Page 13 of Haunting the Hunter
I turn my head slowly, letting my gaze fall to the galaxy prints framed on the wall. Deep space. My breath slows, chest growing tight—not from panic, but from something stranger. It feels like I’m unraveling from the inside out.
There’s a voice in the back of my skull, pulling on my mind. Like a thread under my skin, dragging me inward. I lean into the feeling without realizing it, letting it take me.
Those hands… They’re not real, but I feel a brush over my chest, creeping to my throat. Curious and familiar. My skin prickles with the feeling.
It’s that presence again, the one I can’t name. The one that touched me in that dream… The one I haven’t stopped feeling since.
“Cade?”
Jack’s voice cuts through the static.
I blink hard, snapping my head toward him as the room slams back into place.
He’s pointing at the screen.
I follow his finger.Focus.
TRAGEDY STRIKES: BILLIONAIRE ALLEN WHITE AND DAUGHTER OLIVIA FOUND DEAD IN CRASH.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
CHAPTER 5
CALLISTO
Iknow he isn’t telling me everything, but from the little he did say, I don’t think I want to know. How he talked about the location sent shivers up my spine.
I pull out the tin of coffee and place three scoops of grounds in the filter. I flick the switch on the side of the machine, the red light flickers on, and the machine roars to life.
Resting my elbows on the countertop, I run my fingers through my hair, staring out the window. I look out at my garden, wishing it wasn’t fall—taking my one source of solace from me.
“This is so fucked up,” I mutter.
Cade has been planning this for years, carefully strategizing the perfect attack plan, but now that it’s actually happening… I don’t like it. Right now, I’m more concerned about how this is going to affect him. You can’t do the things he’s talking about doing and walk away the same.
My brother has been through a lot… too much. He was always training when I was little, and he always seemed so sad. Or angry. I could never really read him. To be honest, it was a huge surprise when he reacted the way he did after finding out what the Covenant had planned for me. Our parents had done a good job isolatingme from the world. The only friend I ever had was Genevieve, if I could even call her that. We played a lot when we were kids—she was kind to me. That’s been a rarity to me throughout my life… kindness.
Finally, the robust scent of coffee fills the air, providing my senses with a much-needed, though temporary, relief. I grab my favorite mug from the cupboard—I need a spoon for the sugar, butof courseI forgot to empty the dishwasher. When I turn back around my mug is… gone?
Hold on.
I rest my hand on the counter where the mugshouldhave been, as if it would magically appear. Confusion twists my face as I look back and forth between the island and the counter. I give up, and open the cupboard to grab another. And there it is. My mouth drops open…
I grab it gingerly, carefully setting it down. Like it might explode. Or disappear again.
I pour myself a cup of coffee, adding one and a half spoonfuls of sugar and stirring carefully as I hold the handle tight to ensure it doesn’t get up and walk away.
Nothing.
I cautiously try a sip. Nothing.
My headache begins to quell with the hit of caffeine.
I genuinely don’t know how much longer I can take feeling like I’m constantly on edge. Just waiting for shit to happen. And now I’ve got a poltergeist. But why do I oddly find that comforting?
With a breathless laugh, I say, “If you’re going to do something, just get it over with.” And now I’m speaking to the air. It’s too quiet. I gasp, feeling a sense of contact along my collarbone.
A whisper.“Do I scare you?”
