Carnal

Chapter Forty-Two - If It's Meant to Be...

Lacking both fear of Cain's wrath and the strength to stand while recovering from the wolfsbane poisoning, Daniel had remained in the room when everyone else had been told to leave.

Cain drew in a deep breath before nodding slightly.

"I know the two of you well enough to know that it wasn't your fault and I know Ella enough to know that it was her choice. I can't, in good conscience, hold either of you accountable for her actions."

Jai felt a weight lift off of his shoulders. The sadness in his heart, however, lingered. 

"So, what do we do?" he asked.

"Yeah," Daniel said, sitting upright, "what's the plan?"

Cain shook his head before sinking into an old wooden chair.

"I don't have one."

Jai and Daniel exchanged a quick, surprised look.

"What do you mean?" Jai asked.

"You need to have a plan. Jacob will kill her..." Daniel added quickly.

"No, he won't."

Although Adam's deep voice cut through the tension building in the room, his words added to the confusion.

"Why wouldn't he?" Jai asked. "Hasn't his objective been to get to Cain this whole time? What better way to do it than to go through her? He's done this before."

"He won't kill her," Cain agreed.

Jai tried to decipher what Cain meant but the hardened expression on Cain's face masked his thoughts.

"Cain, there's something we should tell you," Evelyn said.

"Don't waste your breath," he said, not bothering to even look at her as she spoke. "I know."

Evelyn started to walk towards him but her husband reached out and stopped her. 

"So, you know what you have to do then?" Adam asked. 

Cain nodded slowly, feeling his jaw clench. 

Daniel looked at the broken family in front of him and wondered what on earth they were privy to that had finally brought them all together. 

It was the first thing Daniel had ever seen them agree on, and yet he had no clue what it was. 

"What are you talking about?" Jai asked, garnering up the courage to ask the question that he knew both he and Daniel were thinking. 

He instantly regretted asking as Cain looked up at him with such a mournful rage that Jai found himself leaning away. 

Tears brimming in his eyes, Cain's hands were shaking as he spoke with a broken voice. 

"I have to let her go." 

Daniel leaned in, his face showing the empathy he felt. 

"But why?"

- - -

Ella's P.O.V. 

A jolt of pain shot up my arm as the needle pierced through the top layer of my skin and found the vein it sought. 

I tried to ignore the pain as I concentrated on the sun that had begun to rise above the ocean's horizon off in the distance. 

From the couch where I sat on the aft deck, I had a perfect view of the morning's waking breath and it's reflective glow against the calm waves of the ocean.