Chapter 14 - THE LAST KEY
Damien moved first.
Briar grabbed his wrist.
“Wait.”
The knock came again.
Three hard hits.
Then silence.
Damien stood beside the door.
“Stay behind me.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“Seriously?”
“My apartment. My door.”
“Fine. Stand beside me.”
“That I can do.”
Damien opened it.
Nobody.
Only a small package on the floor.
Victor appeared from the stairwell.
“Don’t touch it.”
He checked the box.
“No wires.”
Inside was a key.
Briar stopped breathing.
Her old apartment key.
The one Corbin had used to lock her in.
A note was taped beneath it.
YOU NEVER REALLY LEFT.
Damien’s face went cold.
“He’s supposed to be in federal custody.”
Victor was already calling someone.
Thirty seconds later, his expression changed.
“Transport accident.”
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
Briar’s stomach twisted.
Corbin had escaped.
Again.
Damien turned to her.
“You’re coming with me.”
Briar stared at him.
“No.”
“Briar—”
“I am done running.”
“This isn’t running.”
“Yes, it is.”
She picked up the old key.
“This thing controlled me for two years.”
Damien watched her.
“You know what it is now?”
“What?”
“Metal.”
She walked to the window.
Opened it.
And threw the key into the alley.
“There.”
Caesar barked.
Briar smiled.
“Exactly.”
Victor’s phone rang.
“We have a possible location.”
“Where?” Damien asked.
Victor hesitated.
“The old apartment.”
Briar’s smile disappeared.
Of course.
Corbin had gone back to the cage.
He expected her to fear it.
She did.
That was why she had to go.
Damien shook his head before she spoke.
“No.”
“You don’t get to decide.”
“I’m allowed to strongly object.”
“Object in the car.”
The apartment building looked smaller than Briar remembered.
That made her angry.
For years, it had filled her nightmares.
Now it was just brick.
Paint.
Glass.
They entered through the front.
Caesar stayed beside Briar.
Third floor.
Apartment 3C.
The door was open.
Inside, Corbin stood in the living room.
Blood on his shirt.
Gun in hand.
“You came.”
Briar stepped inside.
“I did.”
Damien remained several feet behind her.
Corbin looked at him.
“You brought your replacement.”
Briar laughed.
“No.”
His face changed.
“No?”
“You still don’t get it.”
She took another step.
“Nobody replaced you.”
Corbin’s grip tightened around the gun.
“You were never something worth replacing.”
He raised the weapon.
Damien moved.
Briar didn’t.
“Go ahead,” she said.
Corbin froze.
“You want control?”
Her voice shook.
But she kept going.
“Then pull the trigger.”
“Briar,” Damien warned.
She ignored him.
“You used to tell me I was weak.”
Corbin’s eyes twitched.
“You were.”
“No.”
Briar smiled through tears.
“I was surviving you.”
Sirens approached.
Corbin looked toward the window.
His confidence cracked.
Briar saw it.
For the first time, she saw what had always been underneath.
A scared little man.
“You’re nothing without fear,” she whispered.
Corbin screamed and aimed.
A gunshot exploded.
Briar flinched.
Corbin fell.
Victor stood in the doorway.
Smoke curled from his weapon.
Damien rushed to Briar.
“Are you hit?”
“No.”
Corbin lay bleeding on the floor.
Alive.
Barely.
Briar stared at him.
The man who had owned every nightmare she’d had for years.
He looked small.
She walked to the apartment door.
Then stopped.
Turned back.
“You were wrong about one thing.”
Corbin coughed.
“What?”
Briar looked directly at him.
May you like
“I did leave.”
She closed the door behind her.
