Page 318 of Trick or Stalk

It turns out it looks surprisingly normal sometimes.

Coffee in the morning.

Hades fixing the loose railing on Grandma's porch after I mention it once.

Dinner with Wilder.

Working at The Crooked Spine while Hades sends me inappropriate texts that Margaret absolutely cannot ever see.

Horror movies on the couch.

Penny abandoning me every time Hades walks through the door.

Arguments.

Apologies.

Rules.

Trust rebuilt one piece at a time.

And occasionally... a masked psychopath standing in my woods.

My phone buzzes.

Psychopath: Come outside.

I stare at the text, then respond.

Me: That's how women die in horror movies.

Psychopath: You know who I am.

And there it is. Five words that change everything.

I do.

I know exactly who's standing in those woods.

I know the man behind the mask. The things he's done. The darkness inside him. The things he regrets. The things he doesn't. How fiercely he loves his brother. How he takes his coffee. How his entire face changes when I call him my boyfriend.

I know how carefully he's respected every boundary I've given him since that night in the cabin.

And I know exactly what he wants from me tonight.

Choice.

My choice.

I look down at Penny.

She's staring at the door.

“Should Mommy make him freeze?”

Her head tilts.

“He deserves it.”