I sigh. Roll my eyes. “Okay, wow. Gold star for intimidating silence.”
Then I grin—sharp, reckless, and fully high on myself.
“Oh nooo,” I mock, pitching my voice up. “Mister slasher guys, don’t kill meee.”
I quickly turn back toward the warehouse door and shoot them a smirk over my shoulder.
Then, I run.
Not fast. Just enough.
Behind me, boots instantly scrape concrete and the air shifts—heavy, charged, and fucking electric.
They’re coming.
Oh, fuck their coming.
I laugh as I sprint back toward the lights and the bass. My heart hammering, and adrenaline buzzing through my veins like I just unlocked a goddamn bonus level. I burst through the door and back into the noise, the crowd swallowing me whole.
And even as I disappear into it, breathless and grinning, I already know?—
They didn’tletme go.
They’re chasing.
And I can’t wait to see what happens when they catch me.
3
KROSS
I’ve killed a lot of people.
Like… alot.
But not one of them has ever fucking laughed at me.
Not when they’re bleeding out, choking on apologies and last-minute promises they suddenly think have value. Not with our glowing heart-eyes burned into their goddamn retinas like some warped Valentine nightmare, right as it finally sinks in that this is the end.
And sure as fuck not after turning around and running, laughing, like this just became the highlight of their night.
I stand there longer than I should, staring at the alley where she vanished back into the rave, switchblade already snapped shut and back in my pocket.
My heart’s going a mile a minute, and for once, it’s got nothing to do with the chase.
It’s interest.
What the actual fuck.
Behind me, Kade exhales, slow and controlled. The kind of breath that means someone’s about to have a real bad night.
“Fuck’s sake,” he mutters.
I can't help it, I smirk under the mask. “Bro, she laughed at us. Like, actually fucking laughed.”
“No shit,” he snaps. “And instead of moving, you stood there eye-fucking her like some high school virgin while she bolted straight back into the exact shitshow we just dragged ourselves out of.”
He jerks his chin down the alley.
