Page 62 of Ghost Hunted

“She’s not okay. She’s shot. She’s bleeding. Logan, you’d better step away from Lia, because I’m going to shoot. I swear to god, I’m going to shoot.”

I’m exhausting myself trying to wrestle out of Logan’s grip, but he’s holding me so hard I can barely breathe, and I’m pretty much helpless anyway with my arms and feet firmly tied.

“Do it, Quill,” growls Logan. “Go ahead and do it.”

“Three… two…”

“Quill! No!”

I sag against Logan’s back as Piper erupts into the room, her arm bandaged. She latches onto Quill’s neck, squeezing him to her.

“Please, Quill. Please, don’t shoot. You weren’t going to shoot, were you, Quill?”

At once, he drops the weapon. “Of course not, cricket.”

“Papa, he wasn’t going to hurt you? Please tell me… mama!”

Piper lets go of Quill’s neck to try to run toward me, but Quill grabs her by the middle, holding her to him. “They’re not your parents. We’re leaving.”

“No. Stop that!” She whips around, glaring at him, but he seems entirely unaffected. “You can’t make me leave, Quill.”

“Yes, I can. I can do a lot more than make you leave.”

“You can’t,” she insists, stomping her foot. “Not if I don’t want to! This is the 21st century, Quill, and…”

“And I’m stronger than you.” He lifts her up over his shoulder, then cocks his gun at us again. But I can tell the danger has passed.

“I’ll let you live,” he grunts. “But if you ever go near Piper again…”

“Quill! Stop!” Piper tries desperately to get out of Quill’s grip, but he resolutely ignores her, and her struggles don’t have the least effect on him. “Quill, they’re my parents, and if you don’t let me down… if you don’t let me stay with them, I swear, I’ll never forgive you. I’ll be so angry at you…”

“Okay, cricket.” He speaks in a way that’s clearly meant to be soothing. “I understand. I don’t want you to be angry at me, but it’s okay if you are.”

“Quill.” This time, Logan’s the one speaking, as I stare on in a daze, struggling to follow along with everything. I feel sick to my stomach, but I can’t understand it. My mind can’t even begin to grasp the situation. “Quill,” repeats Logan, “you’re going to take my daughter home. You have my word that we won’t go near Piper again, not as long as Lia isn’t fixed. But I will fix her. And then I’ll find you, and we’ll… continue what we’ve started.”

He speaks calmly, but I can hear the threat in his voice. So does Piper, and she thrashes again on Quill’s shoulder.

“No, papa. No. Please, he only did what he did to protect me…”

“It’s okay, sweetie. Everything will be fine.”

Quill shakes his head in disbelief. “Yeah, everything will be fine. Just as long as we never see you again.”

Then, ignoring Piper’s protests, he slams the door shut behind him, and moments later, I hear the sound of another door shutting—the front door.

I squeeze my eyes shut.

“I’ve lost her. I’ve lost my daughter…”

“Shh, Lia,” Logan says for what must be the thousandth time. “It’s okay.”

He draws me into his lap, shushing me and rocking me like a baby. But nothing can possibly soothe me. I’ve lost her. I’ve lost my Aurora.

Eighteen years of absence. I thought I’d found her at last… but she’s been ripped from me again.

I bury my head against Logan’s shoulder, even as I try to understand how he can possibly still want me after what I’ve done.

But maybe he doesn’t want me. Maybe he wishes he’d never found me. He knows I’m sick, and I guess he’d feel guilty about deserting a sick person. But he should desert me. In fact, he should have killed me that first day on the cliff. Everything would be easier if he had.