Page 301 of Heart So Hollow

“You hate me so much, but Col’s the one who broke you. When I found you, you were just a scared, damaged piece of ass. A good one,” he says with a smirk, “but damaged nonetheless. And you wouldn’t have turned out to be such a disappointment if you’d just fucking listened to me and cut him loose,” he mutters with disdain. “Your trauma bond…”

“I guess we’re all disappointments, aren’t we?” I taunt him, “How about Valerie? How does she measure up to the rest of us?”

“Don’t do that, Brett, don’t you fucking dare,” Bowen scoffs as though I just lobbed the ultimate insult at him, “you know I’ll never love anyone the way that I love you.”

He literally does not acknowledge her. Even now, he doesn’t call her by name. She’s just another victim of his vanity. She is unimportant, her role in this affair finished. Valerie Marston—or whoever she is—will become twisted in the wreckage, rusted out, and eventually lost to time.

She has, after all, deviated from the plan. A mistake that I don’t intend to make.

“Why did you just leave?” Bowen whines, veering back into loathing, “I never would’ve done something that cruel to you. Do you know how that feels?” he says through clenched teeth.

I tighten my grip on my gun, trying in vain to tamp down the cascade of adrenaline-fueled wrath running through my body. He’s a tornado spinning up outbursts of manic, sociopathic rage, unable to decide whether to stay a mortal man or transform into a hellish beast.

“Bowen,” I murmur on my breath, “you don’t have feelings.”

He tilts his head, studying me as he runs his tongue along the backs of his teeth.

“Is this the part where you freak out, Bowen?” I ask as his breaths get deeper, “Because you screwed up so bad that I told you to fuck the hell off?” I speak slowly and with intention, “You’re like a leech, using everyone up and sucking the life out of them until there’s nothing left. And once you throw them away, you move on to someone else. You don’t love anyone. You don’t know how.” I casually emphasize the last word as my voice slowly reverberates against the ceiling. Bowen bares his teeth in a momentary grimace like the werewolf that stalks the woods of Hellbranch. But I’m not finished, “The only thing to do is take you out into those woods and put a bullet between your eyes, because that’s what you do to rabid animals.”

His arms fall from the door frame and he straightens up, drawing air through his teeth.

When the adrenaline hits, what are you going to do?

It all happens at once, but before he can take a step, there’s a faint click when I pull the trigger and then I cast the Glock to the floor at the same moment I reach for the sliding glass door. Bowen probably doesn’t realize the gun jammed. To him, it probably looks like I just ditched my only protection—that I really don’t have the nerve. But it’s not because I’m afraid, it’s because I’m prepared for anything.

The thunder came without rain, and now sunlight spills through the clouds and floods the yard. In only a few strides, I fly off the deck and tear across the grass toward the forest. My only indication of anyone behind me is Bowen’s heavy footfalls on the deck as he takes off after me.

Every time you look back, you slow down.

The balls of my feet grab at the dirt, tossing dust and grass as I approach the slope. Through the pines, I find the rocks that jut out of the soil and make it to the top. It’s not the toughest hill, and I clear it, adrenaline propelling me through the trees once it levels out. Stay to the right, steer clear of the brambles, keep going…

My heart pounds and each breath feels like fire in my throat, but soon the drop-off comes into view. I grab the pine branch in the same spot I did before and swing down into the leaves. But, this time, I dig my heels in and jump to the side, right into a dried-up culvert running through the hillside.

I duck inside the galvanized pipe and crouch down, motionless, listening and inhaling precious oxygen. Gently, I start moving my hips back and forth, trying to work through a sharp pain in my lower belly. I don’t know what it is, but I can’t let it slow me down now.

About five seconds later, I hear Bowen’s heavy strides on the earth above me and he skids down the hill onto the moss and pine needles.

Please don’t turn around…

He takes off again at full speed through the trees straight ahead. He’s fast, and agile. He’s been running through forests since he was a kid. But this is my forest, and I know where I’m going.

As soon as his daunting figure disappears through the trees, I dart out from the culvert and continue on the path I’ve run countless times since I’ve lived here. I keep running, hopping over the rocks and tiny streams that split the earth. Finally, I see the barn in the distance. I can make it.

But as I approach, sprinting through a grove of birches, I see a flash of black in my periphery. Bowen’s flanking me, his eyes trained on his target. A jolt of panic shoots through my chest and I push harder. It’s half fear, half burst of adrenaline, but I let out a guttural scream as I barrel toward the barn door.

I don’t slow down. I’m going to run straight through the ancient wood, splintering it in my wake. I push harder and brace for impact.

Suddenly, the door swings open, seemingly from my energy alone, and I burst into the barn. Flying across the dirt floor, I slam shoulder first into the planks of the animal stalls. I bounce off the wood and look over my shoulder at the doorway just in time to see the outline of another dark figure. But it’s not Bowen.

He’s a solar eclipse, blocking out every modicum of sunlight. Bowen doesn’t know that there are more than monsters in this forest. Colson’s the reaper, clad all in black, and he’s come to collect.

CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR

Colson

Present

His heavy footfalls pound the earth behind her as Brett tears into the barn. Seconds later, I step into the doorway and swing my arm out, bracing my legs and catching Bowen’s chest as soon as he leaps over the threshold.

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