Page 41 of The Huntress and Her Hound

“Me, too.” Cher mumbles, and then disappears. I stare after her as the door closes. I have no idea what to think about her, but I do think from now on, I’ll leave the ball in her court.

And only follow in the shadows.

Otherwise, I might fall too hard to stop myself.

Chapter 15

The Huntress

Jude hasn’t told Henry. They’ve been here two weeks now, and he’s still kept the information to himself. I don’t even know why I told him about Ben—maybe it was to get ahead of what I knew he’d find if he looked into it. I mean, I needed to get ahead of his search, but also...

I just wanted to.

And now, I’m so fucked up from that, I’ve avoided him outside of necessary interactions, which thankfully isn’t much. I leave for work in the evening, get home in the early morning hours, and we never seem to cross paths much anymore. They’re immersed in their hit, and I’m biding my time before the desire to hunt strikes again.

‘Or to fuck Jude. We know that’s what you really want.’

“No,” I say to myself as I dab the lipstick on my mouth. He tried to kiss me, and I turned him down. It doesn’t matter how much curiosity has been building beneath the surface. There’s no going back from that. I saw the look on Henry’s face when we walked in at the same time. He’d murder Jude for touching me.

And I might, too.

I drum my freshly painted black nails on the top of the bathroom counter as my phone buzzes. I glance at the notification, seeing the costume party later tonight. I should go to it—it’s an easy hunt, and I never miss one of those...

‘You’re not acting like your normal self.’

I roll my eyes, unphased as I stand to my feet. I know I’m not normal, but for the record, neither is anyone else staying in my apartment. My phone buzzes again, and I blow out a sharp breath as I lean over to see what it is now.

Unknown: I’m still here.

I stare at the message, furrowing my brow as my mind brings back the first message I received from an unknown number. Jude? Is he trying to say we haven’t talked in the last week or so? The thought that he’s noticed draws out a strange feeling of excitement, rivaling that of my hunts. I shove my phone in my pocket, and head for his little cave—the one I swear he never leaves.

My palms feel clammy as I reach for the doorknob, and then pause, deciding to knock. I rap my knuckles twice on the door, and then wait.

“Yeah?”

I turn the doorknob and blink to adjust my eyes to the dimly lit room. “It’s two o’clock in the afternoon.”

Jude whips his head from his computer, surprise written on his face. “What’s up?”

“You sent me a text.”

Slowly, he shakes his head. “Nope.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

I pull my phone out of my pocket, seeing another text.

Unknown: I’m keeping an eye on you.

My heart jumps to my throat, my head starting to spin—but I push it away. “Nothing. I guess it was a wrong number.” Asshole.

“Here.” Jude picks up his phone from the desk, quickly typing out something.

Unknown: Jude.

It comes up in a different thread, and my chest tightens. I save his contact information, just solely to save myself the embarrassment in the future. Fucking humiliation rattles my core as I realize I’m disappointed. And now worried. Painfully worried. But then again, I’ve seen plenty of videos of people toying with random numbers—and they haven’t said anything incriminating.

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