Chapter Thirty-eight Amethyst
Twenty minutes. He’s been gone twenty minutes. I’m still on the couch. Book in hand. Same page. Haven’t turned it in five minutes. Can’t focus. The words blur. Run together. Worthless.
I close the book. Set it aside. Stare at the ceiling. Bored. Restless. Twitchy. I’m not used to this. This stillness. This peace. This—
Dormancy.
Two weeks of nothing. No threats. No missions. No targets. Just—
Quiet. It was nice at first. Healing. Necessary. But now—
Now I’m crawling out of my skin. I stand. Stretch. The ribs pull. Still tender. Still healing. But better. Much better.
I walk to the kitchen. Need water. Need something to do. Anything. The glass is cold. I fill it from the tap. Take a sip. Look out the window. Trees. Forest. Empty. Normal.
Then—
Movement. Subtle. Between the trees. I don’t freeze. Don’t react. Don’t move. Just watch.
There. Again. A silhouette. Too tall for an animal. Too deliberate. A person.
Fuck.
My pulse spikes. Adrenaline floods. But I don’t move. Don’t look directly at it. Act casual. Natural. Like I didn’t see anything.
I take another sip. Turn away from the window. Walk toward the bedroom. Slow. Unhurried. Normal. The moment I’m out of sight—
I move. Fast. Tactical. Automatic. Pants. I grab them from the chair. Pull them on. Strip out of Kade’s shirt and grab my bra. Tank top. Long sleeve. Jacket. Layering. Protection. The tracker. I grab it from the dresser. Shove it deep in my jacket pocket.
Kade will see it move. He’ll know something’s wrong. He’ll come.
Boots. I sit on the edge of the bed. Pull on the first one. Laces. Quick. Efficient. My hands are steady. Training. Muscle memory. The second boot—
BANG.
The front door. Someone’s kicking it. Hard. Violent. Desperate.
BANG. Again.
The wood splinters. Cracks. I zip the boot. Stand.
BANG.
The door gives. Crashes open. Slams against the wall. I turn. Face the bedroom doorway. And—
Enzo. Standing in my cabin. Breathing hard. Eyes wild. Feral.
He’s here. Inside. Hunting.
He sees me. Our eyes lock. And he charges. No words. No hesitation. Just rage. Pure. Lethal.
I move. Sidestep. Try to evade. But he’s fast. Faster than I expected. His hand catches my shoulder. Spins me. I twist. Try to break free. My ribs scream in pain as I try to twist free. Not healed. Not even close. Fuck. That’s a problem. I’m not going to be able to handle another twist like that.
“I’m going to get you, you bitch!"
His voice. Raw. Furious.
“You destroyed everything I was building!"
He tackles me. Full force. We hit the floor. Hard. My back. My ribs. The air punches out of my lungs. Can’t breathe. Can’t—
I try to twist. To buck him off. But the ribs—
The pain is blinding. White-hot. Paralyzing. Every movement sends shock waves. Through my chest. Through my spine.
I can’t. Can’t fight like this. His fist comes down. Aimed. Deliberate. My ribs. The same spot. The healing fractures.
I scream. Can’t help it. The sound tears from my throat. Raw. Broken. He knows. He fucking knows where I’m hurt. He caused this injuries. He’s been waiting. For when Kade was gone. Another hit. Same spot. I stop moving. Can’t. The pain is too much. Overwhelming. Consuming.
I’m gasping. Groaning. Pinned. His weight on top of me. His hands on my shoulders. Holding me down.
I could fight. Could try.Could beak something trying. But—
This isn’t about surviving alone. This is about surviving long enough. For him to find me. To track me. To come. I stop resisting. Let my body go slack. Enzo’s breathing is ragged. Heavy.
He’s staring down at me. Eyes wild. Triumphant.
“Not so tough now, are you?"
I don’t answer. Just breathe. Shallow. Careful. The ribs scream with every inhale.
He grabs my arm. Yanks me up. Rough. Violent. I stumble. Nearly fall. He catches me. Not gentle. Not kind. Just—
Controlling.
“You’re coming with me."
His voice is cold. Flat. Dead.
I don’t fight. Don’t resist. Just let him pull me. Drag me. Toward the door.
My mind is working. Calculating. Processing. He’s taking me somewhere. Away from the cabin. Away from Kade. But the tracker—
The tracker is on me. In my pocket. Hidden. Still transmitting. Kade will see it move. He’ll know something’s wrong. He’ll follow. He’ll hunt.
This isn’t the end. This is the trap. I’m the bait. And Kade—
Kade is the predator.
Enzo doesn’t know. Doesn’t understand. He thinks he’s won. Thinks this is over. Thinks he’s captured me. He’s already dead. He just doesn’t know it yet.
We reach the door. He shoves me through. Outside. The forest. The trees. The quiet.
A vehicle. Black SUV. Parked just off the driveway. Hidden. He planned this. Watched. Waited. Timed it perfectly.
He opens the back door. Pushes me inside. I fall onto the seat. The ribs protest. I bite back the groan. Don’t give him the satisfaction. Don’t give im anything. He slams the door. Walks around. Gets in the driver’s seat. Starts the engine.
I shift. Carefully. Slowly. Press my hand against my jacket pocket. Feel the tracker. Still there. Still transmitting. Still connecting me to Kade.
The SUV moves. Pulls away from the cabin. Down the driveway. Onto the main road. I don’t look back. Don’t need to.
The cabin disappears behind us. Empty. Quiet. Waiting.
Kade will come back. And when he does—
Then he’ll hunt. I’ve been broken before. Tortured. Beaten. Survived. I know how this works. Endure. Wait. Stay alive.
For Kade. For the moment he finds me. For the moment he finally gets his hands on Enzo.
There won’t be mercy. Won’t be hesitation. Just death. Brutal. Final. Absolute.
I close my eyes. Breathe through the pain. The ribs. The fear. The uncertainty.
And I wait. For the hunter. For my hunter. For Kade. He’s coming. Maybe not in an hour. But he’ll come. And Enzo—
Enzo has no idea what he’s unleashed.