Chapter 15

15

"N ash?" I can't hide my shock.

May nods. "He wrote one for you and one for each of your sisters."

"How...how did he know he wouldn't be around to give it to us?" I look to Hunter, hoping he will have an answer, but he doesn't look at me. It's as though this whole conversation makes him nervous.

May shrugs, tears in her eyes as she studies the box's contents. "I don't know. I have my suspicions, as I'm sure you probably do as well. I received the letters, then found out he had been killed a couple of days later."

May wipes away the streaks on her red, blotchy face and places the lid back on the box, walking away and clutching the envelope containing my sisters' information. She leaves me with pictures of my brother and sisters, a letter from my dead brother, and Hunter, the man who kidnapped and took me to her home.

So many questions burn within me. I want all the answers. I stare at the photos again with the envelope, my body turning numb and my mind unable to process all the information I've received.

My brother found me and kept me safe. He found my sisters, and I can only hope they're safe as well. I want to find them. I steal a glance at Hunter, who is simply watching me. There is a softness in his eyes that I've never seen before. A part of me thinks he knows more than he's letting on.

He has secrets, and I want to know them.

"Is there another photo somewhere of my other brother?" I direct the question at Hunter.

He seems to know quite a bit about my family, considering he's from the family that wants to take mine out completely.

Hunter stands and walks to where I saw Nash's photo, taking another frame from the wall. He comes back and hands it to me. The man looks very similar to Nash, except his hair is a touch longer, and he has more scruff on his face. His eyes scare me. Nash's were friendly and warm. His? Not so much.

"What's his name?" I swallow the fear that's solidified in my throat.

Would my own brother kill me or his sisters? Did he kill Nash?

"Miles," he states, lacking all emotion.

"Did he kill Nash?" I catch the angry vein that pulses when Hunter is mad. He turns away from me and starts walking out of the house. "That's right, walk away again when it all gets too much." He stops, turning his haunting look on me, yet says nothing. "I know you're keeping something from me, and the longer you take to trust me, the longer it will be before I trust you."

Not waiting for a response, I grab the letter and photos and take them to my room. Placing them on my bed, I take one more look at all of them. I have sisters. Then, my gaze falls to the envelope. A part of me wants to rip it open and find out what my brother had to say, but the other part doesn't want to open the closet and discover skeletons hidden there.

What am I going to do?

I collapse onto the bed, staring at the wooden ceiling. My stomach rumbles, and I remember I haven't eaten anything this morning. Sitting up, I put the letter and photos on the bedside table and return to the now-empty living area.

I'm not sure where Hunter went. May needed a moment, and I don't blame her. This would be a lot for her as well.

It's as though my eyes are being opened for the very first time. Like a newborn must learn new things, now, so must I. I must decide if this is what I want. After seeing the pictures of my sisters, hearing about Nash, and spending time with May, I want to be a family again. Who wouldn't want their family together again?

But it comes at a cost.

Hunter.

Marrying him and dealing with his family. I'm not sure I'm strong enough.

Lost in thought about everything, my stomach growls, reminding me I need to eat. I head to the kitchen, open the refrigerator, grab some leftover stew from last night, and heat it up. When it's done, I take a bottle of water and head out to the back porch.

This place is stunning. The green lawn, the sun lighting it up and giving it a fresh look. The air here is fresh and clean. It's nothing like living in town. Birds are flying around, singing. Beautiful gardens with different flowers are spread around the back of the house.

A black SUV pulls out of one of the barns and drives past where I'm sitting. From what I can tell, Landon is driving with Hunter in the passenger seat. Hunter is watching as they pass, and my stomach tightens. Where is he going?

When I finish my meal, I wash my bowl and rinse it, stacking it in the dishwasher. I spot the boots on the floor, which I'm guessing are the ones May brought to me this morning before everything happened.

After slipping off my flip-flops, I make my way back out to Snowflake. I pause when I see May standing there, watching her as well. She turns and greets me with one of the warmest smiles I've ever received.

"Sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to dredge up the past. I'm sure it's painful for you," I say.

She waves at me. "Don't be sorry. You have every right to know about your family."

"Can you tell me about my father? Why is he the man he is now?" I was going to say the evil man but thought better of it.

May picks up the bucket off the ground near her feet and hands it to me. "We can talk as I show you the ropes around here."

I take it willingly. "Okay."

I glance at what is in the bucket. It honestly looks like something I'd throw up. May chuckles, and I'm sure my face is contorted in a grimace.

Following her out the back of the barn where the stalls are, there are two large mud-covered pigs. She points to the trough. "Tip that bucket of food in there."

"You call this food?" I remark, unable to hide my disgust.

"Hamlet and Ham love it."

I do a double-take. "That's their names?"

She laughs. "Yes. They will eventually be killed for food. I'm all about growing my own here. Out in the fields, you'll find some good cows as well."

I balk at her words. "I think I may never eat meat again." I gag. "Remind me to hide when they get slaughtered."

