Page 143 of Stalker

“No! No!”

Xander jumped in front of me, his glowing red eyes pulling a hysterical laugh from my lips. “Don’t! We hunt until he’s found. We have innocent victims here.”

Since when the fuck had we cared about that? I bent my arms, pulling them toward my face. Goddamn the fucking game.

Play it to win.

Play it like he would.

Play dirty.

The stupid shit running through my mind brought spots dancing in front of my eyes.

“He’s not fucking here,” Zach repeated.

As the women started to whimper again, I took one more good look.

There wasn’t a single sign of the monster. Anger continued to tear through me as I rushed forward, tugging one hood off a victim then another. As soon as I witnessed their horrified faces, I did my best to soften my expression.

When all the women’s identities were exposed and none of them belonged to Cassandra, I threw my head back and roared.

“Talk to us. Is there another woman with you?” Zach asked as he crouched down in the circle.

“I don’t know,” one said.

“Me neither,” another piped in as she burst into tears.

“Please don’t hurt us. Please! I have a family.”

Jesus Christ.

What the hell had we allowed ourselves to become?

“We can’t do this,” Zach said. “This isn’t who we are.”

“He’s right, Wilder.”

I ripped off my mask, exposing my true identity. My brothers did the same. “We’re not going to hurt you, but I need to find the man who did this to you.”

Their eyes reflected an understanding of who we were.

“He left only a few minutes ago,” another girl said. “Mr. Blackwell. He said you’d follow. Be careful. He’s insane.”

This was a test as to whether we’d leave the women or make certain they got to safety.

I moved away from the group and Xander grabbed my arm. “We’ll get them to safety. Find the woman you love. Just do it, brother. Not just for her but for you. Find the light.”

The light.

As if that was possible.

But the lure had been set and this time, I accepted the bait. After returning the mask over my head, I gave them both a nod.

“Don’t let him beat you, Wilder. He’s not fucking worth it. Living is.” Zach’s words could haunt me for years to come.

If I lived that long.

The lure we’d sent to Drew had been forwarded to the Scorekeeper as we’d hoped. That was the single reason we were standing here today and the only reason the women had been left alive. A gesture of good will.

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