My airway is completely blocked off, and I gasp for air, my eyes widening as my heart races with fear. I frantically claw at his arm, desperate to get free, but the black material covering every inch of his skin is too thick. There’s no breaking through this barrier.
Remembering the scalpel sitting on my bag, I scramble for it, trying to reach as far as I can as he keeps me pinned against the driver’s seat by nothing more than my throat, and just as I feel the sharp edge of the scalpel slice across my fingertip, he yanks my hand away.
“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk,” he says, that tone making my stomach knot with fear. “Don’t be naughty, kitten. Because I’m going to have to punish you, and I can guarantee you’re not going to like it.”
He eases up on my throat just an inch, but that inch allows me just a brief moment to gasp for air as his haunting stare remains locked on mine through the mirror. “Now, be a good girl and tell me why you’ve not been at your apartment.”
I clench my jaw, refusing to give him anything, and the way his eyes flare through the mirror is the single most terrifying thing I have ever seen, and I realize that this man, whoever he might be,is nothing at all like the vile monster I’d concocted in my head. He simply wanted to play a game, but this man . . . He’s not here to play. He’s the fucking devil, and he won’t stop until every piece of me has been destroyed.
Realizing I’m not about to give him what he wants, his hold immediately tightens on my throat again. “Don’t make me repeat myself, Harper-Rayn,” he rumbles, purring my name like a sick vow as darkness begins dancing in his stare, my lungs screaming for sweet oxygen. “You can run from me all you want, but you can’t hide. There’s nowhere you can go where I won’t find you. No barrier will stop me, no man I won’t slaughter to get to you. Hear me, kitten. You belong to me.”
Something darkens in his stare, and he pulls even tighter against my throat, suffocating me as my body quickly begins to shut down. I gasp for air, frantically trying to pull in a breath, but none ever comes. I cough and sputter, desperately gripping his arm as I grow weaker, my vision blurring.
Then just as his lethal stare seems to sparkle with a wicked enjoyment, my world turns black.
8
HARPER-RAYN
Asoft knock has my eyes springing open, and I madly grasp at my throat, realizing that there’s nothing there, no arm around my throat, no masked stalker whispering in my ear about slaughtering the men in my life, and no chilling stare watching me through my rearview mirror.
“Whoa. Dr. Madden?” a voice calls from outside my car window. “Are you alright?”
My heart races, and I take a few calming breaths as I try to find my bearings before turning and glancing out the window to find Vincent, the night janitor, staring in at me, his face pressed up against the window.
“Oh, ummm . . . yeah. I’m alright,” I tell him, discreetly checking the back seat of my car, making sure I’m well and truly alone in here. “I must have crashed out after my shift.”
“Hey, no need to explain it to me,” he says with a small laugh. “I get it.”
I wipe my hands down my face, and I find myself checking the back again just to be sure, only there’s not a single sign of the masked stalker, leaving me wondering if maybe I’d somehow imagined this as well. But the ache in my throat suggests otherwise.
I try to shake it off, blowing out a heavy breath when a single black rose on my dashboard demands my full attention.
Fuck.
Knight was right to have Tony walk me out to my car, but I never could have anticipated this. I suppose I should be grateful that my stalker didn’t slaughter me right here in my driver’s seat and has allowed me the honor of living another day, of spending another night wrapped in Knight’s arms. But then, why the hell would he gift me something like that, especially when he had me right where he wanted me? Does he have some grand plan in store for me? Has he not tormented me nearly enough? Not gotten off on the sounds of my terrified screams? Not stood over me and stolen the innocence right out of my soul?
When is enough, enough?
This asshole is only just getting started, and just the idea of what he could potentially want with me makes my stomach turn.
Distantly noticing that the car is still running, I cut the engine and push out into the parking garage. It’s still dark, and considering the number of people currently weaving in and out of the cars, it’s safe to assume we’re creeping up to five in the morning—shift change. Meaning I’m now at least forty-five minutes late arriving home, so I think it’s safe to assume that Knight is already searching for my body, assuming the worst.
“You look shaken,” Vincent says, a deep concern in his tone, reminding me just how many people in my life actually give a shit. “Are you sure everything is alright?”
“Yeah, I’m okay,” I tell him, starting to feel like a broken record. “It’s been a weird few weeks for me. I had, uhhh . . .some time off, and tonight was my first shift back. I guess the exhaustion just crept up on me.”
“Oh yeah?” he asks. “It’s unlike you to have so much time off. Vacation?”
A surprised scoff rumbles through my chest. “I wish,” I say, staring at him for a moment. Most people have already heard about the doctor who nearly bled out in the parking garage. It’s basically hospital gossip where Amelia is being rained as the local hero. Though she deserves every bit of that credit. I just wish everyone else could find something else to talk about. As for Vincent, though, he generally keeps to himself. He’s never here during the day, and most night shift workers just want to mind their own business. Besides, he’s too occupied with his daughters to find a moment to care about hospital gossip. “You really haven’t heard?”
“Haven’t heard what?”
“It’s nothing,” I say, shaking my head, not wanting to get into it. After all, I see Vincent almost every night, and I don’t need him looking at me with the same concerned stare Dr. McKullan hit me with tonight. I can’t bear pitying stares. I’d almost prefer to face Knight’s wrath than to deal with someone else’s misplaced pity. “How are you doing? How are the girls?”
Vincent’s eyes light up like they always do when someone asks about his kids, and he immediately launches into his latest update on how his daughter has been settling into kindergarten, and while it’s been a rough journey, little Lila seems to be making progress.
We catch up for about twenty minutes, and when he lets me know that he’s officially back for good after also taking some time off, I’ve never been so relieved. After all, his change of schedule is what saw the hospital hire a temporary night janitor, and that turned into more of a disaster than I could have everanticipated. But it’s fine now. Knight made sure justice was served there.
