Page 119

My feet pound the ground, my arms pump faster, the knife flashes in my hand, and yet…I’m acutely aware of everything going on around me. The way the branches sway and the light hits the rocks and fallen leaves. I watch for movement and listen closely.

Then I hear someone running directly in front of me, still too far ahead to see.

“I’m going to gut you when I catch you,” I growl under my breath.

With each footfall, I close the distance. But credit where credit is due. They are fast. I can see them now, fifteen strides ahead. They look back, and in that flash…something familiar. I can’t quite explain. Memories of the night I was drugged—despite what the stupid lab says—come back to me.

No…can it be?

We round a bend, and they disappear through a clump of trees. Shielding my head, I run through it a second later and burst out into a small clearing.

Gone.

My strides falter, and I skid to a stop, boots ripping through the wet leaves and sending them spraying across the dirt. My chest heaves as I spin in a circle, knife raised, searching every shadow between the trees.

A low rumble of thunder in the distance feels ominous.

“What the fuck?”

I suck in a breath and hold it. There is nothing. No branches moving. No footsteps. Not even the fucking wind. It is as if the forest swallowed whoever I’m chasing like it’s helping hide them. My pulse pounds loudly in my ears, but I force myself to listen past it.

Slow my breathing, I think logically. The car is bait, but the mask is deliberate. This trail has been maintained, so whoever I’m chasing has used it before, knows every square inch, and has waited for this moment.

That thought crawls under my skin. How many nights have they wandered through my property while I was inside the funeral home, believing I was all alone? How close have they really gotten? Have they gotten inside? Have they watched me kill? Do they have evidence of what I do?

I tighten my grip on the knife.

“You wanted my attention.” My voice carries on the breeze. “Congratulations. You fucking have it.” Nothing, so I try another tactic. “You’ve been watching me. Following me. Breaking into my home, and now that I’m here, you want to play hide-and-seek?”

Still nothing. My lip curls in frustration.

“And you scared?”

A branch cracks behind me and I whip around.

Back the way we came, a flash of black disappears between two trees. I could be heading straight into a trap, but I don’t care. I take off.

Shit.

They dart off the path into thicker trees. The branches claw at me as I barrel into the woods. One catches the side of my mask, jerking my head. I rip through it instead of slowing down.

Excitement and irritation swirl into a deadly combination that makes me see red.

Fuck caution. I’m done playing defense in my own goddamn life. Their footsteps hammer against the earth ahead of me. Fast as a little rabbit scurrying from a predator.

I push harder, blood racing in my veins. The cold air burns my lungs. Damp earth kicks up beneath my boots, perfuming the air with the smell of rotting leaves and pine. The trail gets tighter and darker, and the trees close in around us.

I’m gaining. I see them, no more than ten strides ahead. They look back, and my concentration fractures for half a second. I feel a tug in my chest as I stare into the black void where eyes should be.

My boot catches a root.

“Fuck!”

I stumble forward, throwing out a hand to catch myself against a tree before I go down, but my knife goes flying and disappears into the thick brush.

Fuck it.

That mistake has cost me, and they’ve doubled the distance between us.