CHAPTER SEVEN #3
“Signed merch, Flick. That’s all it took. And a few bottles of wine for when they were off duty. The nurses. That’s where that pretty head went, right?”
I stiffened. “It’s not pretty, and I don’t vague out,” I said sharply.
Knox pulled me tight against his chest. “He said that to you. Didn’t he?”
“No bugs planted in my house to listen to me moan with another man? You are slipping,” I taunted him in retort, unwilling to go there.
I had no idea where this person came from, this version of me who poked the literal bear in the woods who took me away from the man who I let steal years of my life, but she was here to stay. For the moment at least.
“I respected your privacy more than that,” Knox said roughly.
“What, you could look but not listen? Yeah, that rings true.” I laughed softly, unable to stop this flow now that I’d started.
“There had to be a line. Otherwise, I might as well have walked in and taken you back by force.”
That idea appealed to me quite a lot for the moment, so I stayed still and said nothing.
Large, warm hands slid up and down my arms, his grip softening. “Is that what I should have done all these years, Flick? Found you after a game, brought you out here and showed you my collection?”
I swallowed, staring at my portrait, at the girl who had life in her eyes. Unwilling to see the versions of myself who died without him years later. Who looked as lifeless in paint as I had in the rain when he found me nights ago.
“It’s a nice collection,” I said softly.
Knox hummed, his lips pressed to my hair. He squeezed my arms then dropped his hands. “One. Two.” He paused when I didn’t move. “I’m only going to count to three, Flick,” he warned me. “Run.”
My feet shifted on the lush carpet, and I tore away from him in the direction of the back stairs, my memory of this place as fresh as the last time I was invited into the house. Back when it was alive with chatter and people.
The only difference was that tonight, even though the lights were all on, we were the only people here.
And Knox had locked the front door.
I leaped the first three stairs and let my boots—those damn boots—take the brunt of the fall.
Not that the carpet was hard, even on the steps.
My knees didn’t work against me for once.
I reached the bottom before Knox started at the top and I knew he’d given me a head start.
It wasn’t much, but I took the brief reprieve and launched for the back door, slamming my shoulder against it.
The hardwood shook and I prayed he’d take the bait.
I ricocheted off the unyielding surface and darted back to the front of the house, a plan forming in my mind.
It wasn’t much of one, but something with Knox was better than nothing.
I never made it more than a dozen steps into the forest before he caught me.
That had been years ago, back when I could actually run, and we hadn’t played this game in an age. Plus, he was impossibly fitter now.
Adrenaline screamed through my system as I sprinted along corridors, twisting and turning through the labyrinthine hallways. The pantry came into view. I remembered the hidden butler’s door in the back. I yanked that open and dived through—
Avoiding his sweeping arm over my head.
How the fuck did he know? Damnit, I was more predictable than I expected. Swearing and clambering to my feet I raced for the front door, listening hard.
No footsteps.
He’d stopped. Giving me space. Time to run.
Damn you, Knox. He was drawing this out. I rattled at the door on its hinges, forgetting he had secured it.
“Fuck,” I muttered, twisting the lock. It swung open easily and I shot outside, launching off the porch and toward the forest.
Four steps.
Six.
I can make it. Breath hissed between my teeth, my arms pumping at my sides hard.
The edge of the glow created by the house lights was right there. Goals! If I could make that milestone with a Chimera after me, even given a head start and a little mid-game reprieve, I’d call that a win.
“Run, Flick. Run,” Knox called from the house.
My lungs wanted to burst but I put on an extra round of speed. If he wanted to see my ass jiggle, then jiggle this girl would.
Darkness enveloped me as I hit the tree line and darted through the underbrush.
One row of trees. The next.
Cold air filled overworked lungs. The reprieve I needed. He’d never let me get this far before.
“Fuck you, Knox,” I wheezed in triumph, and slammed face first into a warm body.
A pale face that didn’t resemble any Chimera I knew split into a horrendous smile as I bounced off him. Not Knox’s bulk. My back hit a tree and my remaining breath burst from my lips. I’d need that really soon, wish I had it back.
“Did you think you could just walk away from me, Felicity? I know all his secrets. Including you.”
I stared into eyes I thought I knew, eyes crazed well beyond any sort of obsession that I understood. “You’re insane,” I whispered, not enough air remaining in my body to scream.
He never said another word. His hand raised and fell.
My world darkened, and pain split me from the head down.