Page 196 of Marked

I froze, heart thudding in my chest.

“Who’s there?” I called.

“Your mate.”

Rick appeared from out of the misty shadows, but it wasn’t the Rick I knew. This was a monster. Face twisted and covered in fur, eyes yellow as if he was mid-shift.

“No.” I took a step back. “No.”

“Yes. Mine.” Rick smacked his palm to his chest. “All mine.”

Saliva hung from his jaws in foamy strings as if he was rabid. His canines were nearly as long as a wolf’s. Even his hands looked strange, halfway between human hands and paws. It was horrifying.

“Come here, my love,” Rick said, and lunged for me.

Shouting an inarticulate scream, I dodged away, trying to get to Nate. I ran as fast as I could, Rick’s breathing and heavy footfalls right behind me.

Ahead, the bait shop came into view. The front door was slowly swinging shut. Had Nate gone through? Was he inside now?

Before I could stop myself, I rammed my shoulder into the door and fell into… my apartment?

On my hands and knees, I glanced around. Mom and Gael stood in the kitchen. Mom held a giant metal whisk, stirring it around a huge bowl. Gael stood beside her, gazing into the basin. They turned toward me, completely oblivious to Rick slamming his fists against the door.

“Cameron.” Mom gave me a wide, toothy smile, her teeth bigger and sharper than usual. “I’m so happy.”

“Mom, we have to run!” I scrambled to my feet. “Rick is?—”

“He’s amazing,” Mom said, lifting the whisk from the bowl.

Thick brown batter dripped in globs from the massive whisk, but never landed in the bowl. Instead, they floated in the air, and Gael leaned forward, snapping one of the floating bits from mid-air. He moaned in delight and wiped his mouth.

“So good, Mama,” he said, his lips stained with the brownie batter.

“Rick is such a good boy,” Mom said as she walked toward me. Gael followed close behind her. “He’ll make an honest woman out of you. Being a wife and mother will do you good. I can’t wait to see you with his baby inside you.”

“No!” I grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her. “I don’t want him, Mom. I won’t do it. Never!”

“Cam, are you going to give me a little niece or nephew?” Gael asked. When he gazed up at me, his eyes shimmered with fervent glee. “Are you gonna let Rick put his cock in you and put a baby in there?”

The words horrified and sickened me, but before I could respond, the front door burst inward in a mass of splintered wood and snapped hinges.

“Cameron,” Rick said, looking like his old self, but with a psychotic glint in his eyes. “You need to come here. You’ve been a bad girl, and you need to be punished. And I know exactly how.” He grabbed his crotch. “Get over here.”

I shoved my way past Mom and Gael, stumbling as I tried to run down the hall. I barely managed to right myself. Rick was fast at my heels. An instant before he could grab a handful of my hair and yank me back, I slid into my bedroom and slammed the door shut behind me.

“Oh, little pig, little pig? Let me in,” Rick crooned. “Or the big bad wolf will blow your house in.”

The door shuddered in its frame and fell inward, hitting the floor with a loud bang.

“Leave me alone!” I screamed, throwing a lamp at him.

He caught the lamp. Before my eyes, it turned into an ax.

“Maybe I’ll just chop those pretty feet of yours off?” Rick asked, hefting the ax and giving it a practice swing. “Can’t run with no feet, can you?”

He lunged forward, and I jumped out of my window, bursting through the glass. I’d rather take my chances with gravity than a madman with an ax. Shards of razor-sharp glass rained down on me, but none cut my body. Behind me, I could hear Rick laughing as I fell.

My descent stopped before it had really begun. Rather than crashing into the pavement outside my apartment, I slammed into the thinly carpeted floor right in front of my cubicle at work. The breath burst out of me as I rolled across the floor.

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