Chapter 121

Ava

The coroner’s grim face did little to ease the knot of dread coiled in my stomach as he approached, peeling off his latex gloves with a soft snap. Chris and I rose to our feet, wringing our hands nervously.

“Well?” Chris prompted, his voice low. “What do we know?”

The coroner’s jaw tightened. “The girl died from a broken neck, roughly eighteen hours ago,” he said without preamble. “My best guess is that the force of the fall snapped it clean.”

A collective shudder rippled through our small group. I felt Chris stiffen beside me, no doubt envisioning the horror—I was envisioning it, too. And to think that that had almost been any of us just a few moments ago.

“So it was just… an accident?” Leonard chimed in. “She fell while hiking or something?”

The coroner opened his mouth to respond, but I beat him to it. “Or she was pushed.”

A tense silence fell over the group again, broken only by the faint rustle of leaves in the cool night air and the soft voices of the other emergency responders in the background. Chris turned to me slowly, his eyes searching mine.

“You think someone did this to her?”

I swallowed hard, fixing him with a stern glare. “I think we both know who.”

A muscle ticked in Chris’s jaw as he considered my implication—that perhaps Olivia had something to do with this. Nodding, he strode over to Leonard.

“Come on,” he said. “We need to take a look at the top of the ravine, see if there are any signs of a struggle or foul play.”

Leonard’s eyes widened ever so slightly, but he gave a jerky nod. “Right. Of course.”

Within moments, the two of them were scaling the steep incline, their flashlight beams casting eerie shadows as they ascended. Ophelia let out a low whistle, shaking her head slowly and stroking the back of Princess’s head—safe once more in her arms after her pivotal discovery of the girl’s body.

“Well, this evening has certainly taken a turn for the grim, hasn’t it?” she asked.

I couldn’t help but let out a humorless chuckle at that, my gaze drifting back to the crumpled form beside the ravine. The poor girl’s face was obscured by her tangled hair, but something about her slight frame and delicate features tugged at the edges of my memory.

Frowning, I took a step closer. “May I?” I asked the coroner, gesturing to the girl.

The coroner nodded and I walked over to the girl, crouching down to brush the matted hair away from her face. And there, in the dim glow of the flashlight beam, it all clicked into place—the heart-shaped face, the smattering of freckles across her upturned nose, those full lips slightly parted in an eternal expression of shock.

I knew her. She was one of the Omegas I had rescued from Olivia’s rampage back when Chris had first returned. Not the one who had lost an ear, but the other.

A choked gasp escaped my lips as I recoiled, nearly toppling backwards in my haste to put distance between us. That poor Omega girl… Here, in these very woods, broken and lifeless. But how? And why?

The pieces began to slot together with sickening clarity—Olivia’s necklace at the bottom of the swimming hole, and now the body of one of her former slaves lying mere miles away. There was no doubt about it… this had Olivia’s stench all over it.

I was vaguely aware of the others rejoining me in that moment, of Chris’s hand settling on my shoulder as he peered down at the Omega’s motionless form. A muscle worked in his jaw, his expression unreadable.

“She’s familiar,” he said softly.

I gave a small nod, suddenly feeling like all of the energy had been sapped out of me. “She was one of the Omegas we rescued from Olivia’s rampage.”

A heavy silence fell over us once again, this one even more oppressive than before. We watched as the responders gently loaded the girl’s body onto a stretcher, draped a sheet over her, and began carrying her over to the four-wheeler that they had had to use just to get out here. Meanwhile, crime scene tape was placed all around the area.

“Well?” Ophelia asked. “What are we to do now?”

Chris exchanged a loaded glance with me, a silent conversation passing between us in that single moment. Then, straightening his shoulders, he turned back to face the others.

“There’s not much more we can do here tonight,” he said. “I say we head back, regroup, and figure out our next move.”

…

By the time the four of us reached the warmth and safety of my living room, I could feel the weight of exhaustion practically making my knees. I sank onto the plush sofa with a weary sigh after doling out four cups of hot tea.

Chris took a seat beside me, so close that our thighs were nearly pressed together. I tried not to dwell on the way my skin seemed to tingle with awareness at his proximity, focussing instead on the matter at hand.

“So,” I began, “what are we thinking here? Do we think this had something to do with Olivia?”

Chris pursed his lips, a crease forming on his forehead. “It’s certainly possible,” he mused. “Although, it does seem a bit… sloppy for her tastes, doesn’t it? Leaving a body out in the open like that?”

A contemplative silence settled over us as we all turned the possibilities over in our minds. Leonard was the first to break it.

“Maybe she wanted us to find the body,” he suggested slowly. “Maybe… maybe this is just the beginning.”

A chill raced down my spine at the implication of his words. Before I could dwell on it further, however, the sound of Ophelia’s stomach growling nearly caused us all to jump.

Covering her belly with her hand, her cheek flushed bright red. “I do apologize,” she muttered. “I suppose all that activity has left me quite famished.”

With a chuckle, I rose to my feet and padded to the kitchen. I searched through the cabinets for a bit before stumbling across a stash I had forgotten about—the goodies that my neighbor had brought me.

Returning to the living room with a few cookies and some other treats on a tray, I set them down on the coffee table.

“Ooh, cookies!” Ophelia exclaimed, immediately plucking up one of the treats and taking a big bite. “Good lord, that’s heavenly.”

Despite everything, I couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle at her antics, the tension in the room easing slightly as Leonard and Chris followed suit. For a few blessed moments, there was nothing but the contented sounds of munching and the occasional murmur of appreciation.

It wasn’t until I felt the first telltale tug of drowsiness that I realized just how exhausted I truly was. A jaw-cracking yawn escaped me, and I blinked rapidly in an effort to keep my eyes open.

Beside me, I noticed that Chris’s head had already begun to dip as he struggled to hold it upright on his fist. Then, across the room, I saw that Leonard had already nodded off with Ophelia quickly following suit with her head on his shoulder.

And before I could even stand to make my way to my bed, I, too, felt the undeniable pull of sleep.