Page 17 of Wicked Revenge

I can lie and say I’m fine until I am blue in the face, but the trauma still haunts me. I still wake up screaming at night. I still look over my shoulder, thinking someone is watching me.

I’ve had this feeling since I escaped, but I think the closer I get to my goal, the more my fears try to manifest against me. I've been feeling eyes on me for a few days.

Checking my mirrors for the tenth time since I left my hideout by the mansion, I take a deep breath, holding it before slowly releasing it.

“There is no one there bitch, get a grip,” I tell myself, needing an extra pep talk before I get into town.

“Listen to your gut, Red,” Dax’s voice filters through my mind, causing an internal war between instinct and reality, and panic starts to flood my body.

Deciding to play it safe, I drive around aimlessly for a while. When it becomes clear that my mind is just playing tricks on me, and no one is actually following me, I pull behind the now dark parking lot behind Twisted.

Shutting the engine off, I allow myself a moment to breathe, resting my forehead against the steering wheel. Feeling like this reminds me of my time on the run, constantly looking over my shoulder for King to find me, and I hate it. I need to squash this feeling now before I spiral into a panic that gets me killed.

Readying myself and blowing out a large breath, I open the old truck door and climb out. A gust of chilled wind blows through the alley, causing the debris to rustle along the cobblestones. The air has shifted, a storm must be moving in tonight. Hurrying into the back door, I run straight into a rock hard body, and almost lose my footing in the dark hallway.

A pair of steel arms lock on to my hips, pulling me upright and pushing my back against the wall, caging me in as the back door slams shut.

We’re dressed similarly, with all black clothes and hoods shrouding our faces from view, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling his stare bore into the depths of my soul. My breath catches in my lungs when he lifts one hand from my hip and runs his gloved thumb across my ruby red lips, undoubtedly smearing my lipstick.

In the dark shadows of this hallway, I barely make out his head tilting to the side, almost studying me. I just stand there, staring at this dark figure as he stares back at me, neither of us finding words to speak aloud as desire like I’ve never felt courses through my body and makes my knees weak.

A small whimper escapes my lips when he lowers his hand from my mouth to rest it across my throat, not squeezing, but possessively holding. He leans his face close enough that I’m hit with the scent of fresh pine wood, smoke, and a hint of men’s cologne.

Fuck he smells delicious.

He rubs his nose down my hooded neck and back up, inhaling deeply.

Did he just fucking sniff me?

I open my mouth to say something; I’m not quite sure what. Suddenly, Ella’s voice rings out from just beyond the hall and pulls me out of whatever the fuck this is. My head snaps to the end of the hall and in the next second, his heavy body is no longer pressed against me. I spin around in a circle, but he’s gone, vanished into thin air as the backdoor slams shut once more.

What the fuck just happened?

Ella comes into view, she reaches beyond me to flip on the overhead light I didn’t know was there, the concern showing on her face now that I can see. “What happened, Rae? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Ummm, I think I just met a Shadow.”

Chapter 9

What the fuck?

My heart pounds a million miles an hour in my chest, my breath coming out rapidly and choppy as I stumble my way out of the dark alley to my bike. I’ve never felt that, whatever that was, in my entire life. It was like I was under a siren's spell.

Her sweet scent like cherry apple pie, and her plump lips, red like fresh spilled blood. Fuck, her lips. That was the only thing I could see in the dark hallway, but that was enough to draw me in.

I need to know her.

I look down at my gloved hand and I can see her lipstick across my thumb. Bringing it to my mouth, I lick it off as if it were her blood. My cock could already cut glass, and it twitches in the confines of my pants at the thought of making her bleed so beautifully for me.

Fuck.

I shake my head to clear the fog of her siren spell from my mind as I mount my bike, knock the kickstand back, and take off towards our home in the forest. Too much is on the line for me to be unfocused right now.

I only came to Twisted tonight because Royal and Alek have been following Jackson around the past few days. I’ve been focused on looking at any newcomers in town, new lease agreements, or purchases in the last month that could lead us to this hunter.

Royal called in to have me check Twisted for Ella’s father’s truck. She drives it sometimes when her bike isn't an option, but it's been spotted at several locations near where Jackson is, but she isn't with it, so I came to find out why.

Turns out, she’s letting one of her old girlfriends who is back in town borrow it since she doesn’t have a car, and she’s trying to find a place to stay and a job.

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