Page 26 of The Madness Within

A shot rang out and I followed its destination, seeing the moment it burst through some poor, unfortunate soul.

Kreed high tailed it out of there, but me… I stayed behind to watch the scene unfold.

A woman was there.

She’s the kind of woman who turned heads without even trying, beauty wrapped in warmth and fire. Her skin was a rich, radiant brown, smooth as melted brown sugar under sunlight, glowing with a natural sheen that made it impossible not to stare.

Her hair was long, inky black, cascading down her back in waves that danced with every step, stopping just above the curve of her plump, perfect ass.

Her eyes, deep brown, soulful, and soft, held secrets and storms all at once. Framed by thick lashes, they’re the kind of eyes that saw through bullshit and still found beauty in the wreckage. Her lips were full and heart-shaped, made for both wicked grins and whispered confessions, lips you could drown in.

Thick in all the right places. She was bold. She was magic. She was unforgettable. Scared. Shocked. Too stunned to move amuscle until she noticed the person she was just talking to was no longer alive.

She screamed before she ran.

Sped off into the night.

Before I registered what was happening, I heard my own feet slap against the wet pavement. She’s fast, but I was faster and had no trouble keeping up.

Moments later, we came upon a dark and drab apartment complex, if it could even be called that.

She disappeared inside. I didn’t follow this time. I just stood there and inhaled her scent. Lilac and sun. She smelled like a ray of life that I’ve been missing out on. Covered in blood that wasn’t hers.

Who the hell was she?

A witness?

A hunter?

Or something else entirely?

I returned to the shadows without a name. Without a face. Only the image of her, blood-streaked, wild-eyed, powerful.

Something told me I’d have to look into her.

Chapter Eight

??The Hollow Man

Kreed

I watched her for twenty-three days. Always from a distance. Sometimes from beneath her bed.

She never noticed the shadow that moved when her lights flicked out. Never questioned the scent of sulfur in her coffee or the faint buzz in her teeth when I followed too close. I was careful. Patient. That was what made the first cut so sweet.

Ember Carr.

Daughter of the woman I gutted like a deer in autumn. Same eyes. Same mouth. Same fucking fire. And worse, same blood. The kind that opened doors meant to stay shut.

People called me a killer. A psychopath. A shadow crawling out of the cracks in the justice system.

They were wrong. I was the cure.

Every name engraved into my mind was tied to the Gate. Every Watcher, every Seeker, every blood-drenched prophet who thought they were chosen. I didn’t kill for fun. I killed because they tried to keep the world from tearing open, and I wanted to see it split in half.

I wanted the Veil to thin because I wanted the world. I wanted them to bow down tome. I wanted all the power.

So, I killed them.

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