Page 150 of A Wild Darkness

He nods, his eyebrows pushed together with a combination of worry, confusion. “I know.”

“I only counted three,” I say. “One of them is still out there. And the security guard.”

“Hayden was going to take out the security guard beforehand. Silas is the one who’s left.”

A chill shivers up my spine. “What do we do now?”

“You are going to wait here until this is over. I’m going to find Christian or Hayden,” he commands with a forceful tone.

My hands clutch at the collar of his leather jacket. “But you’re not armed!You were almost shot by one of them!”

“I’ll be okay. I grabbed Harry’s gun, remember?” he assures me. “And Silas doesn’t know who’s hunting them, so he won’t suspect me right away. For all he knows, I’m a target, too.”

“Please don’t leave me!” I plead.

His thumb caresses my cheek. “I’ll be okay, I promise.”

Tears prick the backs of my eyes, and I can barely utter an “okay” before the world stops spinning. To my guttural terror, I see Silas without a mask or robe standing about twenty feet behind us from over Sebastian’s shoulder.

“Oh god,” I mutter.

“Stevie?”

His expression cold, menacing while blood runs down from a cut on his forehead he must have sustained from a fall when the shots began.

Panic seizes hold of my limbs, but I try to remain calm. “He’s right behind you,” I whisper. “He’s got a gun.”

Sebastian immediately knows because his sharp features harden and his shoulders straighten. “Stay behind me. Do not move.”

I nod.

Sebastian turns around slowly until he’s face to face with Silas.

Then out of nowhere, a grin as wide as a crescent moon appears on Silas’s face. “I knew it was you.”

“What was me?” Sebastian baits him.

“I knew it was you all along.”

Sebastian takes a slow step forward. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t act like this wasn’t your plan from the beginning, or I’ll blow your fucking face off,” Silas threatens, aiming the gun at Sebastian’s face. “Don’t be a coward and acknowledge it.”

Sebastian’s jaw tightens. “What makes you think I had anything to do with this?”

“I followed you,” Silas spits out. “I knew something was strange about you two from the beginning. Then I remembered how Andrew kept going on about the lieutenant who he was hell-bent on getting revenge on.” He shakes the gun a little as if taunting us. “It piqued my curiosity, so I did my research, and you’ll never believe what I stumbled upon. A photo of the lieutenant and his daughters—one of them being Stevie Levinson. Our dear Annabel. It didn’t take long for me to track her to you, Sebastian Thompson.”

“That means nothing. So what?” Sebastian scoffs him off. “You know our true identities. Every serial killer lives two lives. What the hell is your point?”

“Andrew mentioned some arrogant billionaire was trying to get into his little raping group.” His smug expression chuckles. “And who is that billionaire, you ask? Well, it’s none other than River Thompson, your fucking cousin.”

Sebastian’s back stiffens. “Still means nothing.”

The more Silas speaks, the more my pulse races.

“Oh, but it gets better!” he continues. “He’s been fucking with a little crime writer who happens to be the daughter of the lieutenant that Andrew was after…ding, ding, ding,” he plays, pointing the gun at me. “Her sister. A little family affair we’ve got going on, don’t we? So fucking sweet.”

“We’re a group of serial killers, plain and simple.”