“This is literally my family’s forest, and we have the cleanup team on standby.” I stride to Jude’s side and wrap an arm around his shoulders. “Just say you hate life, unlike me and the big man.”
Jude slams his stick against my shoulder. “Don’t kill him. He’s all mine.”
“Finders keepers,” I singsong, then jump off the porch.
“Motherfucker!”
I hear Jude curse, but I’m already gone, slipping between the trees I know by heart.
A lot of shit has gone down in this forest—including the old-fashioned “character building,” where Kane, Jude, and I got dumped out here and were told to fend for ourselves.
And that’s not even counting all the nights I wandered out here alone. It’s never scared me.
Just…triggered the occasional epic meltdown, but no witnesses, so it doesn’t count.
Imagine if Dad or Lenino had seen me?
RIP, my beautiful body.
Back in the present, I’m sprinting at full speed—basically the only advantage I have over Jude.
Branches and leaves smear across my peripheral vision, and then I catch a glimpse of his massive frame.
Fucking bitch.
He’snottaking my hunt.
I push harder, using every bit of leverage I have, tracking the prey by sound, by movement, by the sharp, sour smell of his fear.
The man’s steps thunder through the forest, heavy and eager, his terror cutting through everything. I can smell it. Feel it crawling under my skin.
The moon flickers behind clouds, barely giving us anything.
But I don’t need it.
I’ve always been at my best in near darkness—where no one can see me.
I catch the man’s shadow and launch myself at him without a single second of hesitation, driving my knife deep into his side.
“Hello, motherfucker. This is your grim reaper reporting for duty.”
The man screams, the sound loud and grating, but it doesn’t touch anything in me.
My vision is red, splashed by his hot blood, and my hand is steady as I shove him against the tree and stab him again and again.
And again.
Swish.
Swish.
Swish, motherfucker.
And just like that, I’m faced with the same shadow that manifests in front of me when I’m stabbing people to death.
The face in the darkness, the one I can’t see properly but know exactly who he is.
“Shh, Preston.”
