Page 23 of Run Little Fawn

I groan, rolling over and burying my face in the musty pillow. I can't let him get to me like this, can't let him worm his way into my thoughts and my dreams. He's the enemy, the monster I have to destroy if I want to survive this nightmare.

But even as I try to banish him from my mind, I can't help but wonder. What is it about me that caught his eye? What made him choose me out of all the potential prey in the world?

Is it just a game to him? A twisted amusement to pass the time?

Why else would he let me go?

I shake my head. It doesn't matter. He's a psychopath, a killer who gets off on hunting and terrorizing innocent women. There's nothing redeemable about him, nothing worth exploring or understanding.

And yet I can't shake the feeling that there's more to him than meets the eye. That beneath the cruel exterior and the sadistic games, there's a man with his own scars and his own demons. A man who maybe isn't completely beyond reach if he let me go today, whatever his reasoning was.

Maybe that's something I can exploit.

I roll onto my back, staring up at the water-stained ceiling as I try to quiet my racing thoughts. I need to focus, need to channel all my energy into surviving and outsmarting him. Everything else is just a distraction, a dangerous weakness that I can't afford.

But even as I drift off into a fitful, restless sleep, his face is the last thing I see. Those gray eyes, boring into mine with an intensity that steals my breath and sets my blood on fire. And that voice, low and dark and full of wicked promise, whispering in my ear.

"Ready or not, little fawn… here I come."

Chapter Twelve

THE FAWN

I jolt awake in the cheap motel room, my heart slamming against my ribcage as the shrill buzz of the phone pierces the gray dawn. My hand shakes as I pick it up, already knowing what I'll see on the screen.

The second hunt begins soon.

I’m coming for you, little fawn.

Lucian's words chill my blood as I take a deep breath, trying to steel myself for what's to come. For the dangerous new game I've decided to play.

This time, I'm not going to run.

I'm going to let Lucian catch me.

Let him think he's bested me, that I'm weak and broken and his for the taking. And all the while, I'll be studying him, learning what makes him tick, searching for any weakness I can exploit.

It's a desperate gamble, one that could easily get me killed.

Or worse.

But what choice do I have? I can't run forever. He's proven time and time again, there's nothing I can do to physically get away from him. And if I'm going to beat the twisted bastard at his own game, I need to understand the rules.

Not just the ones on the surface.

I dress quickly, my movements precise and methodical despite the adrenaline thrumming through my veins.

I leave a few things behind. Let him think I left in a panic, too frightened and frazzled to cover my tracks.

I step out into the chill morning air, suppressing a shiver that has nothing to do with the cold. The parking lot is deserted, the rusted truck waiting exactly where I left it. For a moment, I'm tempted to climb in and peel out, to put as much distance as I can between me and this godforsaken place.

But that's what the old Aria would do.

The frightened fawn cowering from the big bad wolf.

I force myself to walk past the truck, my stride purposeful as I cross to the road.

I stick out my thumb, the universal sign of the hitchhiker. It feels strange, reckless, like I'm tempting fate.

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