AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh, Ghost,” I singsonged overGravediggerplaying muffled through the walls. “Come out, come out, wherever you are…”
The patter of little feet rained across the floor above my head, and I licked my lips, taking off at a sprint.
She had no idea what sort of monster she’d just unleashed.
I tuckedmyself into the tight cupboard at the base of an old converted hutch in the grand bathroom upstairs, kicking towels aside to fit. My heart raced in the dark with the words of Primal Ethos’Gravediggerwhispering of violence in my ears.
I regretted my choice of hiding place as soon as I closed the door, but it was too late. I could hear footfalls I recognized as distinctively Rook’s thundering up the steps.
My breaths came heavy and ragged, and I closed my mouth, forcing the air to enter and exit silently through my nose. The others had gone down the other end of the hall, but Rook sounded like he was headed right for me. Like he knew exactly where I was.
I clasped my palms over my mouth, a thrill going through me as his dark shadow crossed the threshold of the bathroom, passing it by.
Even if I wanted him to find me, a part of me—the part that willingly decided I was the prey—instinctively wanted to run. Knowing this predator wasn’t just a threat. He was apex. And if he found me, I didn’t think even he would be able to control what he would do.
I’d seen a glimpse of it that night after he fought Conor Jones in the ring at Sanctum and he came after me in the streets afterwards. The thrill in his black eyes. The way he stalked around me, turning us in circles. A dance of villains and thieves.
Of primal desire and the need todominate.
I pushed further back into the cupboard as the song switched, changing to the quicker tempo at the opening ofRun, Bitch, Run.
Fitting.
A cold sweat coated my chest and slicked over my forehead as I heard Rook crashing through the rooms down the hall, growing closer by the second.
As though on cue, my ass knocked something solid hidden at the back of the cupboard. Something glass. A bottle. It tapped against the wood. Such a quiet sound, but I could feel the change in the air.
Like it was thicker to breathe.
“Shit,” I cursed with a manic laugh, kicking out of the cupboard to scramble over the slippery tile, sloppily as I unfurled, finding my feet. I raced from the bathroom, conditioned air rushing over my bare stomach, whipping my hair back from my face.
At the end of the hall, Grey and Corvus tripped over each other exiting a bedroom. Behind me, I could feel Rook’s presence like a heavy shadow.
“Got you,” he snarled, far too close, and I gripped the banister, launching myself over it, my stomach soaring as I tumbled through the air, landing on the balls of my feet in the foyer, rolling to lessen the impact. The roll turning right back into a full sprint.
The floor beneath my feet trembled as Rook jumped down behind me with a loud grunt.
Oh god.
Oh fuck.
I crossed the living room in a split second, rushing through the dining room asRun, Bitch, Runhit its first base drop. I could hear him behind me. In the living room. He’d be on top of me in seconds. The others not far behind.
Glass shattered in the living room, and I sucked in a breath, spying the dark space beneath an oversized ottoman in the sitting room. I slid across the hardwood floor, disappearing into that darkness an instant before Rook crashed into the room.
A clatter sounded above me. The bottle I’d knocked against the back of the cupboard in the bathroom must’ve fallen.
“She’s back upstairs,” Grey shouted, and I was sure if they came any closer, they’d be able to hear my heart thudding as loudly as I could hear it in my own ears.
Two sets of racing footfalls departed, but there was still one set lingering. Even with the slightly heavier right foot from his injuries. I know the sound of him anywhere. Rook knew I didn’t go back upstairs.
Run, Bitch, Run slowed, coming to an end, giving me the opportunity to hear him take a long breath in through his nose. Was he… trying to scent me?
Wetness slicked my thighs beneath my leather skirt and I bit down hard on my lip, wanting to run but also aching to be found. I pressed my thighs together as the next song started, gasping as the leather hugging my thighs creaked.
Fuck.
Strong hands gripped my ankles, and I let out a squeal that was stolen away by the raucous beat of the next song as Rook dragged me out from beneath the ottoman.
