Page 126 of Haunted Prey

“He took her,” she cried. “Dom…” She had to take a deep breath. “He took her.”

Micheal had kneeled before her. “I know,” he’d said.

I closed my eyes, remembering before that, hours before, when we had been at the nurse’s house stealing the keycard. I had already been inside, I had it in my hand and snuck out without an issue. As soon as I got back to the car and wewere preparing to leave, the call from Andrea came through on Micheal’s phone.

Only it wasn’t Andrea on the other end.

“They’re gone,” Lena cried. “They shot Andrea and they took Eve.”

I didn’t need to hear any more, but Micheal wanted more answers.

“When?”

“I don’t know,” she sobbed. “Twenty minutes, maybe more. Andrea was unconscious a-and I couldn’t find a phone. I…I didn’t know what to do. But she woke up and told me her phone was in her room, but it was on a shelf a-and I’m sorry, I couldn’t move fast enough. I tried.” Her voice shook as she tried to stifle her cries. “She told me to call you instead of 911 to tell you, to warn you.”

“How is Andrea now?” Micheal had asked as he put the car into drive and pulled out of the spot he was parked.

“S-she says Lez only grazed her thigh, but she’d hit her head on the ground when she fell. I-I got a towel and she is stopping the blood.”

We heard Andrea’s voice muffled on the other end, much more calm and collected than Lena’s.

“She says she’ll be okay if we can get the leg wrapped. S-she says just get to Severfalls.”

I don’t remember much of the drive, only Micheal flying out of the complex while calling Dom to tell him to get his ass to Severfalls. I remembered Nina’s words in my ear and how I let her in again, let my demons come back up, letting them take over until I saw Eve.

When we got near, Micheal put on a surgical mask in order to blend in, hoping to still go on his original plan. But in the end, it didn’t really matter. As soon as we were inside, all hell had already broken loose, a fire already raging from one ofLez’s homemade firebombs. Inside, I’d crushed the throat of one security guard who got in my way, another I smashed his skull into the side of a wall. I felt nothing, only the primal need to find and protect the one who was taken from me yet again.

There had been others in the dark who tried to stop me and paid the price. But I didn’t feel sorry, couldn’t. I believed Micheal hadn’t either. Nor Dom who was as brutal as me. A silent, deadly killer.

When we stood watching the fire overtake everything, Micheal ordered Dom and Leslie to leave.

“Get back to our safe place. Dom, get Andrea to a hospital,” he said before letting his eyes linger to Lez. Lez wasn’t staring back at him, but back at me, because he saw the murder in my eyes as I held Eve close to me. “Lez…get your shit and Dom’s out of there and get out of dodge.”

They were tense in my presence. Because even as I didn’t say a word, they both understood if I saw Leslie again, I would kill him.

The twins left right away. The rest of us lingered a little longer until we heard the sirens. The girls Micheal had found and led out huddled together some ways away from us with a nurse and a young ward employee. They watched the fire, except for one with golden hair and dark eyes who watched me and Eve instead. She didn’t come near, only studied Eve, but I don’t believe she recognized her. She just saw a troubled woman and fucked up guy in masks with blood on their clothes, like something out of a horror movie.

The sirens sounded closer, and I knew we needed to leave.

“Just a little longer,” Micheal said, his eyes scanning along the building. “Cassidy…she might appear.”

“She’s dead,” Eve said so quietly her words almost got lost in the wind.

Micheal had turned to her, and I saw in his eyes that he believed her. Still, he asked, “Are you sure?”

She nodded.

He turned away, trying to hide the pain etched in his gaze. It was clear he wanted to stay, to keep watching. I was certain that if he could, he’d wait until there was nothing left but smoke, just for the faint hope she might emerge. But he knew he couldn’t.

We didn’t stay long after.

When we got back to the church, we saw Dom had stayed true to his word as did his brother. Andrea was gone as were most of their things.

Not having her there to tend to Eve was an upsetting blow, but still she had refused to go to a hospital.

“I don’t want them near me,” she whispered.

I assumed she meant the doctors. And fuck me if I couldn’t blame her. I was half tempted to pick her up and take her back to the car kicking and screaming.

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