d ever felt before took over. Primal. Fierce. Old as life itself. I yanked Savannah from her carrier and ran. By some miracle, Elijah went the opposite way around the kitchen table, dodging when I wove, which left me a slim passage to get down the hall. I ran faster than I ever had, wincing at Savannah’s unhappy wail but knowing this was it: our only hope of survival.
His footsteps pounded down the hall after us, loud and fast and nearly overpowering the timpani boom of blood in my ears. With barely a second to spare, I skidded into my bedroom, bare feet squeaking on the hardwood floor, and managed to get the door closed just as he reached the threshold.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
Elijah body-slammed the door, and I dug in my heels, leaning back against my side of it, using all my weight and willpower to keep him out as I scrabbled to lock it.
Wham. Wham.
The wood creaked and groaned under the stress but held firm. Older houses had their shortcomings, but damn if they weren’t built solid. I said a silent prayer, Savannah’s head cradled against my shoulder, my hand cupping the back of her head protectively, as I tried to catch my breath.
We were safe, for the moment, but things weren’t looking good. I’d left my phone in the kitchen and had never gotten around to having a landline installed. I’d never seen much point, until now. Fuck. Okay.
Think, Charlotte. Think.
Elijah’s assault on the door stopped, and I relaxed a little, though I still kept a shoulder against it just in case. Through the crack beneath the door, I could see the shadow of his feet pacing back and forth, and he was panting hard enough to hear even with the thick wood between us.
Savannah had stopped wailing, and my arms were aching from holding her so tight. I didn’t want to accidentally hurt her, and I had a feeling I’d need both arms to get us out of here, so I darted over to place her in the pack and play in the corner, kissing the top of her head.
“I promise I’ll keep you safe, baby girl,” I whispered. “Whatever I have to do, I’ll keep you safe.”
I scanned the room for possible weapons, but there wasn’t much to work with. Gabe had taken his when he’d moved to the hotel, so that was out. Maybe I could bust out the window and run next door for help. Yeah, that might work. I’d need towels from the bathroom, though, to cover my hands so I didn’t cut myself to shreds on the shards like I did after the fire at the bar.
Oh God. The fire.
Elijah had been responsible for that too.
All at once I was back in that choking kitchen, the black smoke curling along the ceiling, the heat searing my skin. My chest squeezed and my throat constricted, my vision starting to tunnel.
I was going to have a panic attack. Icouldn’thave a panic attack. Not now. Not with Savannah’s life on the line.
Hunched over, I gasped for breath and stared at a single spot on the floor until my heart rate slowed and my vision cleared. Good. All right. I was out of the woods there. At least until more pounding started on the door. The wood wasn't going to hold forever, I knew.
Gritting my teeth, I stood up, preparing myself for battle. If I tried the window escape, I’d have to leave Savannah unguarded while I got the towels and broke the glass. I couldn’t risk it—my brief meltdown had wasted precious seconds.
With no other options coming to mind, I picked up an old glass perfume bottle from atop my dresser. The bottle was big and heavy and had cost a fortune when I’d bought it at a ritzy boutique in Baltimore. Weighing it in my hand, I walked back to lean against the wall beside the door. If the door opened, I could clobber Elijah on the head with it. It wouldn’t take him out, probably, but it might buy me a little extra time to get Savannah to safety.
I’d never have envisioned myself using a perfume bottle as a weapon or strategizing how to get a baby safely away from a murderer. Funny how the whole fight-or-flight thing sharpened your mind.
Images of Alexis flashed in my head again. I wondered if she’d fought back too.
But I couldn’t think about that now. I needed to focus. “Give me strength, Alexis,” I muttered under my breath, straightening, perfume bottle at the ready.
“Charlotte,” Elijah said, his voice oddly calm. Like he was strolling through a garden and not beating his way into my bedroom. “Give me Savannah. She’s all I want here. Just let me have her, and I’ll let you live. We’ll go, and you’ll never hear from me again.”
Like hell he was going to take that baby.
“Fuck off!”
He growled and slammed against the door again, sounding more like an animal than human.
I squeezed my eyes shut and continued to barricade the door with my body as best I could. Savannah must’ve picked up on my desperation, because she started crying again. It broke my heart, but I couldn’t leave the door unguarded to go comfort her.
“Hey, baby girl,” I called, soft and sweet. “Shush. Don’t cry. It’s okay. Everything’s okay.”
The words came out a little blurry because of my tears. I hated that I was crying. I needed to be strong, to prepare for the battle ahead. If I was going down, I was going down swinging. I started to feel strangely serene as Elijah threw himself at the door over and over. I wasn’t feeling sadness so much as a whirling combination of things. Fear, of course, adrenaline, anger, regret.
That last one was huge. I regretted fighting with my mom earlier, because I knew she only wanted the best for me, even if we differed on what that was. I regretted that if Elijah came crashing through that door, there’d be little I could do to stop him from getting to Savannah, and God only knew what that would mean for her.
