Page 51 of Death Game: Supernatural Battle

She cut off and took a deep inhale. “That was about the time I began to spot the same man everywhere. I’d see him at the supermarket, and then pass the same man in the parking lot three seconds later. I’d stop beside the same managainat the traffic lights. I’d pass him twice on the same escalator and see him again on the next level walking out of a store. Meanwhile, each day at work was hell. Everyone thought I was creating trouble—I don’t know what they were being told, but my colleagues turned against me overnight. No one would help or listen. Whoever was threatening me was extremely powerful, and I still had no idea who they were or how they were doing these things to me.”

“What did you do?” I whispered.

“I sent my family away, out of Bluff City. I told them the truth and told them they had to leave. For how long, I didn’t know. The man was following me at that point, and I was going crazy. Because how could he be in so many places at once? He was everywhere.”

There was a very good reason for that. “Hazel eyes and brown curls? Tall? Cold eyes?”

Her gaze flew to mine. “Yes.”

The triplets. I’d wondered how Fyrlia got away with this kind of shit. They hadn’t directly approached her or compelled her. They’d broken her. Or tried to. Focusing on something unrelated, I said, “There’s more than one of them.”

“That did occur to me at first. But then they came closer, and I began to see stranger things. Things that couldn’t be possible. Their teeth were long—fangs. Once, the man blurred across the road a-and ripped the head off the neighbour’s cat. I woke up and the cat’s head was sitting on top of my letterbox. My neighbours reported me to the police. I saw the man break a street post in half with a twitch of his hand. I tried moving house after that. I moved three times, changed banks, but they found me over and over again.”

And she still held strong against approving Mr Ringly’s deal. “What you did took some serious fucking guts.”

She shook her head. “Not bravery. If I did what they wanted, they’d either kill me or I’d be in their pocket for the rest of my life. I had a plan. After my family was safe, I applied for a transfer despite knowing I should cut all ties and get another job. I’d worked too hard to get where I was. I’d leave my reputation behind, and that was bad enough. I’d hoped to use that reputation to become a private town planner. Giving up everything was too much.”

I reached for her hand, squeezing it tight. Her pain was real and so very familiar. Just like my grandmother’s friends, like Rhys, like me, Sandra Hoyt was an innocent pawn inIngenium. I came here to save Sundulus so I could continue my own game, but I’d help this woman with everything I had. She’d gone through that alone. As much as I hadn’t wanted Kyros’s protection at the start, things could have been so much worse if the triplets got to me first.

“There was one problem. No one would take me,” she breathed. “The CEO was blocking me, or my colleagues were spreading the news of my behaviour at work. Council staff gossip like nowhere else I’ve ever worked. Regardless, after two months of submissions and rejections, the council here offered me a position.”

Fyrlia let her leave because she wouldn’t approve the plans.

“It was too close for my liking, but I leapt at the opportunity. Two hours from Bluff City was better than beinginBluff City.”

They wouldn’t have followed her. Not in the same way. They would have compelled her or killed her once her use had expired. She spoke far too openly to have been compelled. “They’ve never showed here?”

“No. And my team here didn’t act strangely. They were welcoming. The man—or men—never showed their faces again. The letters stopped. I have a bag packed in case they do, even now, just in case I needed to cut ties and run. But Bluff City never followed me here until today.”

I released Sandra, thinking over her words. This was surely proof of coercion. They’d forced her out of the city to make way for someone more pliable to their harassment. They must have done something similar to Julia. Even if they hadn’t, what they did to Sandra had to be enough to break the deal. Except I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t make my move until I was certain. I owed her and her family my full diligence in the matter.

“They’re vampires, aren’t they?” she said dully.

Thinking of my body lotion, I managed a nod and gave her a minute to absorb that confirmation.

“Do you know what happened in council after you left?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I didn’t care. I just wanted out. I was so angry at the people I worked with. I just didn’t want to know.”

Julia Dinh was going through the same hell, most likely—and yet I couldn’t blame Sandra one bit.

“Here’s what I need you to do,” I said, holding up my phone. “You need to repeat everything you just told me so I have proof. After that, you need to take the packed bag you mentioned and the cash I give you and leave Frankton Gorge.”

She opened her mouth. “Where?”

“That’s something you must never speak aloud.” I tapped my ear. “Don’t take your phone. Don’t take your computer. Not your car. Nothing. And don’t go to your family. Do you understand?”

“Can’t I come with you?” she asked.

“I need to make sure my move is solid before I make it,” I told her. “If I play it wrong, you suffer. Not only that, I almost definitely have eyes on my estate.” If Sundulus got hold of Sandra, and I didn’t have a leg to stand on, they’d take a walk through her mind, and then she’d be tied to them for life. There were worse things in life—like being tied to Fyrlia—but I’d avoid her compulsion if possible.

When Sandra nodded, I took out a card. “This is my personal email. Find a new phone. Message me if there’s any hint of trouble or if you need more money. I’ll see that it gets to you. And after, when things are safe, I’ll see that you find a council position equivalent to what you now hold. Better if I can wrangle it.” Lady Treena shouldn’t have any trouble with that.

“I just…” The woman blinked. “It’s so fast. No one has ever helped me. I’ve been afraid for so long. I don’t know what to think or do.”

I pressed my lips together. “What is your body telling you to do, Sandra?”

“T-To run. To not look back.”

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