"Don't worry. All the stuff happens away from the farm. I probably wouldn't eat meat again if I saw it get done. But I try not to get attached to the animals that will go to slaughter."

"Um...where did Hunter go?" I ask, tipping the sludge into the trough, and the pigs come running over, squealing and bumping into each other, causing a ruckus as they dig into their food.

May clears her throat. "He has to make an appearance back with his family, or they'll get suspicious."

My head flies up. "So he's working both sides?"

She nods.

"How do you know we can trust him?"

A smile tugs on her lips. "Hunter is nothing like his father. If he were, I would have turned him away when he came to me eighteen months ago and told me about Nash. He and Nash were working together to find you all. They found the other girls first because I gave them to families who couldn't have babies."

"Why didn't you give me to someone like that?" I ask, rubbing my hand on my aching chest.

"We made a mistake. We thought you would be safe, but we were wrong. Come on. Let's go feed the horses."

I follow her back into the barn with still so many questions burning on the tip of my tongue. Instead of asking them, we scoop oats and some new hay into the stalls of five horses, including Snowflake's. May watches me as I work and guides me in what I should be doing.

"So you want to know about your father?" she asks, and I pause mid-shovel as I muck out the stall. I glance up at her and nod. "Your father, Arthur Redmont. He wasn't always the evil man he is today. Each time one of his kids went missing, he lost trust with the families of the underworld. They all thought he had hidden his family so that his daughters wouldn't be brought up in this world. Little did they know that two grannies were the ones saving those girls. If Hunter's parents had girls, we would have done the same thing. I never wanted any of my grandchildren living through the dangers I did as a girl in this type of business."

This causes me to pause. "Did you have an arranged marriage?"

Her features turn soft. "I did, but thankfully, my husband was a good man, and I knew that for a long time. Sadly, he passed away five years ago from a heart attack." She clears the emotion out of her throat before continuing. "I'm not telling you to marry Hunter, but he's a good man too."

"Good man, my ass," I mutter under my breath. "So my father went into hiding after people began not to trust him?"

"Yes. When Nash was old enough, he stepped in and started to make your family name trustworthy again with the families of the underworld."

A heaviness sits in the pit of my stomach. "And that still got him killed," I whisper.

"Yes."

Silence falls between us as I return to my work and finish Snowflake's stall. I'm sure May was wrong when she said Snowflake is skittish because she seems calm to me. She comes up behind me, nudging me with her nose. I laugh and turn to face her, running my hand along her smooth coat. They say if you're calm, the animal will sense it, and as nervous as I am being around a large animal, I feel safe.

"Here." May hands me a carrot and an apple, and I feed them both to Snowflake, giving her a good brush down before leaving.

I'm enjoying this farm-life type of work. Perhaps it's something I was supposed to do in my life.

"Thanks for your help today," May says as she packs away the last of the tools. "I have to go to town later. Will you be all right on your own for a few hours?"

A prickling sensation crawls up my neck. My father could know where I am.

"May, do you know where my father is? Does he come here at all?"

May comes up to me and takes my hand. "No, dear, I don't know, and he hasn't come in a while. Don't worry, Hunter will be back just after I leave, so you won't be alone for long. I just have to get some things from the grocer."

"Okay."

* * *

The day drifts by, and the letter from Nash plays on my mind. I can't bring myself to read it yet. So many emotions surge within me.

Confusion.

Hurt.

Hate.

How do I move past this? My life has been and always will be one of survival. Only now, it's a different kind of survival.

I need to outlive my father, for one.

Then find my siblings.

And possibly trust Hunter.

"I'll be back in about two hours. Hunter should be home within the hour."

I take a deep breath, hoping to steady the unease dancing in my stomach. The sun has started to dip behind the mountains outside, meaning it will be dark soon, which frightens me.

"Okay." My voice is barely a whisper.

May exits through the back door, and I stay settled on the couch. I catch a red truck leaving and driving up the long driveway. Now alone, I'm left with my unsettled thoughts.

Deciding a bath might calm my rattled nerves, I lock all the doors to the house and go to my bedroom, checking that my sliding door is locked as well. The unease starts to calm now that I am locked inside, making me feel safe.

After stripping off my clothes while the bath fills up, I add some scented salts from the neatly set display on the counter. The lavender scent fills the room, the aroma instantly calming.

Glancing through the doorway, I notice that blackness has coated the patio and the view of that dark forest beyond.

Don't worry. Hunter will be home soon.

I step one foot into the shin-deep water, and everything goes black.

What happened to the lights?

My heart rate accelerates, and I instantly pull my foot from the tub. In the movies, if people go looking for the source of the power outage, they end up dead, but I've barricaded myself in with no way out. Which means no one should be able to get in.

I grab my towel and wrap it tightly around my trembling body. The tightness in my chest continues to make my breaths shorter and quicker. I know if I keep this up, I'm going to hyperventilate, but being submerged in darkness is only making it worse.

"Come out, come out wherever you are, dear sister. "