“Dammit, Sunshine, look at me!”
L…Lias?
My arms are ripped away from my chest by an invisible force, the curdled, gelatinous blood at my severed fingers is displaced enough to bleed again.
Dropped like a sack of rocks, my back collides with tile.Pain shoots down my neck and spine when my occipital bone smacks the floor.Then the crazed woman is on me, her mangled hands coiling tight around my throat—punishing me just like Liz said—preventing my lungs from receiving precious air.
“Shit.Shit, don’t…don’t do this.”The same deep timber from before floods my ears.
I can’t stop her, she’s too strong.
Light flashes across my vision; the train is racing down the track, here to cart me away just like I knew it would.Its roar is loud, vibrating my chest, and all I can do is lie here and let her deliver me.
“Fuck, Sadie!”
Kate fills my sights, her nose pressed to mine when I surrender.If I keep fighting, I’ll die.Crashing her mouth to mine, we convulse on the floor—her violence shaking the Earth as she sinks inside of me.My throat works around the boulder in my throat where she disappears until everything that makes me who I am slips into unconsciousness.
Elias
“Fuck, Sadie!”
Her face is already turning blue and I can’t get her hands away from her damn throat.She’s squeezing so damn tight her fingers have drained themselves of blood.And the blood?Fuck, it’s rich and coming from where her nails have dug into her neck.Fighting her, my fists cuff around her wrists where I tug and tug but she’s so fucking strong.
Time rushes past as she struggles to breathe at the weight of her own hands.Her lungs labor, sucking her diaphragm deep under her ribs for a single gasp of air.Over and over, her stomach sinks to aid as she suffocates herself.
When her movements become sluggish and body goes limp, my fucking heart drops.
“No… no no no!”
Finally able to wrench her hands away, they fall to the floor when I let them go.Immediately I pinch Sadie’s nose and cover her mouth with my own—blowing hard enough for her chest to rise.Once, twice, three times before she sucks in air and her eyes shoot open.
Pools of obsidian lock onto me while her chest stills, not quite rising but not caving for oxygen either.I don’t dare move as I hold my hands up in submission.The empty ominous stare of those darkened eyes give me the fucking creeps, looking through me like I’m made of glass.
Imagine my worry when I heard her screaming the moment I stepped off the elevator—her manic screeching drowned out the string performance.My keys were in my hand, twisting the lock and discarded on the entry table in a matter of seconds before I rushed down the hall.
I nearly had to break through her bedroom door to get to her.When I saw her, though, I didn’t know what to think.She was thrashing halfway inside of the bathroom—heels shoving at the carpet but there wasn't any sound and that’s when I found her strangling herself.
I’ve seen her do terrible shit—slice her arms open, sit in the gathering snow on her patio, and starve herself—but never has she tried to rip the voices out of her throat.At least that’s what I think she was doing.It wrecks me to find her tearing herself open, as I’m the one who patches her delicate skin and listens to her raspy sobs through the night.
“Who’s driving?”I grunt, slapping her hands away when she reaches for the shredded skin of Sadie’s neck.
An unsettling grin splits across her face—I already know who’s in there, the distressing silence gives it away.Easing back, I put distance between us by getting my ass off the floor.Her body lifts, sitting up like she didn’t just strangle herself into unconsciousness.If this were the battlefield, I’d have her on her face, zip ties wound around her arms and ankles—hog-tied to keep both of us safe and any backup that arrives.Sadly, I don’t have that luxury.
I could call her dad, tell him I need help, but she’ll fuck me up before he could hit the highway.I’m alone with this devil and her sights are set on me.
“Easy Kate.”My tone’s low, feigning softness.
Backing into the larger space of her bedroom, she’s follows—prowling—looking for a chink in my armor.She won’t find it, not this time.I know better than to let my guard down when she’s riding Sadie.When my girl doesn’t have control.
Lately she hasn’t, which means I sleep next to her like I’m living in a hole I personally dug into the desert sand.Where I lay and wait for artillery to strike and hope I’m not already in my grave.
That’s one way to describe Kate—a ticking bomb.No, a nuclear reactor.Unstable and unpredictable.One thing’s for sure—when she’s here, you’ll pay in blood.Looks like she wanted Sadie’s today and that’s un-fucking-acceptable.How the hell does she expect to survive if the body she possesses dies?
Sadie’s fingers twitch into odd angles as she begins to circle me.Fiercely focused, she hasn’t blinked since her eyes opened.At least this rider doesn’t talk; that’s the only improvement compared to Liz, who I’ve been seeing more of lately—the countess comes out of her shell around certain men.I had a run in with her the other day—vile woman.Woke up with her sitting on top of my stomach wearing Sadie’s naked body.
Pale hair covered her tits, tickling the skin of her ribs where flesh prickled with goosebumps, and her rosy nipples teased my gaze with faint glimpses of the hardened points.I made the mistake of reaching for her, running my heavy hands up her bare thighs to her hips littered with bruises I’ve left there.There was no telling at the time that Liz had taken over, not until she spoke.
“Sh…shit, Sadie.If you don’t stop rocking your hips, I’m going to come like this.”
