20. MASON

20

MASON

T he rhythmic scrape of metal against stone filled the cabin, a steady sound that echoed in the quiet. I held the blade at just the right angle, dragging it slowly across the whetstone in long, deliberate strokes. It was almost hypnotic, the way the knife hissed with each pass, the tension in my chest easing just a fraction with every scrape. Up, down, up, down—the motion as familiar to me as breathing.

This was something I could control. Something I could perfect.

The blade gleamed in the dim light, sharp enough to cut through anything. The focus kept my mind steady when everything else was spinning out of control.

I needed to feel like I could still handle whatever the fuck was coming.

I was halfway through sharpening my knife when there was a knock on the cabin door—a sharp hammering that broke through the silence like a gunshot.

My grip tightened on the blade, and I let out a low growl. Not in the fucking mood. Not after everything that happened with Cami.

My head was still spinning from it all—how she’d brought Wallace and his crew right back into my life, how she’d betrayed me. It wasn’t her fault, maybe, but fuck if it didn’t feel that way. She should’ve known better.

Should she have? a small voice asked, but I squashed the voice. Shut the fuck up.

I stood up, tossed the knife onto the table, and stalked over to the door. I yanked it open, half-expecting Tanner. I was ready to tell him to piss off, but instead, Rae stood there, her face pale, her eyes wide with fear.

“What are you doing up here?”

Rae used to come up into the woods when Tanner still lived up here, but she was a city girl, and since they’d settled in town, she hadn’t been between the trees all that much. It was more Tanner’s thing.

“Mason,” she blurted out, her voice shaking. “It’s Cami. She’s gone.”

My stomach twisted, a cold knot forming deep inside me. I swallowed hard, trying to keep the sudden rush of panic from showing on my face.

“Good riddance,” I grumbled, stepping back from the door. I couldn’t let Rae see how much that news cut into me. “She fucked things up enough already.”

“What?” Rae cried out. “What are you talking about?”

“Didn’t she tell you?” I snorted. “I guess she wouldn’t. Did she make it look like I was the bad guy instead?”

“Mason, this isn’t about that,” Rae said, stepping into the cabin, her voice sharp with urgency. “I had a shopping date with her, and she didn’t show up. I went to her cottage, and… Mason, the place was trashed. Her bags were still there, packed as if she meant to leave, but she never took them. The door was wide open. It looked like there was a struggle…” Rae swallowed hard, her face riddled with fear.

She was no stranger to danger and what it could mean. Her start with Tanner had been a rocky one, and there had been a whole lot of ugly involved there, too.

The cold knot inside me grew tighter, twisting like a blade. I turned back to Rae, my eyes narrowed. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying someone took her!” Rae nearly shouted. “Someone broke into her place, Mason. She didn’t just leave. I think… I think she’s in trouble. Serious trouble, by the looks of things.” She worried her lower lip. “She didn’t mention anything to me, though. Why wouldn’t she say anything?”

I felt like the floor had dropped out from under me. I stopped focusing on what Rae was saying. My heart raced, my mind running a mile a minute.

Taken .

Cami had been taken. My breath came faster, the panic rising in my chest. This wasn’t just about some fucked-up argument. This wasn’t about betrayal. This was about her life.

“Fuck,” I whispered, running a hand through my hair.

I knew exactly what this was. Viktor. Wallace. They were using her as bait. I should’ve seen this coming. I should’ve known they’d go after her. But I’d been too fucking wrapped up in my own anger, too blind to see what was right in front of me.

And now… now she was gone.

“Why didn’t you fucking tell me sooner?” I snapped, turning on Rae, the anger rising to the surface, taking over where the panic left off. It was always easier to be angry. “Why didn’t you call me the second you knew something was wrong?”

