Chapter 1
HUNTER
Present Day
The mask comes off.
After today, I’ll never have to pretend to be normal for anyone.
I knew this day would come eventually. That it was only a matter of time before someone discovered my nature.
When Cole radioed, telling me Alistair was to be my partner, and we’d be searching the dilapidated section of the city, I knew something wasn’t right.
I wore my goddamn mask. The one I learned to create around others so they wouldn’t see the real me, and for the most part, I’d thought Alistair had fallen for it. But deep in the back of my mind, things weren’t adding up.
It made sense that Cole was pairing people up on account of rumors that the Vultures were going rogue and there was a serial killer on the loose, but the places they had us searching didn’t make sense.
The signs became too great to ignore, and I knew I needed to get the truth out of Alistair.
There’s only one true way to do that.
Except I didn’t want to do what needed to be done. I held off on torturing him, and he actually bested me. I believed him when he said Cole suspected I’d aligned myself with the Vultures.
But after rescuing his girl, the truth came out. I’m a cold-blooded killer, and the men of the Keep are aware of my predilection.
Thankfully, Alistair agreed to help me fake my death.
I make my way to the west side of town, to a place the Keep doesn’t know about. I found it early while exploring, and decided that when I inevitably went out on my own, it’d be a good place to set up shop.
Situated on the upper level of an old apartment building with a garden rooftop, I was able to find a small solar-powered generator to keep the lights on. Now, I’ll spend most of my time building it up, keeping it hidden, and searching for her.
I shouldn’t care about Fiona, and I didn’t. Not at first. After fucking her, I went out to clear my head and came back to an empty apartment. I checked the log to see if any of the guys had come in or out, but the last person to scan in was me.
Relief had washed over me, and I went about the next few days business as usual.
Then, I saw the notebook. I reread what Fiona had told me, and it reminded me of her and our time together.
After that, I went to Salem Street and sought as many of those names as possible. The only one I missed was Frank, who was later taken down when the guys recovered Brooke.
As I worked, names were added to my list, and I steadily rained death on anyone I felt had a hand in Fiona’s defilement.
But I never took another.
Sometimes I wanted to, but I couldn’t, and I began thinking of release at times I typically wouldn’t.
The urge to come always accompanied the urge to kill. They went hand in hand, one always proceeding the other.
But when I thought of her, desire came without the lust for blood. I imagined her hair spread out on the bed, her eyes widened, her scent filling my nostrils as I licked between her thighs.
I still don’t understand why I even did that. I could have just thought of Madam Levy’s tongueless screams. That would have gotten me to at least half mast. But seeing Fiona sitting at my table, eating, gave me thoughts I couldn’t ignore.
Her potent flavor and sweet scent were a new experience for me, and I often find myself thinking about her squirming, grinding against my tongue.
To say I want to fuck her again is the understatement of the century, and now I search for her, day and night, whenever I can. I watch for her when I take down groups of ragers, wondering if I’m going to find her as one. So far, she’s evaded me, finding places to hide. Leaving no clues.
But I’m patient, and damn good at what I do. I’ve lived in shadows, worn masks, outwitted countless foes. I’ve stalked, tortured, killed, and done a million other things to hone my skills.
Somewhere, deep within the city, Fiona hides, a little mouse evading capture.
But her time is running out. Free of the Keep, my only mission is to find her and take her as mine.
I am a hunter, and she is my prey.
And I’ll burn the whole city if that’s what it takes to claim her.