Emotionless.
Terrifying.
“Not tonight,” he said, sliding it over his face. “Tonight we end the madness.”
“Hunter, wait...” My voice came out weak. “Baby, please, don’t do this,” I begged.
He stepped closer, pulling a knife from his boot, his leather gloves creaking with his grip.
“I’m working with Graham to try and break the spell.” My wrists ached as I struggled with the duct tape wrapped tightly around them. “You can go back to your life without me. Just give me time.”
“Time? Graham? You want me to be happy you’re spendingmore time withGraham?!The moment you got your eyes on him again, the first thread of whatever cord bound us together broke. And every time you saw him after… another, then another.”
Was Hunter right? Was Graham really the reason he changed? Why he started hitting me? Shoving me? It wasn’t jealousy this whole time. It was the curse… fraying under the weight of what my heart really wanted. What Hunter really wanted. He was usingmethat night just as much asIwas using him. A way to forget… to move on. To do something so out of the norm to try and trick the brain into submission. But both our plans failed.
He wanted to end me…
And had I known that was his plan all along… I probably would have let him.
If it hadn’t been for me, Hunter maybe would have given up murdering people.
If it hadn’t been for me, maybe he would have had a normal life—put his past behind him.
No.
Serial killers didn’t get second chances.
Forgiveness.
Peace.
Even Hell—should there be a place—was too good for them.
I pushed off the chair and launched my body at Hunter. If I was dying today, it wouldn’t be because I gave up. It would be because I gave everything to bring a monster down.
My body slammed into his, but he caught me. We struggled, fighting for power. But before I had a stable footing, he slammed me down to the hard concrete, knocking the wind out of me.
He stood over me—mocking… swinging the knife between his thumb and index finger. He rolled me to my side and sliced the duct tape—freeing my hands.
“What are you doing?”
“Blood’s not my thing. You know that.” He glowered, lowering himself down so he straddled me.
I squirmed underneath his weight, pounding at his chest—trying everything to get him off, but it was no use. I couldn’t free myself.
“No. Hunter, get off!”
He brought his gloved hand to my face, but I pushed him away.
Snatching my hand mid-swing, he tucked it under his one knee, then the other. I couldn’t move.
He gripped my face again and lifted the mask just enough to press a bitter kiss into my lips. “Stay still… it will be over soon.”
Then he punched me, right in the eye. Purple bloomed across my vision, but that didn’t do what he thought it would. It fueled me.
He unzipped his pants and pulled a little foil packet from a plastic baggie he had neatly tucked in his pocket.
“Really? A condom? Are you fucking serious right now?”
