Tangled Hearts.

~Chapter 81~

~Colby~

The drive back felt like it lasted a lifetime. Every second dragged, stretched by the heavy silence in the car and the raw pain that clung to all of us like a second skin. But we had her. Raelyn was back.

Barely.

Her body was limp in my arms, her head resting against my chest as I carried her into the house. Isa was right behind me, her breaths sharp and uneven. The others trailed in after us, their faces pale with exhaustion and grief.

"Rae, we're home," I said, my voice low, trying to ground both of us in the moment. "You're safe now. We've got you."

She didn't answer. She didn't even flinch.

Isa exhaled shakily. "Let's get her to the couch."

The moment we set her down, I felt the loss of her warmth against me, and it made me sick. She was too cold. Too still.

Aspen and Blake hovered nearby, their wide eyes filled with fear. Blake clutched his sister's tiny hand, his voice breaking as he whispered, "Mommy, is she gonna be okay?"

I knelt down, swallowing the lump in my throat. "Yeah, buddy," I lied, hating how much it burned to say it. "We're gonna take care of her."

Katrina sat beside the kids, pulling them close. "She's strong," she murmured. "Stronger than all of us combined."

Isa wasted no time. She grabbed the first aid kit and set to work, her hands steady but her eyes stormy with barely contained emotions. As soon as she dabbed antiseptic on Raelyn's wounds, a tortured whimper slipped from her lips.

My heart clenched. "Shh, baby, it's okay," I whispered, brushing the hair from her clammy forehead. "Just hang on."

Then the screaming started.

It was like something out of a nightmare. Raelyn lurched upright, eyes wild, thrashing against unseen hands. "They're coming!" she sobbed. "They're gonna get me! Make it stop—please, make it stop!"

I barely had time to react before her fist cracked against my face. Pain exploded in my nose, and I stumbled back, cursing under my breath.

Sam winced. "Damn, man. You okay?"

I wiped the blood off my lip. "Yeah. Great. Thanks for the concern."

Isa shot me a glare. "Maybe don't put your face so close next time, genius."

Raelyn was still sobbing, her entire body shaking so hard I thought she might shatter. Her nails dug into her own arms, her breathing ragged, panicked. "Get off me," she choked out, her voice raw. "Get off—get off—get off!"

I grabbed her wrists gently but firmly. "Rae, listen to me. No one's here. It's over. You're safe."

She didn't hear me. She wasn't here.

"Dammit," Isa muttered, glancing at the others. "We need to calm her down before she hurts herself."

Katrina moved toward her, voice soothing. "Rae, honey, it's okay—"

Raelyn flinched so violently she nearly fell off the couch. "No, no, no! Please don't touch me!"

That broke something in me.

I clenched my jaw, forcing my voice to stay steady. "Rae, it's me. It's Colby. No one's gonna hurt you."

Slowly—so slowly—her frantic eyes found mine. For a second, there was nothing but terror in them. Then recognition flickered through the chaos, and she collapsed against me, exhausted, drained.

"Don't leave me," she whispered, her voice barely there.

"I'm not going anywhere," I promised, holding her close. "I swear."

The room was painfully quiet after that. Isa resumed cleaning her wounds, moving with more care now. The others sat in heavy silence, the weight of the night pressing down on all of us.

Devyn wiped at her eyes. "I can't believe this happened. I feel so useless."

"You're not useless," I said firmly. "None of us are. We got her out. That's what matters."

"But it's not over," Sam said grimly. "Layne might be dead, but that doesn't mean we're safe."

Jake nodded. "We need to leave. We can't stay here."

I exhaled, rubbing a hand down my face. "Yeah. We need to move. First thing in the morning, I'll start looking for—"

Corey cut me off. "Why wait? None of us are sleeping tonight anyway."

Katrina grabbed her phone. "He's right. Let's start now."

It was surreal—one second, we were drenched in the aftershock of hell, and the next, we were scrolling through Zillow like we weren't covered in blood and trauma.

Devyn cleared her throat. "Okay, so, uh... requirements? Somewhere far enough away to be safe but close enough for school and work?"

Tara nodded. "And maybe bulletproof windows. Just a thought."

Liam, who had been silent until now, suddenly held up his phone. "What about this one? It's in a secluded neighborhood, two stories, big backyard, tons of space."

I glanced at the listing and knew instantly—it was perfect.

"That one," I said. "We're taking it."

Isa hesitated. "Colby, houses aren't exactly cheap—"

"Don't worry about it." My voice was firm. "We have the money. Layne left billions in his will. We split it three ways—Kalani and Gigi got a share, my mom got a share, and I got mine. And I'm using it to keep us safe."

Isa's shoulders sagged with relief. "Thank you."

I glanced at Blake and Aspen, curled up together, blissfully unaware of the chaos. "They deserve somewhere safe," I murmured. "We all do."

As we finalized plans, the tension in the room shifted from grief to determination. We had a way out. A chance to rebuild.

But just as the first slivers of hope crept in, Raelyn jolted awake again.

Her body convulsed against me, her breath coming in ragged gasps. "No—no, stop, please—" she sobbed, thrashing weakly.

I tightened my grip on her. "Baby, shh, it's okay. No one's here. It's just me."

She didn't hear me. She was trapped in whatever horrors Layne had left in her mind, fighting ghosts none of us could see.

"Stay back!" she cried. "Don't touch me—please, don't—"

Isa's eyes darkened with grief. "He really messed her up."

There was a bitter taste in my mouth. "Yeah," I said softly. "And there's a part of her I might never get back."

And that truth was the hardest to swallow.