Page 300 of Primal

The knife’s still in my hand. She isn’t bleeding.

Yet.

I rock back a step. Heart in my skull.

Vanessa cackles from somewhere behind me. ‘Mmm. Look at you. About to gut the only girl who ever gave a damn. How’s that for daddy issues?’

I whirl around.

Her stomach starts peeling down the middle. Bit by bit, her guts ooze out. Draping over a body that refuses to drop.

Blood maps her arms—wrists to fingertips.

‘Oops.’ Her mouth curls. ‘Guess I’m wearing my insides out.’

My fingers spasm around the blade.

A wink. ‘Still got you hard, though. Don’t lie.’

No. Fuck no. My jaw clenches. I spin toward Payton.

Her face … it’s melting. Skin peeling. Jaw stretching into a fucking snout. Those green eyes gone. Just black, empty holes.

‘Kill it,’ the forest cries. ‘KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT—’

Payton—no, Pigface, it’s Pigface—dodges left. Too slow. The blade skids off her collarbone, splitting fabric and skin—

“Kade.”

Fuck, it sounds like her.

Laughter curls around us. ‘Oh, this is rich. You really out here tryna catch a conscience now? Baby, that mask ain’t gonna hide all that limp-dick guilt. Newsflash—ain’t nobody scared of a killer with a crush.’

“Shut. Up,” I roar.

‘Put her down, Romeo,’ she drawls, circling us. ‘Do it real sweet—maybe she’ll give you a pity fuck before the cops scoop your dumbass into a body bag.’

I whirl, drive the knife through the bitch’s throat.

Air. Just air.

Behind me, Payton gasps. “What—”

“Don’t look at her.” I spin back.

Too late.

Payton’s face—her real face—gone pale. Eyes locked on whatever’s behind me. “Kade … who are you … I don’t …”

The ground bucks under me.

Vanessa’s voice, right in my ear. ‘She don’t trust you. Bet she’s itching to run.’

Payton closes the gap.

I snatch her wrist before she can pull off my mask. Pin her to a tree—one arm crushing her throat.

“Wake up,” she cries.