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Soon as it was open, I peered inside and fucking broke. Blake was huddled in the darkest corner, tears streaming down her dirty cheeks, and she was shaking so hard.
“D-Daddy?” she sobbed.
I choked, unable to sound out her name, and rushed forward. I pulled her out of the cage and wrapped her in my arms.
“Daddy!”
I’m here, baby. Daddy’s here. Oh God, I’m so sorry.
Within seconds, tears were streaming down my face too, and I had to watch myself so I didn’t crush her. My chest seized painfully, my heart shattering and healing at the same time. She was here, she was in my arms, she was alive, but she was so fucking scared, so fucking hurt.
“My sweet, sweet girl,” I whimpered. “Daddy’s here, baby. I’m sorry it took so long.”
I sensed Elliott near me—maybe he didn’t know what to do, whether to give us space or to approach, and I wanted to make one thing crystal clear. I managed to see through the blur in my vision, and I closed the distance between us.
“Uncle Ellie’s here too, baby,” I croaked.
Blake just cried harder, and she latched on to Elliott’s neck, hugging us both.
In the distance, I heard two shots cracking like thunder. Definitely the work of Ryan.
“You’re safe now, darling.” Elliott sniffled and kissed Blake’s hair. Like Marisa’s, it was matted against her head, and it was evident they hadn’t been allowed to clean off in a long time. Blake was in a tee that was several sizes too big, and I instantly wanted it off her. And I wanted her out ofhere.
Elliott took off my combat helmet, allowing me to get closer to Blake. She buried her face against my neck, and I planted kisses all over her hair.
“I gotta help the others,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.
I leaned in and kissed him hard. I couldn’t fucking speak, but I needed a kiss.
No words could describe how overwhelmed I was.
Elliott touched my cheek. “I’ll be back soon.”
I nodded and returned my attention to Blake. I tightened my hold on her, I ran my hands along her arms, her legs, and it was impossible not to notice she’d lost weight. She’d been tiny to start with—the shortest and smallest in her class, as she liked to grumble about—and it infuriated me to think… Fucking hell, had they put their hands on her? What had they done? How badly had she suffered? Had they broken her spirit for good? Could I drag those useless piles of shit back from the dead so I could kill them again?
Another shot rang out in the distance, but I couldn’t bring myself to fight anymore. I couldn’t even imagine handing Blake over to someone else. Not for a moment.
“Joel?”
I turned around at the sound of Gray’s voice, and he held up some items for me. A towel, a blanket, water… “I thought you might want this.”
“Thank you.” I sniffled and cleared my throat. “Thank you—that’s…yeah.”
He offered a quick, careful smile and set the stuff down next to…the cage. Then he was off again.
I exhaled unsteadily and forced myself to be useful. “Blake, do you want some water?”
She nodded, down to silent cries and whimpers. Those hurt almost more than the sobbing.
I fanned out the blanket on the floor, not sure the outside was safe yet, and I noticed Gray had put more items in the blanket. A stuffed animal—a purple elephant—an energy bar, and a bag of gummy worms.
It took some work since Blake didn’t wanna let go of me—and frankly, I didn’t wanna release her either—but I managed to get her out of her dirty T-shirt. She guzzled some water while I used another bottle to clean her up a bit, and then I removed my vest and took off my Henley for her to wear. It was either that or my sweaty undershirt.
“You’re here,” she cried.
“And I’m not going anywhere,” I promised. “We’re going home together—you, me, Uncle Ellie, Marisa…all of us.”
That kick-started her next round of gut-wrenching sobs, and I squeezed her to me again.
