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Everything flips, and now Lilly is standing in the middle of the barn. Maverick is holding a chain, and at the other end is Calli, bound and gagged.
He ties off the chain, then picks up a hunting knife and cuts into her skin above the breast. Lilly tries to look away, but the dream keeps her gaze locked on the torture being played out.
Moments swirl like a fog. Lilly's mind is in turmoil as she slips into a disjointed dream sequence, with images flashing before her eyes in rapid succession.
She’s standing next to Maverick, who is sweating profusely as he struggles to open a bottle of pills. "Can you help me with this?" he asks, his voice strained.
Lilly now finds herself in a dimly lit barn. She can hear metal clanking against metal, and Calli crying out in pain. She tries to scream, "Stop it, Maverick! You're hurting her,” but she has no voice.
Once again the vision changes, and Maverick is standing over Calli, with a look of pure malice in his eyes, and raises a whip above his head.
The images rush by faster and faster.
At last, she’s tending Calli’s wounds and placing a blanket over her shoulders. Maverick's grizzly bear is lying dead on the barn floor, blood pooling around its massive body.
Lilly wakes up screaming, sweat pouring down her face. Her soaked oversized t-shirt clings to her.Is it day? Night?The windowless room gives her nothing to measure by. She startles to find Vance looming over her, a wicked grin on his face. The pungent smell of tobacco makes her gag.
"What the hell do you want?" she croaks, pivoting her body away from him as much as she can with her hands chained above her.
Vance chuckles. "I don't need you for information anymore," he says, his voice laced with amusement. "That little hellcat gave up your numbers before she died."
Lilly's heart sinks as Vance tosses an object to her. It lands on her lap, and her stomach lurches when her foggy brain is able to put together what it is she’s looking at.
It’s a lion’s paw.April.
"You can keep it," he says, a sick glint in his eye. "I have the other one for my trophy case."
She stares in disbelief at the bloody paw. These fuckers had desecrated her body, refusing her dignity even in death.
"It's too bad the little pussy put herself to sleep. Guess she used up those nine lives. How many do you have, pet?"
She glares at him with pure hatred.
"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? No worries, we’ll figure it out together."
Vance leans in close, his breath hot on her face. "Your time is limited," he says, his voice low and menacing. "I’ve been keeping you more for fun, but your novelty is wearing off. This little cocktail will prevent you from getting the same idea as your friend, I want to be the one to end you, and take my time doing it. I have things to do, but I’ll be back."
Before Lilly can react, Vance grabs her chained wrist and snaps her fingers back with a sickening crunch. She screams, and he sedates her, her vision blurring as darkness closes in.
Chapter seven
It'slateafternoonwhenMatt takes charge of packing the necessary gear for the rescue mission to extract Lilly and April. Missing even one item could have serious consequences, so he triple-checks everything before loading the van.
His gut clenches, and he sends up a prayer to whoever is listening that the two women are alive. The crunch of gravel has his head turning. Gage stops in front of him and leans against the van. “Tell me about them. Lilly and April.”
A small smile forms on his face as an image of April forms in his mind. He recounts the story to Gage, how wide her innocent eyes were as a child when they first escaped and she realized that they were truly free. How she kept everyone’s spirits up with her playful antics, like a wood sprite. Her giggles were contagious amongst the Homani during the long trek to safety. The determination with which she learned to cook so that they’d never be hungry again was a testament to her character.
Gage chuckles, “She sounds like Kaitlyn, always the caregiver. And Lilly?”
A vision of Lilly and Jax comes to mind, teamed up as they were, with their young faces so serious, eyes always on guard, and ready to help anyone in need. Matt smiles at the memory. “Lilly the helper, the fixer, the protector. Always giving of herself, yet asks nor expects anything in return. It’s true what they say,some of the toughest exteriors hide the softest of hearts.”
Matt shakes his head.Hold on. Please, hold on. We’re coming.His focus turns toward the bag he’s packing. He gives a cursory glance to Gage beside him, who is zipping up a duffel bag. He reminds him of the good parts of Maverick, the man who could have been the leader of Smith’s Farm if he could have made peace with his demons.
“We need to make sure we have everything we need for the extraction,” Matt says to Gage, who nods.
Doc, the elderly human with his glasses perched precariously on his nose, comes out of the cabin, and Matt focuses his attention on the conversation at hand.
“Folks,” Doc says, raising his hand. “Let’s go over a couple of issues.”
