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“I gotta go.”

I jumped into the car as I dialed Runa’s number and backed out of my spot.

“Daddy! Seatbelt!” Denali scolded from the backseat.

I pulled the belt as the call went to voicemail.

Fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

I dialed again and listened to the ring as my knuckles went white on the wheel.

I wanted to press the pedal to the floor.

I wanted to fly down the fucking road all the way back to the ranch.

But Denali was in the backseat, singing that song about the magic carpet from Aladdin.

I might be willing to risk my life to get to Runa and warn her. But I wasn’t about to risk Denali’s.

So I kept it a modest ten over the speed limit all the way back to the house as the phone rang and rang and rang.

Until, suddenly, it didn’t even do that anymore.

I don’t even remember cutting the engine as I flew out of the car, rushing around, ripping Denali out of her seat, my heart cracking in two when she let out a startled cry at my behavior.

“Daddy?” she called, voice wobbly as I ran into the house, taking the stairs up to the second floor two at a time.

“Listen, princess. I am going to put you in your room. And I need you to stay in there, okay? Until you hear me or Mommy.”

I placed her down on her bed, hating the wide-eyed, panicked look on her face. But knowing there wasn’t anything I could do about it.

“Okay?” I pressed.

Her lower lip trembled.

“Okay.”

I ran back out of the room, locking the door, closing it, then running across the hall to grab the gun I’d left at home because I didn’t exactly have the right to carry it.

My heart was thunderous as I rushed back downstairs, making my way toward the doors that led onto the back patio.

And that was when I saw someone.

Walking out of the woods with a slow, dazed, zombie-like gait.

Runa.

Drenched head-to-toe in bright red blood.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Runa

The house held a lot of complex feelings for me.

The property, on the other hand, was a lot simpler. It was my safe haven. My peace. My joy.