“She hit me,” Lily said, letting out a sob. “She locked me in. I thought I was going to die.” Ash put his arms around her, and I almost rolled my eyes at their cute little reunion. When she finally worked up the guts to look at me, she flinched. “You wanted me to die,” she whispered.

“Let’s get you to the house,” Ash said, ignoring me. “Everything’s going to be okay now, I promise.” When she took a step back and he bent over to close the trapdoor, exactly how I knew he would because he wouldn’t want anyone to fall down there by accident, I took three swift strides, pushed my nail gun to Lily’s chest and pulled the trigger.

Her eyes widened as the sharp metal pierced her flesh, burrowing straight into her heart. I watched as her mouth dropped open in surprise, and she let out a tiny gasp before sinking to the floor without making another sound. Now I knew what killing someone directly—immediate, precise and efficient—felt like. It wasn’t so hard after all.

“Lily!” Ash screamed, too focused on her to notice me lowering the nail gun onto the floor behind me. He dropped to his knees, shouted her name again, pressed his hand over her chest where a patch of crimson had already spread across her shirt.

I didn’t have long until he realized what I’d done, so I picked up the heavy piece of driftwood I’d used on Lily, and swung hard, aiming for the back of his head. No, I didn’t want to hurt him, but sometimes things had to get worse before they got better.

As he slumped, unconscious, over his dead girlfriend’s body, I knelt down and stroked his hair. “It’s for the best,” I whispered. “You’ll thank me. I promise you’ll thank me for protecting us. For keeping our pact.”

EPILOGUE

MAYA

You expected a story with a fairy-tale happy ending? We’ll get there, because it’s not over yet. Besides, happiness means different things to different people. There isn’t one single definition of what it means to be content. In my case, at this moment in time, it’s knowing Ash is home, and that he’ll always be where he belongs. Here, in our house in Newdale. With me.