Mike’s answer was flat. “I wasn’t planning to hurt him.”

Jay took another step closer, understanding the meaning behind Mike’s words. “I know. But think about your sister.” Jay glanced over to where Megan stood quietly, silent tears slipping down her cheeks. “She needs you, Mike. If you do anything to your father, they’ll take you away from her, and then who will she have?”

Something frantic flickered in Megan’s eyes. Fear, perhaps. And need.

Mike looked too and saw her, really saw her standing there, broken. He hesitated, his shoulders falling slightly as the rage on his face splintered into something softer.

Megan didn’t move, but her eyes never left his.

When Mike looked back at Jay, he nodded. “Take the girls back to the cabin and then go into town for help. I’ll stay out here and wait for you.”

“You won’t do anything to him?” Jay asked, wanting some sort of assurance that Mike wouldn’t shoot his father.

Mike stared back at Jay. Seriously and with resolve, he answered, “I promise.”

Violet didn’t mean to, but she once again found herself leaning against Jay as the torturous withdrawals from the echo hollowed out the inside of her skull.

What was surprising to Violet, however, was Megan’s reaction. The younger girl refused to let go of Violet, clinging to her other hand while Jay kept them moving through the snow at a steady pace. Violet couldn’t tell if the grip was meant to lend to—or to draw support from—her. All she knew was that Megan held on tight.

And after everything the girl had been through, Violet had no intention of letting go. Somewhere along the way, while the ache was almost too much to bear, Violet swore she heard Megan whispering something to her, something so quiet that only Violet was meant to hear it.

It sounded like: “I’m sorry.”

But Violet was too weary to be certain.

As they moved away from the trees, cutting a path out into the open, the pain began to wane, only slightly at first, and then with each step, Violet could feel relief blooming within her like a flower. She breathed deeply, relishing the release.

Up ahead of them, the night sky around the cabin was fractured by strange incandescent bursts. But these lights were different from the imprint that radiated from Megan’s father’s skin. These were the kind of lights that everyone could see. Red and blue flashing lights that illuminated the crystalline landscape with hues of indigo and crimson.

The police were already there. But how?

Behind them, the blast of the shotgun cracked sharply, deafeningly. Violet and Jay both startled, jerking reflexively as their feet stopped moving in the snow. On the other side of her, Violet felt nothing from Megan. Not even a flinch. She only stopped moving because they had.

And they knew, all three of them, that any beauty that snowy night had only been an icy illusion.

The cabin before them suddenly ruptured in a frenzy of activity. Where it had been quiet just moments before there was a sudden outpouring as people rushed toward them, erupting through the back door like an agitated swarm. Flashlights bounced along the ground, finding them where they stood, frozen in the night.

In the bustle, Violet recognized uniforms among the crowd. She saw her uncle and her parents, who were running through the snow to reach her.

And, somewhere, amid the moving and shifting faces that swallowed up the three of them—her and Jay and Megan—she saw Sara Priest.

Chapter 34

For Violet, the rest of the night was dream-like and disjointed. So much had happened already, and she still had so many questions.

Her parents had explained to her about the phone calls they’d received from Sara Priest, who had given them the mistaken impression—just as she had when she’d met Violet—that she was with the FBI.

First, apparently, Sara had just left a message for Violet to call her, a message that they had relayed to the convenience store owners, since they couldn’t reach Violet’s cell phone. And, later, the more pressing phone call—the urgent, middle-of-the-night one—telling them Violet was in trouble, that she needed help. Sara had also suggested that they call Violet’s uncle, and that the three of them meet her, along with the local authorities she would be contacting, up at the remote cabin.

They didn’t know Sara, or what her relationship to Violet was, but in that moment, hearing that their daughter might be in danger, they hadn’t stopped to question her. It was enough to know that Violet might need them.

They were relieved to find their daughter safe and alive. And horrified that Sara had been right, that Violet had been in jeopardy, and that someone else may have died there that night.

They held Violet so tightly that she felt like she might shatter. It had never been so good to see them.

Chelsea and Claire were beside themselves with relief, both of them crying when they realized that Violet, Megan, and Jay were unharmed.

None of them knew for certain what had happened to Mike. He was still out there.

But by the time the officers had gone in search of him, he was already emerging from the frozen woods.

Chaos ensued.

Violet strained to see him, to get a glimpse of him, as she listened to the commotion that his sudden appearance created. She heard voices shouting, demanding that he show his hands and that he keep them raised.

Mike obeyed listlessly, and Violet noted that his eyes were now as vacant as his sister’s. His outstretched hands were empty.

She sensed nothing at all from him. No curious smells, no abnormal colors or lights, no anomalous sounds.