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Callum rights himself, letting the guy go and pacing in circles as he rubs the back of his neck. The female and male medics carry my body into the back of the ambulance. They attach large stickers to my chest after wiping me down, and now I think that one of them is going to—

“OUCH!” I say to myself.

Suddenly, the world around me starts to blur, as if sped up by time. I’m being tugged toward my body as a hint of agonizing pain begins to surface. My heart is beating, the pulse erratic as it pounds against my chest. The air is cold and wet as I begin violently shaking. The scene below me begins to fade, to drift into a deep and endless black as I grow nearer to it. Then, my head snaps in the direction of the forest where the masked figure now stands.

I open my mouth to scream, but no sound comes out. The shadow of my masked captor fractures in front of me like I’m staring through a pane of broken glass. Time stretches thin as the pull toward my body below grows stronger.

Gravity gives way, and I’m dragged downward in a sickening free fall toward my body. Off to the side, the looming figure shifts—raising his arms slowly, deliberately. And then he does the last thing I expect him to do.

He reaches for the mask and pulls it away from his face.

40

Callum

Lydia Aston is mine, and the universe doesn’t get to decide otherwise.

The medics carry my girlfriend’s limp body into the back of the ambulance while I follow after her to get a better look. A hand lands on my shoulder as soon as I’m able to finally see my girl, and I stiffen. I’m more than ready to strike this time.

“Sir,” a female voice calls from behind me.

I relax a fraction, turning as I come face-to-face with a paramedic named Brittany, according to her badge. I might be an asshole, but I draw the line at hitting a female.

“My name is Brittany. You can ride with me to the hospital. Lydia is stable for the time being, but she needs to get to the hospital. She’s lost a lot of blood and needs to be evaluated by a physician. She’ll need surgery, at the very least.”

I don’t hear a single word after “Lydia is stable” as I follow Brittany to her truck. As I’m climbing into the passenger seat, I hear my name being called from somewhere in the distance. I inhale sharply, gripping the handle of the door as I turn toward the familiar voice.

No. There’s no fucking way.

I turn and lock eyes with Lydia’s captor, my gaze dropping to the pathetic fucking mask dangling from his right hand. Pitch-black rage clouds my vision as the anger swirling beneath the surface heats to a dangerously high temperature, seeking to burn me and those around me to nothing but ash. He’d be so lucky to experience such an expeditious death.

“Raithe,” I growl.

“C-Callum, wait, I can expl–”

“Don’t,” I interrupt, charging him. Grabbing him by the fucking throat, I spin and pin him against the truck.

“Callum, let him go,” I hear Brittany’s voice from somewhere beside me, but I don’t turn her way, and I certainly don’t fucking let Raithe go.

He almost took everything from me.

“Why?” I manage to spit the only question that breaks through the rage, nearly blinding me. He’s lucky that I haven’t snapped his neck yet.

“I-I don’t know, Cal,” he chokes out, his voice strained from my grip on his windpipe. I squeeze harder.

“Not fucking good enough,” I say, tugging him forward only to slam him back against the truck.

“Callum, if you don’t let him go, I’m going to have to notify the police,” Brittany says from beside us.

I catch a glimpse of the paramedic pulling a phone out of her pocket, but I don’t fucking care. I’m going to fucking kill Raithe for everything he’s put us through. I’ll rot in prison for the rest of my life. I don’t care.

“C-Callum,” Raithe grunts, grabbing weakly at my hands.

Any second now, he’ll pass out. As much as I’d enjoy nothing more, except maybe snapping his neck, what I need right now is to know that my girl is okay. I can’t do that from a fucking prison cell. So, I release my grip and rearrange my thoughts to a less murderous variety. It takes everything in me not to kill Raithe right here and now—fucking everything.

I reach around Raithe, open the back passenger door, and toss him inside. Slamming the door shut, I nearly catch his foot in it. Brittany stares wide-eyed for several seconds as if unsure how to proceed, before walking around and climbing into the driver’s seat. I climb into the passenger seat, buckling my seat belt. Above all else, I need to get to Lydia.

Raithe proceeds to have a full-blown coughing fit in the back seat, earning a concerned glance from the paramedic beside me.