Page 10 of Make Me Hunt
It was something dangerous. Something I couldn’t allow to bloom.
She stayed behind the bar most of the day, and since she was hired only a few days earlier, I figured she was trying not to draw attention. Or maybe she was just trying to learn how things worked around here. Only time would tell.
I kept my distance, despite every cell shattering inside my body, every thought pointed just at her.
I didn’t want to get close. I knew who I was and how easily I could destroy her.
For a while, I even felt like she was chasing me out of my own damn club—even my own town. I could’ve just let her go, but the thought of not seeing her there was becoming unbearable.
All I could do was cut back my visits to The Breach. It wasn’t the only club I owned, far from it, but it was one of my favorites, especially since it was the one that was turning around the biggest profit. At least avoiding her gave me an opportunity to tie up some loose ends I’d ignored for the lastdecade, as these months I spent much more time out of Seattle than in.
I thought distance would starve the craving, bury it under the constant fight to keep the balance between evil and good in this city. Instead, it all backfired on me, the gnawing sensation prickling beneath my skin, only got stronger, and every time I saw her, the desire to touch her, to have her, grew worse.
At first, I thought she was innocent, the kind of girl who had no idea what monsters walked this earth. She had that kind of angelic face, the kind of pure you’d want to corrupt just to see the halo slip. The kind I knew I could make burn with mischief from within.
But watching her from a distance only proved how wrong I’d been. She craved power as much as I craved her. And I only found out, when it was almost too late, that she wouldn’t hold back from doing whatever it took to get it.
Silver—one of the girls who works for me—had mentioned her more than once. How she wanted in, on my team, even do my dirty work for me—anything to be a part of my organization.
I don’t usually say no to an extra hand, especially when her beauty could’ve given me significant leverage when it came to obtaining information. But with her, I hesitated. I didn’t want her to get too close. I didn’t want her to get hurt.
Still, that madness inside me bloomed like a sickness, spreading faster every day, so bad that I thought it might devour me whole. That’s what made me assign her asthe new waitress at Elysium. I know she wanted to prove herself, and it was only a matter of time until she found other ways to do it. I only made sure I could catch her if she falls.
There was a change in her as soon as she came to work here. She started wearing makeup, styling her hair before every shift, and showing up in fucking outfits that had my cock hard the second she stepped into the room.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was trying to seduce me. What I couldn’t figure out was whether she was gunning for a spot in my bed or if it was just a trick to get involved in my organization. I’d say both. And while I could offer a place in my bed, I’d never allow her deeper into my businesses.
I’m here to maintain a balance—a fragile equilibrium between life and death. An equilibrium I almost broke a long time ago. I’m the devil’s son—or at least that’s what everyone here on Earth calls him. In reality, he is an entity, the same way we are. People see us as gods. We bear different names in different corners of the world, but we embody the same concepts—war, destruction, chaos, death.
The Ancient Greeks used to see me as their God of War. An ancient being with the power to wipe out entire nations. And maybe they were right because alongside my brothers, I almost brought the apocalypse.
That’s when the balance was established. Our father couldn’t accept the end of life on Earth. It would defy our very meaning. We needed people as our subjects. We needed them to satisfy our twisted cravings, to empower us with the energy their faith in us summons, and as an ultimate form of entertainment. That’s where my brothers and I got it wrong from the start. We thought we could destroy them, crush them like the little ants they are, and laugh at their demise as the whole world would come to an end.
But what then? What came after?
The answer to that question was too fragile to leave to fate. Our father punished us when he found out, wiping away our memories. Entire eons erased so we could create a new existence based on the concept that we somehow need to preserve human life. Pretty difficult, if you ask me, when everything around me screams self-destruction. We won’t bring them to their end. But that doesn’t mean they won’t bring it upon themselves.
We’re here to prevent that from happening, one way or another, for as long as we can, at least. And that puts a hell of a lot of responsibilities on my shoulders. I’m not just here to rule the city. I’m here to keep things in check and make sure nothing spills past the limits. Drug and weapon traffic, gambling, even murders—it all needs to be monitored and stopped whenever the balance scales in the wrong direction. That’s exactly why I can’t let Brynn get involved in any of this. There’s always a war on the street, and there’s always someone getting killed.
But I can’t let her go either. I finally came to terms with this a few weeks ago. There’s something obsessive inside me whenever my thoughts trail to her.
And that’sall the damn time.Every second of the day. Every breath I take.
I’ve ignored her for too long. Still, I know her kind. That’s exactly what will get her hooked.
Truth is, I could’ve fucked her a long time ago. Thrown out some excuse to get her to my table, then straight into my bed. But the more I watched her, the more I realized that wouldn’t guarantee I could keep her there for the long run. Sure, no one’s ever wanted to leave. But she’s got higher ambitions. The kind of ambitions that get you killed. And I need her to obsess over something other than climbing up the ranks.
I need her to obsess over being mine. And I’ll have to use a very different approach to get her there.
Even though I wanted to wait a few more days before showing Brynn that I’d noticed her, my phone just lit up with a text that’s got my heart pumping, blood boiling, and whatever evil force lies in me clawing to be set loose and tear the fucking world apart.
I hit call. Silver is on the other line, her voice shaking, too scared to say anything straight about whatever the fuck this is. “What the fuck happened?” I roar between gritted teeth, needing to be sure I heard her right.
“I didn’t know she was going to do this. I swear.” Her voice is barely above a whisper. “I never would’ve acted without your approval. But she… she’s been looking for a chance to get in for a while. And I… I think she saw this as her shot to get noticed.” Silver’s words come out cracked, and I can practically feel her shaking on the other end. “I never would’ve let her do anything like that. I still can’t understand how she pulled it off by herself.”
“Have someone take the truck out of there and unload the shipment into my warehouse,” I order, already planning my next move.
“What… what about Brynn? She’s a good girl. She just wanted—”
