Page 48 of Savagely Scarred

Searching for me.

That’s my favorite part. The realization. The understanding that the nightmare wasn’t buried with the blood on the cabin floor. That the scar on my side didn’t end me.

It marked me.

Marked us.

She stands abruptly, the book slipping from her fingers and falling to the ground. The dog senses her mood shift. It’s whining, tail lowering. Animals always know when something unnatural is nearby. Olivia turns in a full circle, panicking.

But I’m already gone.

Not because I’m afraid she will spot me. But because I want her to wonder. I want her to question every shadow. Every man who looks at her too long. Every rustle in the leaves.

This isn’t revenge.

Revenge is quick.

This is reclamation.

They call me a narcissist. A sadist. Insane.

They’re right.

I study myself the way other men study scripture. I know what I am. I know the thrill that coils in my chest when her pulse spikes. I know the satisfaction of planting fear like a seed and watching it bloom.

Pain is intimacy. Control is love. And she is still mine.

My Lilith.

She tried to kill the devil, but she only made him patient.

Now she’ll read. And reread. And wait for the next message.

Because there will be one.

And one after that.

Until she understands that you can’t escape hell. You carry it with you.

And I am already under her skin.

Chapter Fourteen

Sage

“Where the fuck is it?!”

Dorian stomps around his apartment with purpose. I watch from my central position in the hallway, my arms crossed. His riding boots squeak as he moves from room to room, lifting and tossing things. I glance at the empty key hook by the door that I had hung up when I lived here.

“Maybe if you put things where they belonged, you wouldn’t lose them.”

“Okay, Dad,” he scoffs, rummaging through the kitchen drawers. He slams one shut in defeat and sighs. He gnaws on his bottom lip while drumming his fingers on the counter. “OH!” He opens the fridge door and shuffles some things around before pulling out the key to his bike. He holds it up in triumph.

The keychain says, ‘In my defense I was left unsupervised’.

How fitting.

“Why the fuck was that in the fridge of all places?”