Page 91 of Haunted Prey

One of the lights flickered above, drawing my gaze. I glanced up, then back at my reflection in the mirror. I looked pale, almost ghostly. Frail. My hair was splitting at the ends, and there was dried blood around my fingers where I’d bitten into them.

I imagined a child in my arms, looking like I did—a child that was deformed. The image turned my stomach, a wave of nausea rolling through me.

But it would be Emery’s. And what if it was beautiful like him?

Maybe then I could stomach it.

I waited, pacing back and forth. When the time was up, I forced myself to look.

Please…please…

I stared at the strip…and could see the faint little plus sign glaring up at me.

“Positive.”

I don’t know if it was me or Emery who spoke but it didn’t matter. A silent wave came crashing down on me. First just the awful reality but also knowing those nightmares at Severfalls hadn’t been just nightmares. Those evil pieces of shit had known.

I turned to him, hoping he would close the distance between us and pull me into his arms. Instead, I found him still by the door. His gaze on me was cold. Distant.

My heart sank. “Emery?”

He turned his back on me for the door. “It’s a shame. But you can still make things right, Eve,” he said in a low, unnatural voice. “You still have time to set this straight.”

“I-I don’t…understand.” He went to open the door. “Emery, don’t leave me.”

He stilled for a moment. “You keep secrets.” He turned to look at me over his shoulder and a scream tore up my throat. Black holes for eyes and a twisted, decaying smile looked back at me. “Confess,” he hissed.

He was out the door and the scream slipped past my lips. I flung myself for the door and panic overtook me when I found the hall empty.

“Eve? Eve!” I heard someone call. But I didn’t look to see who. The walls felt like they were closing in on me and I was slipping…slipping.

I ran.

I ran down the hall, through the double doors and bolted up the stairs to the church. I heard the doors slam back, and my name called again. I heard Emery’s voice shouting at me.

I ran down the aisle and saw him coming up the landing. I made for the door in the corner and wrenched it open.

A chilly wind hit me. I saw thick blue-gray clouds casting over the sun. I rushed past the garden and into the graveyard, past the headstones and a row of twisted trees. I saw a largeovergrown evergreen tree and noticed an opening in its thick branches underneath one side. I sank to my knees and crawled under the pine, shrieking when I felt a heavy hand grasp my ankle.

I kicked and was surprised when the hand let go. I slid myself under a branch, hitting my back against the trunk.

I gasped for air, bringing my knees up to my chest. I didn’t see him but knew he had to be nearby.

“Eve!” he said. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m here.”

I threw my hands over my ears and closed my eyes. Trying to block out that face, trying to not lose control.

Yet, all I could hear was that one word shouting in my head.

Confess.

I didn’t know how long I sat there. It might have been hours. The sky had darkened, and I was freezing. At some point, I stopped trying to block him out and just listened.

Several times, he tried to coax me out, begging softly. Eventually, I heard him speaking with Andrea in low whispers. She tried to talk me out too, but I wouldn’t budge.

He placed a blanket nearby, but I didn’t move to take it. He kept saying he was going to pull me out, but Andrea warned him against it each time.

“You’ll only scare her more,” she said. “Give her some time.”

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