The Devil's Daughter (Hidden Sins #1)(87)

That’s right. One step at a time. Keep the panic at bay.

Judging from the rugged exposed wood and lack of drywall or anything that would mean a finished house, she was in the cabin Beth had mentioned. The cabin that only a handful of people in Elysia knew about, and no one had reason to connect her with. She had to close her eyes and concentrate on getting her breathing back to normal. Okay, so no one is going to swoop in like a knight in shining armor. I have to get out of this myself. It sounded simple enough . . . as long as she didn’t think about the fact that this unsub had killed two girls to date.

Rachel.

She opened her eyes again, forcing herself to twist a little to see the rest of the room. There wasn’t much to see. A simple table of the same unfinished look was set against the single window—no glass, to speak of—and there was the bed she currently stretched out on. Do not think about the bed.

Eden tried to move farther, but her wrists were tied over her head. She twisted a bit more, ignoring the pain that almost made her black out to see what restrained her. Rope. I can work with rope. Or she could if she could reach anything remotely sharp. The comforting weight of her gun was gone, and her boots were, too, which meant they had her backup weapon. This is bad, but I’ve been in worse . . . Except she couldn’t think of a worse situation. Footsteps sounded, and she had a half a second to debate whether she wanted to pretend to be unconscious still. She chose to meet her attacker with eyes open instead.

The door, which was just a cloth hung over a door-size opening in the wall, fluttered open, and a man walked through. Eden had prepared herself for facing off with one of her childhood friends. Or she’d thought she had.

That was why it took her several long seconds to process the fact that the man now looking down at her was not Jon. She blinked, blinked again, but he didn’t change. Eden swallowed past her suddenly dry throat. “I don’t . . . I don’t understand.”

Chase smiled. “You never did.” He reached down and ran a finger down the side of her face, laughing when she jerked away as much as she could. “Stubborn to the very end. Just like she said.”

Do not panic. Do not panic. If she hadn’t realized Chase was even a suspect, it was unlikely Zach would, either. There was such a disconnect that she didn’t even know how to begin processing it. Eden looked around, but the cabin didn’t change. “This is Jon and Beth’s cabin.” Beth. “What did you do with Beth?”

“Nothing, silly.” The feminine voice made her stomach lurch. The nausea only got worse when the woman in question walked through the doorway and slipped under Chase’s arm. That kind of body language and comfort meant they’d been lovers—and probably for some time.

Didn’t see that coming. Didn’t see any of it coming.

“How did you even meet? Where is Rachel?” She didn’t know if she really wanted the answer to the second question, but if she could get them talking, maybe she could figure out a way free. Long shot.

Shut up.

“It was a gift from Persephone.” Beth went on her tiptoes and kissed Chase. Her eyes shone, and she looked like it was Christmas morning and she’d just discovered her entire list beneath the tree. “Things started so promising with Jon, but it’s been so incredibly hard the last few years. I met Chase while I was chasing down one of our wandering alpacas.”

“The rest is history.” Chase’s grin made the bottom of Eden’s stomach drop out. If there was fanatical brightness in Beth’s eyes, there was only cold calculation in his. He’s not a true believer. She didn’t know if it was better or worse that he’d hurt those girls for his own purposes rather than because he was a secret religious zealot.

Beth smiled. “It’s time. Are you ready?”

“What?”

But it was Chase she spoke to. He cupped her face, managing to not look too eager about what was to come. “I’ve never been more ready, baby. It’s time to take what’s ours.”

She had to say something, do something, to snap Beth out of it. “Beth, we’ve been friends for years. You don’t want to hurt me.”

The woman went to her knees next to the bed and pulled out a little knife. She cut down the middle of Eden’s shirt, frowning at the tattoos spanning her chest. “You covered it.”

Not completely. She could see the faint outline of the key beneath the other tattoo, if she looked hard enough. A constant reminder that she could never truly escape her past. “I never wanted it to begin with.”

Beth shook her head. “You left your legacy behind, just like you left me behind.” She traced the faint outline of the skeleton key with a reverent finger. “Oh, Chase, I wish we could see the original how it was intended.” She frowned. “I didn’t get the others quite right.”

“It’s just a stupid key.” Keep them talking; keep them talking. She pulled on the ropes around her wrists, but there wasn’t a damn bit of give. “It’s not real. Nothing Martha says is real.”

Beth slanted her a look. “You would say that. You were always the chosen one.” She tapped the tattoo with her finger. “You don’t know what it was like for the rest of us growing up under Demeter’s reign.”

Eden bit back a hysterical laugh. “I think I know better than anyone.”

“I thought so. But then you left, and it all became clear.” She tapped the tattoo again, harder this time. “You left just like Persephone left, and Demeter’s gone mad with grief. She won’t release her power, won’t even share a shred of it, so it’s left up to us to take it. If you’re not going to take your rightful place, someone else will. You were always the key.”