Chapter 38 Chapter 38
We drove through the night with no headlights and no destination that made sense. Damien gripped the wheel like it was the only thing keeping him from falling apart. His knuckles were white, and the silence between us felt heavier than the darkness outside. I pressed my forehead against the cold window and watched the city lights fade into nothing. Every mile we put between us and the mansion felt like running from one trap into another.
"Where are we going?" I asked. My voice sounded small in the confined space.
"Somewhere Victor will not find you." His jaw was tight, and he did not look at me when he spoke. "A place I bought years ago. Nobody knows about it except me."
I wanted to believe him, but trust had become a luxury I could not afford. The flash drive was still hidden in the stone ledge back at the mansion, and the knowledge of what was on it burned in my mind. Marcus was a traitor, and Damien had no idea. Every second I stayed silent felt like another betrayal, but I could not find the words. Not yet. Not while we were alone in the dark with nowhere to run.
The cabin appeared like a ghost through the trees. It was small and old and surrounded by woods so thick they swallowed the moonlight. Damien parked behind it and killed the engine. The silence that followed felt alive and dangerous. He turned to look at me, and his eyes held something I had not seen before. Fear mixed with something softer. Something that looked almost like regret.
"You will be safe here," he said quietly. "Victor does not know this place exists."
"And what about you? Are you staying?"
"I have to go back. I have to deal with the breach and find out who let them in." He reached across the seat, and his hand found mine. His touch was warm and steady. "But I will come back for you. I promise."
I wanted to pull away, but I could not. His hand felt like the only solid thing in a world that kept shifting beneath my feet. "What if you do not come back?" I whispered.
"Then you take the car, and you drive until you reach the coast. There is money in the glove box. Enough to disappear and start over somewhere new." His thumb brushed across my knuckles. "But I will come back, Lisa. I always do."
He helped me inside, and the cabin smelled like dust and old wood. There was a single room with a bed and a fireplace, and windows that looked out into endless darkness. Damien lit a fire and the flames cast shadows that danced across the walls. I stood near the window and watched him move around the small space. He was checking locks and testing windows and making sure everything was secure. Like he was building a fortress around me.
"There is food in the pantry," he said. "Canned goods mostly but enough to last a few days. Do not use your phone and do not leave the cabin for any reason. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"Lisa." He crossed the room and stood so close I could feel the heat coming off his body. "I need you to promise me. No matter what happens, you stay here until I come back."
I looked up at him and saw the desperation in his eyes. He was afraid and that scared me more than anything else. Damien was never afraid. "I promise," I said.
He kissed my forehead, and the touch was so gentle it made my chest ache. Then he was gone, and I was alone. I listened to the car engine fade into the distance, and the silence that followed felt like a living thing pressing against my skin. I moved to the fire and held my hands out to the warmth. My whole body was shaking, and I could not tell if it was from cold or fear or something else entirely.
Hours passed, and I could not sleep. I lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling, and thought about everything that had led to this moment. The dress. The necklace, Claudia bleeding out in the alley. Mia was strapped to a bomb. Maria's body under a bloodstained sheet. Every choice I had made felt like it had brought me closer to this cabin and this loneliness and this fear that would not let me breathe.
I got up and paced the small room. My mind kept circling back to the flash drive and what I had found on it. Marcus was working for The Syndicate and that meant every word he had spoken was a lie. Every warning. Every piece of advice. All of it was designed to manipulate me and control me and keep me exactly where Victor wanted me. But if I told Damien the truth, what would he do? Would he believe me or would he think I was trying to drive a wedge between him and his most trusted friend?
The sound of a car engine made me freeze. I moved to the window and peered out into the darkness. Headlights cut through the trees, and my heart started to race. Damien had said he would not be back until tomorrow. So who was coming now? I grabbed the fire poker and held it with both hands. My palms were slick with sweat, and my whole body was tense.
The car stopped, and the engine cut off. The door opened, and someone stepped out. I could not see their face, but I recognized the shape. The way they moved. Marcus. He had found me and that meant everything was about to fall apart.
He knocked on the door three times. Slow and deliberate. "Lisa," he called out. "I know you are in there. Damien sent me to check on you."
I did not move. Did not breathe. He was lying. Damien would never send Marcus here. Not to this place that nobody was supposed to know about. Which meant Marcus had followed us or tracked us somehow. Which meant he knew more than he was supposed to.
"Lisa, please. I need to talk to you about something important. Something Damien does not know yet." His voice was calm and reasonable. Like he was trying to coax a frightened animal out of hiding. "It is about the flash drive. I know you found it, and I know what you saw. But there is more to the story. Things you need to understand before you make any decisions."
My grip tightened on the poker. He knew about the flash drive and that meant he had been watching me even more closely than I thought. Had been tracking my movements and my searches, and everything I had tried to keep hidden. I backed away from the door and tried to think. The cabin only had one exit, and Marcus was standing right in front of it. The windows were too small to climb through, and the woods outside were too dark to navigate.
"I am not here to hurt you," Marcus continued. "I am here to warn you. Damien is not who you think he is, and if you stay with him, you will end up like everyone else he has ever claimed to love. Dead or destroyed or wishing you were." He paused, and I heard him try the door handle. It was locked. "You have thirty seconds to open this door and listen to what I have to say. After that, I am coming in whether you want me to or not."
I looked around the cabin for another weapon. For anything I could use to defend myself. But there was nothing except the fire poker and my own fear. I moved to the far corner and positioned myself where I would have the best angle if he came through the door. My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat.
"Twenty seconds," Marcus said.
I heard him step back from the door. Heard the sound of something metal scraping against the lock. He was going to break in and there was nothing I could do to stop him. I raised the poker and tried to steady my breathing. Tried to prepare myself for whatever was about to happen.
"Ten seconds."
The lock clicked and the door swung open. Marcus stepped inside and his eyes found mine across the small space. He was holding his phone in one hand and in the other was a gun. Not pointed at me but there. Present. A reminder of who had the power in this moment.
"I am sorry it had to be this way," he said quietly. "But Damien just called an emergency meeting. He has ordered an investigation into a potential traitor, and I am the primary suspect."