Page 52 of Haunting the Hunter
I couldn’t have planned it better myself.
It’s not the chase. Not really. It’s the retribution. Someone getting exactly what they deserve. I climb into the driver’s seat and leave the gruesome scene in the rearview.
This kind of silence doesn’t bother me. It belongs to me. Not like the silence I grew up in—the waiting, the obedience, the quiet before the pain. That kind broke me.
No, this builds me.
The anticipation of the inevitable. Knowing I’m taking my power back one member at a time.
That thought hits low and sharp, a tightening in my chest. A half smile spreads across my face.
And then I feel it.
Soft. Warm. Uninvited.
You.
That same sensation starts creeping back in.
Those phantom hands from the other night.
That gentle touch.
My chest constricts as my body stirs.
I feel myself respond and palm my jeans. “Not now…”
“You know I have a mission to finish…” A smile curves my lips. “But after… after, it’ll be me andyou.”
I can feel you pouting, but make no mistake. I will make it up to you.
I blast the radio, static-laced country cutting through the quiet, the only damn station out here. It doesn’t help.
I busy my mind with the scenery, the desert that stretches on either side of me in the dark.
Silent. Empty.
A perfect place to hide a body.
CHAPTER 18
CALLISTO
Iwake up in a daze, last night’s events still at the forefront of my mind. What did he mean by that? He’snota demon? No, he must be lying. Nothing else makes sense.
I sit up groggily, pulling my messy hair back into a bun, and head to my closet. As I turn on the light, I jump at the sight of my demon standing before me, looking down with an inquisitive gleam in his eyes.
“Get out. I need to change,” I say with as much authority as I can muster this early in the morning.
“Nothing I haven’t already seen, pretty girl.”
“Stop calling me that.” I sigh.
“You’re just going to have to accept that I’m not going anywhere,human,” he says while checking his cuticles.
I respond with a scowl. Fine. I’m not going to let him get to me. If his plan is to terrorize me and my family, I should probably try not to piss him off.
I grab a T-shirt and jeans from my closet and toss them on my bed. Pulling my nightshirt over my head, I avoid eye contact with the monster in the corner. I slip my jeans on and do the skinny jean shimmy. My curiosity gets the best of me, and I glance up at him. He’s… staring. Hard. He isn’t smiling anymore, his eyes locked on me.
