Chapter 10
Sadie
Altar’s door closes behind me, leaving me alone in the dark street. Only when the cold air touches my bare ass do I realize I left my underwear inside.
“Dammit,” I say with a moan.
I tug the skirt’s hem lower, to little effect.
Whatever. At least I’m free of Lucan and his creepy games. There’s no way I’m going back for my underwear now.
Walking briskly down the street, I put several blocks between Altar and me.
Lucan’s my stalker, which makes me feel violated, angry, and confused. It seemed to be one big joke to him.
He acted ignorant of how I lost the locket, and I pray he is. He has too much power already.
A lone car rolls past. Distant voices and music from the bars in the main street float on the chilly air.
Maybe Lucan didn’t kill Parker, I’ll give him that. But what about the other rumors? Hunting people for sport in strange cities and killing someone with his bare hands?
The same hands that warmed my skin through the glass table just now. A tremor travels through my body at the thought.
And that freak says he can protect me from Parker’s killer. What a joke.
I should’ve asked what he had in mind. Lucan’s idea of protection probably involves chaining me up like a pet beagle.
He’s just trying to draw me into his orbit, to play with his food before he eats it, and I can’t let him.
Somewhere ahead, I hear a car door close.
Despite being broke, I decide to treat myself to a ride-share back to Darkbloom.
I’m desperate for a shower to wash off my shame from tonight. The slickness between my legs is still present. A filthy reminder of taking an order from him.
Reaching into my bag, I stop on the empty sidewalk. Fingers searching every crevice inside the bag, I grab at nothing.
“What?” I mutter. “How is that possible?”
My phone’s not there.
It must’ve slipped out when I snatched my bag in such a hurry, making it fall between seat cushions.
Either that or Lucan took my phone. Too bad for him if he did, because it’s locked.
Groaning, I weigh my options.
If I return to Altar, I risk seeing Lucan again.
But without a phone, I’d have to walk back to campus with no freaking underwear on. And I’d still have to collect my phone tomorrow anyway.
Screw it. I’ll get the phone now. The bouncer can retrieve it while I stay outside.
I’ve only taken a few steps when I hear soft scuffing behind me. In the reflection of a shopfront, a dark shape moves fast toward me.
Adrenaline dumps into my bloodstream in the split second I realize I’m about to be attacked.
There’s no time to run, because he snuck up on me too quick. I have to fight.
Turning fast, I swing my bag at him. He ducks out of the way, grabbing me before I can try again.
His arm is a steel band around my ribcage and his gloved hand clamps over my mouth. In the store window, his face is hidden, but his hoodie and sweatpants are black.
Exactly like Lucan’s hoodie at the Founder’s Run.
Panic rises in me. Is this his payback for running out on him? Or for denying his offer of protection?
Half-carrying and half-dragging me, he takes me down a side street. I scream into his palm and kick with my legs, but his grip only digs deeper.
Lucan’s a stalker. I should’ve known he would escalate to something heinous.
A low voice growls in my ear. “You saw me in the forest. I’m going to make you beg like Hannah did.”
My panic ramps up to fever pitch as I realize the man dragging me isn’t Lucan, but someone even worse. It’s the killer, and he wants to silence me forever.
Wrenching one arm from his grip, I claw at his face, but he latches onto my wrist and twists my arm hard. I moan in pain, stars appearing in my vision.
While I buck and struggle, he suddenly stops dragging me. He goes perfectly still, like a fox caught in a henhouse.
He’s noticed something I haven’t.
Panting, I look up.
Another figure rapidly moves toward us, silver streetlight hitting his distinctive features.
It’s Lucan, running at full speed. The cold fury in his face chills me.
My captor hisses in my ear. “See you soon, Sadie.”
As Lucan closes in, the man hurls me forward.
An instant before I break my teeth on the sidewalk, Lucan catches me in his arms. He swings me upright and sets me deftly on my feet.
Further up the side street, a car door slams and brakes squeal.
Lucan holds me steady, letting go only when he sees I can stand. The car speeds past us and flies around the corner.
He scoops up a loose brick from the gutter and pitches it at the car. The throw is fast and brutal, his arm whipping forward. With a loud crunch, the brick slams into the car’s rear window.
The glass spiderwebs with cracks, but the car keeps going. It hurtles up the street and disappears around another corner within seconds.
The stench of burnt rubber hangs in the air.
Lucan strides to me. “Are you okay? What happened?”
Heaving for breath, I shake my head. “I don’t know. He grabbed me and pulled me along. I think he was taking me to his car.”
“Who was it?”
“No idea.” I grimace. “I thought it was you at first.”
His eyes narrow to slits, like he can’t believe what I just said. “Really?”
“How can you blame me? You’re a stalker!”
“I’ve never tried to stuff you into a car, Sadie. After tonight, you should want someone watching your every move. You need somebody looking out for you.” His gaze drops to my wrist, which I’m rubbing. “Did he hurt you?”
