“Holy shit, Mel,” Archer said as he walked toward me with his arms open.
The room started to spin as my vision narrowed.
“Catch her!” Erik said.
Blackness sucked me in. Shit.
The storm was raging when I woke up in my bedroom upstairs. Candlelight danced on the walls and on Archer’s face.
He was holding my hand, stroking the back of it with his thumb.
“Hey!” Archer smiled. “You’re back.”
“Was it a dream?” I asked, even though I knew full well it wasn’t. But with every inch of my being, I wanted it to be.
“We don’t even know what happened,” Archer said, tilting his head toward Erik, who was standing in the door. “When we got back, Dorian had Sam on the couch. He didn’t even know what happened to you.”
I shook my head. “Sam doesn’t remember?”
“Sam hasn’t woken up yet,” Archer said.
“It was Elijah,” I said, placing my hand over my mouth. I pressed my lips together to stop myself from bursting into tears.
Archer shook his head. “I’m not following.”
Erik came into the room and stood at the window. The distant flashes of lightning flickered in his eyes.
“My ex followed us here. He’s crazy,” I said. “He did that to her and dragged me away.”
“Tell us everything,” Erik said without looking at me.
And I did. I told them every detail.
“Maybe he shot himself,” Archer said.
“If he didn’t, I will,” Erik said, cracking his knuckles. He jerked his chin at Archer. “Let’s go over there. Pay him a visit.”
“Let’s go,” Archer said, getting to his feet.
I sat up and caught his hand. “No, please. He’s dangerous. He’s armed.”
“None of us are safe with him alive,” Erik said.
“We’re not killers,” I said.
“There isn’t anyone else that will handle this,” Erik said. “We have enough to worry about.”
Feet pounded against the stairs. We all turned toward the door as Dorian poked his head inside my room.
“Sam’s awake!” Dorian said before turning and running back down the stairs.
Archer helped me out of bed and wrapped his arm around me as we walked toward the door. Erik stepped in front of me and looked into my eyes.
“We’re going to finish this,” Erik said.
“I think it’s better if we just leave,” I said, my brow wrinkling. “Let him rot down there.”
When we got downstairs, Sam was crying. Dorian was holding her hand and scratching the side of his head nervously.
“Sam!” I said, dropping to my knees beside her. My eyebrows felt heavy on my face. “Oh, Sam, I’m so sorry.”
“Mel,” she said with tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes. “It was him, wasn’t it?”
I nodded. “It’s all my fault.”
“I had horrible dreams,” Sam said, wincing. “My head hurts.”
“Do you have pain relievers?” Dorian asked, looking up at Erik.
Erik grunted and left the room. Sam whimpered as she brought her hand to her face. She closed one eye and then the other.
“I can’t see,” Sam said.
I scooted closer and looked into her eyes. “What do you mean? You’re looking right at me.”
“My left eye,” Sam said. “Everything is blurry.”
Her face was black and blue, but her eyes appeared normal. Sam’s shoulders shook as she sobbed.
“I can’t see,” she said, squeezing her eyes shut. She popped them open as if that would fix them. “Oh, God, why?”
“I’m so sorry, Sam,” I said, rubbing her shoulder.
“I’m going to kill him,” Erik said.
Sam winced as she tried to sit up. “What do you mean? He’s still out there?”
“Mel locked him in her mom’s basement,” Erik said.
“I heard a shot. He might have taken his life when he couldn’t get out,” I said.
Sam snorted. “No way. That piece of shit wouldn’t take his own life.” Dorian helped Sam settle into her spot. She pressed her palm to her forehead.
“Let me do it,” Sam said. “I want to kill him.”
“No one is going back there to kill him,” I said. “It’s the middle of the night. It’s storming. And Sam, you probably have a concussion. I’m fairly certain he broke his arm. Let him suffer until morning.”
“Then you’ll let me strangle him?” Sam asked.
I exhaled slowly. “He’s armed. It’s not going to be that easy to walk up to him and strangle him. He stole our shotgun.”
“Erik and Archer will help, right guys?” Sam asked.
“Yes,” Erik replied instantly.
“After what he did? I’ll definitely help,” Archer said.
Dorian grimaced. “So, we’re killers now? Why not leave him down there? It’s not like he’ll survive, and we’ll be long gone.”
“Because he’s evil,” Sam said. “And he messed up my eye.”
“The rules of the world have changed,” Erik said, smacking his hand into his chest. “Things are different, and we’re all going to need to be different. We’re going to have to do things we don’t want to do. Things that are hard… that are painful. Things that change us. This is non-negotiable.”
Sam nodded with every word. “Elijah deserved the chair before everything changed. If we don’t get him, there is a chance he’ll pick each of us off one by one. He’s a sneaky bastard. He followed us all the way out here. That could give you some indication as to what kind of evil he is.”
I couldn’t argue with her. “And for that reason alone, we should wait until daylight.”
“Fine,” Erik said. “We can wait, but it’s happening. Archer and I will go over in the morning.”
“And me,” Sam said, pointing at her eye. “I’m pulling the trigger.”
“For now, let’s all just get some rest,” Erik said.
Archer placed his hand on my lower back. “Want me to go
