Page 202 of Sage Haven
Cold. Detached.
Like he had stepped out of some alternate universe I couldn’t comprehend.
There was no anger in him. No joy. Nothing. He was empty. And something about that terrified me more than Klay ever had.
He wiped the blood from his blade with methodical precision, smearing its red streaks across gloved fingers like it was routine. Like none of this mattered.
Like I didn’t matter.
And then—he turned.
No words. No acknowledgment.
As if I was nothing but debris in his path.
An afterthought. Forgettable. Insignificant.
I wanted to scream. To demand answers.
But my voice was gone.
I was gone.
I sat there, slumped in a frozen shell, a body too broken to move.
Then—movement.
A shadow at the edge of my vision.
Heavy footsteps, boots scraping against concrete.
I turned my head slowly.
Hugh.
I saw him.
And for a split second, something sparked in my chest.
Not hope. But panic. A pure, primal instinct.
The stranger didn’t see him. Didn’t know.
And I didn’t know how to tell him. How to warn him. How to stop what was coming.
But I looked at Hugh anyway.
I made myself look. Eyes locking on his. A silent signal. A plea I didn’t have words for.
Hugh lunged. Fast. But not fast enough.
The stranger was faster.
He turned without hesitation, his hand snapping out and closing around Hugh’s throat like a vise.
There was no warning. No struggle.
He slammed Hugh down with such brutal force that the sound cracked through the air like bone snapping in two.
