“It’s me, Belle,” I said for what must have been the thousandth time. “I’m your stepdaughter. Don’t you remember? You sang Irish nursery songs to put me to sleep and told me about the stars? Please, Dad. Remember!”
“Shut up! That’s enough, Arabella.” He stalked off, dragging me with him.
Hope doused in cold reality. I pleaded into those eyes for a spark of recognition too many times to count. None appeared.
Malcolm Byrne’s mind was mangled over the murder of his obsession. Sending Arabella Fletcher out of his reach forever. It coped by convincing him she wasn’t gone at all. She was me. The young girl with her blood and her face.
The help he needed, he should have gotten long ago. Now it was too late.
For both of us.
Mal shoved open the door and threw me inside. I tripped over the rug, falling on the dining table. I heard the rapid succession of locks clicking behind me.
Pushing myself up, I swept the space. It was nothing like I expected.
The meager outsides did not match the clean, swept floors. The nice brown leather couch matched the table I was leaning on. A modest, but new television hung on the opposite wall, and next to the stainless-steel refrigerator was a back door covered with new locks and deadbolts.
I knew where we were. Citrine Cove was a small island, and my friends and I had explored every inch of it. We were on the opposite end near the grove and golf course. Down a side road that took us to the bottom of the cliff and passed no other houses but this one.
No one had reason to come out here. But Mal had, and by the work done to fix up and secure this place, he’d been here for a while.
I flew across the room, diving for the window. Malcolm just watched me as I strained against the frame.
“Don’t bother, Arabella. I’ve ensured you and I will have peace and privacy.”
“How long have you been here?” I demanded. “How did you find me?”
“I’ve been here for weeks, preparing to take you home.” Mal moved behind me. “I’m afraid your community is not as insular as you believe. Months ago, those people drove you hours out of town to a party at Du Pont-Desai Manor. I didn’t think anything of it for a long time. Eventually, as I went back and retraced your movements in the days before you disappeared, I realized that was the only thing out of place.
“I looked into that family. Discovered the tradition they started almost a hundred years ago, and got close enough to someone in the community that they admitted another event was being held this summer and where. I didn’t want to believe it, Arabella.”
I tensed.
“That my own wife would come here. Be a part of this— this— I don’t know what the fuck this is!” I sensed him coming closer. “I refused to accept it. It wasn’t possible that you’d be here, so I called the family back home. Had them check if you went abroad. When they turned up nothing, I came here praying that you wouldn’t be.”
Praying? And what do you ask God for, Malcolm Byrne?
“I searched and found you... with them.”
I knew it was coming.
Mal spun me around, hand raised. I blocked the slap with my forearm. The force knocked me off balance, but I recovered quickly and threw a jab at his stomach. He doubled over, grunting, and I made a run for it.
Flying at the door, I scrabbled desperately at the locks. Rapid footfalls behind me and then he grabbed me.
Smack!
Pain exploded in my face. My neck snapped to the side, hitting my forehead against a deadbolt. I screamed as he hoisted me over his shoulder.
“Let me go! Let me go, you sick, murdering beast!” I kicked and flailed, pummeling his back. “You ruined my life! Murdered my mother!” Wrenching my body, I grabbed a handful of his hair and ripped.
Mal howled. Holding my legs, he twisted and slammed me against the wall.
I collapsed in a heap on the floor. His figure spun as it towered over me.
“My patience is running thin, Arabella. As is my forgiveness. You cheated on me, and that’ll be dealt with, but I’m willing to take you back.”
“Don’t!” I sobbed. Agony wracked me from head to toe. “I don’t w-want you. Leave me here.”
He tangled in my hair, lifting my head. “So you can go back to them. All three