Chapter 13
FIONA
Hunter is quiet in a way that’s unnerving.
In a way that makes my hair stand on end.
I didn’t expect him to be jovial after his kill, but his stoic persona makes him unreadable, and it has me on edge.
Speaking of murder, I still can’t believe my ex is dead.
That Hunter would do that for me.
Alright, maybe it’s not the big sacrifice I’m making it out to be. Hunter enjoys killing. If anything, I did him a favor, not the other way around.
Still, despite being a psychopath, he cares for me more than Brett ever did. Not in the emotional sense. But he makes sure I’m fed, warm, and sexually sated.
Now that I’ve enacted my revenge, I can finally put my past behind me. I can move on from being the broken girl I so clearly was.
If that’s even possible.
What if there’s no coming back from what I’ve gone through? What if there is no redemption? No healing? No peace?
Does Hunter ever think these thoughts? Does he ever wonder what normal feels like?
I don’t think he does.
I look over at him as he cleans his blades. So precise and methodical.
He must think so little of me.
I don’t blame him.
In a kinder world, we could have been something more to each other. Or perhaps nothing at all.
The stark reality exists that I’m nothing special to him. That he could leave me at any moment with no food, weapons, or shelter.
Or he could just kill me. That’s more his style.
Hunter looks out the window, surveilling the street below. “We should get going before it grows dark.”
“What happens now?” I blurt.
He looks in my direction. “We go back to the place I have set up.”
“You’re taking me back with you?”
“That was the plan.”
I nod, but deep down, I feel unsure of my place in this world.
“Did you think I was going to leave you here?” he asks.
“I…I don’t know what I thought. I’m confused.”
“Are you having regrets?”
“Regrets?”
“Revenge isn’t for everyone. Or perhaps it’s the torture that doesn’t sit right with you.”
I downcast my eyes. “That…not it.”
“Then come on. If we stay here much longer, we’ll be stuck with a rotting corpse until morning.”
As I walk to the door, my entire body begins to tremble.
“Are you going to be sick?” Hunter asks.
“No!”
He grabs a large bowl from a cabinet and brings it to me. “It’s okay if you are.”
I go to push it away, but I lose my balance and fall to the floor.
What’s gotten into me? What have I become.
Afraid. I’d once traveled the world of dead on my own, relying on no one. I could make it on my own if I had to. I don’t need him.
But I do.
I desperately do.
My heart triple beats in my chest as chaos threatens to steal my mind.
He’s going to grow bored of me.
And then what?
This can’t go on forever. He’s going to leave me.
Or kill me.
Tears stream down my cheeks, blurring my vision. Hunter’s arms wrap around me.
“It’s okay,” he whispers ever so softly. “I got you.”
This doesn’t make sense. He’s not empathetic. He’d never offer me comfort. Only vengeance.
Which is just as sweet.
“What…do you need from me?” His voice is strained, like he doesn’t know what to say.
“Nothing!” I snap. I don’t intend to sound angry, but I’m overwhelmed.
“I can’t take back what I did.”
I pull away, blinking so I can see him better. “Wh-why would I want you to?”
“You’re clearly upset over…” he looks at Brett’s lifeless body.
Seeing my ex’s wretched form brings me clarity. I know what I want, and it’s not sitting safely in Hunter’s safe house.
I want to take vengeance on the world. On every evil doer. On Caspian. On ever Vulture that touched me. On the ones that didn’t, because they’re surely just as bad.
But how do I tell that to Hunter?
Maybe I shouldn’t.
I can’t hold back.
“My only regret with him is that we took hours instead of days.”
Hunter nods. “You should have said something. I would have gone slower.”
I shrug. “I was a little overeager.”
He brushes my hair away from my face, and I see real concern lighting his eyes. He cares for me. On some level, this is more than just sex.
“I don’t understand why you’re upset,” he says.
“Of course you don’t.”
“Could you please explain?”
What do I tell him? That I’m terrified I’ll be next? Or that I’m scared he’ll leave me?
Saying either could seal my fate.
Saying nothing could do the same.
I could confess the dark seed growing within me.
What would he think of me? Would he still want me?
“I’m just…scared.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re probably going to leave me.”
I wasn’t supposed to say that.
“You think I’m going to leave you?”
“Or kill me.”
I wasn’t supposed to say that, either.
“Why do you think I would do that?”
“Because you’ll grow bored with me. You’re not the nurturing type, and I doubt you’ll want to take care of me for long.” I wipe away my tears and suck in a jagged breath. “I can’t even read, or at least not well.”
“Your reading has very little to do with your fuckability.”
“Ah—wow.”
“It was a…joke.”
“I don’t think I’ve heard you tell one of those before.”
“That’s because I don’t.”
“Look, I’m not dumb. You’re not like most guys, and you like torturing a lot more than you like fucking. Eventually, you’ll—”
“I won’t kill you, Fiona. That’s the last thing on my mind. I could go ten years without murdering someone, and I’d never once think of murdering you.”
“Why, though? If you enjoy doing it so much, why would you hold back?”
“Because I like your company more than I enjoy spooning eyeballs from their sockets.”
“Is that another joke?”
“No. It’s the truth.”
“Well, I don’t know what to say to that.”
“I’m going to keep you safe, Fiona. I can never give you what Brett did, but I promise never to sell you, and I won’t hurt you.”
“Thanks.” I wipe my snotty nose with the back of my hand. “But there’s more.”
“Tell me what’s wrong.”
“I…like what you do too much. Madam Levy. Brett. It’s an addicting kind of evil. A sin I want to feel everywhere. I want to watch you work. I want to see you do terrible things. What does that make me? Am I even human? Or am I a monster, just like you?”
“You’re my monster, just as I am yours.”
I chuckle. “We’re so broken.”
“I have some good news for you?”
“Oh, yeah? And what’s that?”
“There is plenty of evil still left in the world, and I’d love to have you watch me work.”
And just like that, all my fears vanish.
He’s not going to kill me.
With him, I’ll transform.
He holds out his hand for me. “I’d like to take you home now, if that’s alright with you.”
“Home? Is that what we’re calling it?”
“It’s home. Our home.”