The brief indignation filling me deflates like a balloon. I hunch my shoulders, unexpectedly stung by his words about needing a protector.
Maybe because I don’t have anyone to look out for me. I never have, really. I don’t know what that feels like.
“I’ll manage,” I say. “I always do.”
“Except just now. He nearly kidnapped you.” Lucan’s rough voice softens. “Please tell me if he hurt you.”
I shrug. “It’s nothing.”
“Show me.”
Pulling up the sleeve of my sweater, I hold out my wrist to show him the red fingerprints on my skin.
The marks are just minor bruising, but Lucan’s jaw tightens like I’ve been stabbed.
“I’m fine, I swear.” I pull the sleeve down, so he stops glaring at the redness. “I guess I’m glad you came when you did,” I add stiffly.
Lucan’s a stalker, but he saved me. The contradiction only adds to my overall confusion.
If the killer really is after me, maybe Lucan’s the lesser of two evils.
But he’s still evil.
He hands my phone to me. “I was bringing you this.”
“Thanks.” But my mind is on the killer’s words. “Lucan, I—”
“Yes?”
I swallow. “He killed Hannah.”
Lucan seems to stop breathing. “He said that?”
I’m going to make you beg like Hannah did.
“Yeah,” I say.
Lucan doesn’t need to know the gory details. None of his family do, because it would be too cruel.
“Good to have it confirmed, I guess.” He sighs. “Parker was right all along.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Not half as sorry as I am.”
A shiny black car rolls to the curb. Lucan opens the back door while O’Connor stays in the driver’s seat.
“Come on,” says Lucan, holding the door. “We’ll drive you back to Darkbloom.”
I consider arguing, but a ride-share with a total stranger is more than my nerves can handle at the moment.
“Okay,” I say.
Holding my skirt, I awkwardly lower myself into the car. Lucan closes the door securely and gets in from the other side.
“Good evening,” says O’Connor to me in the rearview mirror.
“Hello,” I say with a bashful smile.
The car pulls out. My hands shake and I clutch my phone, wishing this night were over.
“We should call the police,” I say.
Lucan’s tapping a message, his thumbs flying over the screen of his phone. “On it. I’ll have them send a female detective to take your statement back at your dorm, after you’ve had a chance to shower and change.”
“The police do as you say, huh?”
His expression remains serious. “I’m just being efficient.”
“No arguments there.”
Lucan finishes typing the message, pocketing his phone. He takes a thick wool blanket from a compartment under the seat, handing it to me. I wrap myself in the soft fabric, my heart rate finally slowing.
“The car’s plates were missing, but I gave the make and model to the police,” he says. “My family’s private detectives too. We’ll find the vehicle’s owner.”
I frown at my bag. “Did you steal my phone at Altar? The zipper on my bag was closed, I’m sure of it. My phone can’t have fallen out.”
“I didn’t steal it, I borrowed it.”
“Why? You can’t do anything with a locked phone.”
“You can’t.”
I swipe through the home screen. “What did you do?”
“A murderer wants you dead, Sadie. I put an app on your phone so I can find you if you’re in trouble.”
“You mean a tracker?”
He shrugs. “Is that a problem?”
Yes. A massive one.
Lucan Hale has problem written all over him. I should run a mile from him and never look back.
He’s right about one thing though. I’m in real danger.
“He said my name.” I stare out the window at the dark trees whipping past. “He called me Sadie. Does that mean I know him personally?”
“Not necessarily,” says Lucan. “Everyone has heard you were the witness to Parker’s murder. He might just know your name.”
“But how did he know I’d be at Altar? Did you tell anyone you invited me?”
“No.” He pauses. “Did you tell anyone you were going?”
“My roommates, and Zahra from class.”
Lucan rubs his stubbled jaw. “You told three chatty freshmen. So the whole world could know by now.”
I jab him in the ribs, which is like poking a steel barrel, and he doesn’t flinch.
“Hey, there’s safety in girls telling each other things,” I say. “Usually.”
“People talk at Darkbloom. Constantly. Anything you say at lunchtime has passed through the ears of at least half a dozen people by dinnertime. Be aware of that.”
“I am now.”
“He’ll try again,” says Lucan, our bodies close in the luxurious cocoon of the gliding car. “I’m not going to stand by and do nothing.”
I’m about to retort with something snarky, but then I remember his hurt expression when I asked if he killed Parker.
Lucan has lost two cousins to this murderer. Just because he wears a cool, stoic mask doesn’t mean he feels no grief.
Catching this killer is about more than protecting my life. Hannah and Parker Hale deserve justice too. They deserve peace.
“Okay,” I say. “What do you have in mind?”
The corner of his mouth lifts in a half smile. “You’ll see.”
I think I regret it already.