The sharp sound echoed in the silent night, burning through my skin as I swayed back and forth. Sealing the pain, I raised my head at him.
“Is that all you’ve got? I expected much.”
He wiped the saliva away from his face and slapped me with the same hand.
Goddammit.
I clenched my fists, blocking the pain that had blood stinging my mouth. I wanted to rile him up, and knowing it was a stupid approach made me want to do it more.
“Weak,” I mocked. “No wonder you were able to lose an eye to an eighteen year old.”
He didn’t raise his hand this time, he turned his back instead and sat on the chair positioned in front of me to stare up at me with crossed legs.
“I like you,” he said, all smiles. “After years of killing girls who only beg, sob, beg, sob, I finally meet someone who thinks she has the upper hand. I made a good decision to come after you.”
I chuckled darkly, wishing my legs were long enough to kick his nose and make it bleed. “That might be the last decision you’ll ever make, idiot.”
He shook his head. “If you think your superhero is going to save you like last time, you’re wrong. I made a mistake the other day and didn’t think someone might have a tracker on your phone. Not again.”
“I didn’t know you were such a talker.”
“You don’t know me at all.”
“But I know you’re the biggest motherfucker and fool the earth has ever conceived.”
He wiggled his forefinger at me, laughing. “I wonder if you’re going to have that mouth when I smash your head.”
“Why don’t you find out?”
Ah, God,Iwas definitely the biggest fool the earth had ever conceived. It felt to me like I really wanted to die. But I couldn’t control what was coming out of my mouth. I couldn’t contain my disdain for this man. Staring at his ugly face, knowing a lot of girls had been his victim, made me boil.
“Wait until I pluck out one of your eyes.”
I almost laughed, not fazed by what he said. “And what are you going to do with it? Glue it to your missing one?”
His lips curled. “That’s enough.”
“How...” If I was going to die, I should at least know something. “How did you clear your tracks?”
He stood up, walking to the fire at the far wall. “I’ve been killing for twenty years. I know how the law works. No evidence, no conviction. I had more than enough hours to clear everything after you left.” He picked one of the three woods, the orange glowing. “And I’ve been tracking you down after I recovered. It’s a good thing you came to South Highland. I wouldn’t have found you otherwise. It’s going to be a fun night.”
He sure was a talker.
With the angry, cackling wood, he strolled forward, and I didn’t need to be told that thing was coming on my skin. That...was the beginning of fear.
“I almost killed your boyfriend. I would have killed him,” his voice deepened, anger rolling off each syllable.
I frowned, diverting my gaze from the burning wood. “What do you mean?” What he meant hit me the next second, and fear took an exit. “It was you? You were the one who hit him?”
“Be thankful I was interrupted. I would have stayed and stabbed him if someone had not caught me and called 911.”
I tugged on the rope, swinging my legs in hopes that one would touch him. He could have killed Theon. Theon would have been dead. Again. Because of me. Because he was tracking this asshole down.
I began to cry, but not from sadness. No, the tears were born from rage—rage that this monster had almost taken Theon’s life,twice. The anger made it hard to breathe, and when he stepped closer, I spat at him. It was pathetic, really, the only thing I could do in this helpless state, but it was all I had to provoke him.
His face twisted in disgust as he raised the piece of wood—still glowing orange from the fire. I barely had time to brace myself before it slammed into the side of my stomach. The heat seared through my corset, sinking into my skin with a sickening burn. Pain exploded inside me, white-hot and blinding, I screamed—raw and furious—but I didn’t beg. No plea left my lips.
If anything, the pain only stoked the fire inside me. My rage burned hotter, refusing to be extinguished.
