Definitely a different vibe from the other Hunts I’d been part of. Then again, it would be a different vibe.
I watched them all from behind my mask. It already felt like part of me, and I remembered when the Butchers had given it to me, a bone mask like theirs, gold with green and blood-red leaves twisted around its antlers.
It had felt right to pull it from its nest of tissue inside the box, had felt right to put it on.
The door leading to the Orpheum opened and the Butchers stepped into the holding room wearing their masks.
But they weren’t alone.
Ethan Todd was between them, gagged and zip-tied, panic written all over his face at the sight of our strange congregation.
Titus stepped into the room after them, then turned to lower the bolt over the door.
There would be no opportunity for Ethan to opt out. As for the rest of us, there was no place we’d rather be.
Remy and Poe held Ethan between them, their inked skin shimmering under the red lights. They were even more beautiful now than they’d been when I laid eyes on them in the first hunt.
And then Bram stepped forward.
My monsters.
They were the breath in my lungs, the blood in my veins.
“Normally this would be where I’d tell you the rules,” Bram said. “But this time there are no rules except to kill this motherfucker. And don’t worry, we’ll be with you in the tunnels, watching, making sure you’re safe.”
The men weren’t playing this time. It had been one of my demands, all of which had been met by the Butchers after St. Kitts.
It was personal between Ethan Todd and me, but I wasn’t the only woman who had a stake in his end. We would be the ones to see it through, to see the light fade from his eyes.
That felt right too.
I touched the knife tied to my waist under the black crop top I’d worn with jeans and my boots. There might have been a time when I was hesitant to kill, even someone like Ethan, but that time was long past.
“You’ll have twenty-four hours,” Bram said, “after which we’ll bring him to you. But I suspect it won’t take that long with all of you hunting one target.”
He looked at me and everything passed between us in a moment: the first hunt and the second, Romania, the hours we’d spent butting heads, the hours he’d spent inside me. “You ready?”
I nodded. “Ready.”
Bram turned to Titus. “Get ready to start the clock.”
Titus pulled out his phone and Remy and Poe moved closer to the tunnel entrance, Todd dragging his feet, his eyes wide as he tried to speak from behind the gag.
“Time begins in 3… 2… 1…” Titus called out.
Bram turned to Remy and Poe. “Cut him loose.”
Remy cut the zip ties and Todd stumbled into the tunnels, took one look back and started running.
Bram stepped toward me and slid his hand into my hair. “Happy hunting.”
59
MAEVE
I slidthe last of the candles into the homemade Snickers cake and stood back to make sure they were even.
Everything had to be perfect.