“I came here as soon as I could,” Rae said, her voice breaking. “When she didn’t show up, I thought it was weird, but she can be scatterbrained, so I figured she might just have forgotten. But, Mason, when I saw the state of her cottage—”

I slammed my fist against the wall with a roar. Rae flinched. I was furious—furious at myself, furious at the situation, and furious that I’d let this happen. “Goddammit!”

“Mason…” Rae’s voice softened, her eyes filled with worry. “You have to find her.”

I leaned against the wall, my breathing ragged, my thoughts chaotic. Cami was out there—taken, alone, and scared. And it was all because of me. Viktor and Wallace had used her as bait, knowing it was the only way to draw me out. They wanted me to come after her, to fall right into their trap.

And the worst part? It was working. Because there was no fucking way I was going to let them hurt her.

I turned to Rae, my heart pounding in my chest. “Where’s Tanner?”

“He’s at the house,” Rae said quietly. “We’ll help you. Whatever you need.”

I nodded, clenching my jaw as I tried to pull myself together. “I’ll find her,” I said, my voice hard. “I’ll find her, and I’ll make sure those bastards pay.”

After Rae left, I stood in the center of the cabin, my fists clenched so tight my knuckles turned white. The silence was suffocating, pressing down on me so hard I struggled to breathe. My heart pounded with a mixture of fear, rage, and guilt.

I shouldn’t have let her go. I should’ve been there for her, no matter how pissed off I was. She’d been honest with me, right? Even if she’d done the wrong thing, it hadn’t been on purpose. And it wasn’t like she could have known, anyway.

I’d just been so pissed off.

And now she was in the hands of the very people I’d spent years trying to avoid.

Wallace. That piece of shit. I knew he’d come for me eventually, but I didn’t think he’d stoop this low—using Cami as leverage, as fucking bait.

The rage burned in my chest, spreading like wildfire. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. And the angrier I got, the more I realized there was no fucking way I was going to let them get away with this alive.

I didn’t just want this over and done with.

I wanted them to pay for what they’d done to me all those years ago and what they were doing to Cami, and to me, now.

I stormed over to the closet, yanked the door open and pulled out the gear I hadn’t touched in years. My old combat vest, the tactical belt, the knife I’d sharpened to perfection earlier—all of it came flooding back like muscle memory. I hadn’t been a soldier for a long time, but once it was in you, it never really left.

I strapped the gear on, feeling the familiar weight settle around my shoulders. The calm before the storm. I’d been here before. Too many times to count. But this time, it was different. This time, it wasn’t just about survival—it was about Cami. And I wasn’t going to let those fuckers get away with this.

I grabbed the rifle from its case, checking the magazine before slamming it into place. Every movement was methodical, precise. I couldn’t afford to fuck this up. Cami’s life was on the line.

Just before I left, a knot of fear twisted in my gut.

What if I was too late? What if Wallace had already…?

No.

I couldn’t think like that. I couldn’t let myself go down that road. She was still out there, and I was going to find her. No matter what it took.

I shoved the rifle over my shoulder and grabbed the knife, slipping it into its sheath at my side. The weight of it was comforting, grounding me in the midst of the chaos in my mind. I was ready for this. There was no room for doubt, no room for fear.

I stormed out of the cabin, my breath clouding in the cold air as I moved. My boots pressed each step into the snow, the cold biting at my skin, but I barely felt it. All I could think about was finding Cami—getting her back.

I reached the truck where it huddled under the tarp, covered in dead branches and snow. My mind was already running through scenario

s, trying to figure out where Wallace would take her.

He wouldn’t go far. He wanted me to come after him, and knowing him, he’d want it to be a public spectacle, too. Wallace played dirty. He would use as many innocents as he could.

He wanted me to play his fucking game, and I was going to. But I wasn’t going to play by his rules. Not this time.

I climbed into the truck, the engine roaring to life beneath me. The sound of it was like a fucking war drum in my ears, pushing me forward, urging me to go faster, to get to her before it was too late.

Because if they hurt her, I was going to make sure they regretted it for the very short bit that would be left of their miserable fucking lives.