Page 63 of Prey

My finger landed heavily on his shoulder. “Fuck off,” he spluttered inside the mouth of the cheerleader.

White flashed behind my eyes, and my fist struck the side of his neck. He jolted forward and turned around, expecting to punch the man before him, until he realized it was me, Gunner Kaiser, pleased to meet you.

My hand went to his throat as his back slammed against the wall, and the cheerleader screamed in my ear to get off him. Callum was bigger than me; in fact, he was bigger than most menin this frat house, but when a man had something to fight for, it took physical strength to a new level.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Confusion washed across his face as his eyes rolled about in his skull, forehead furrowed, hoping I was just fucking around drunk and stupid.

I leaned in and hissed quietly, so no one could hear, “Did Shaun fuck Riley Laws?”

His Adam’s apple bobbled under my hand as he swallowed, hesitating, fretting as he considered how to answer the question.

“Answer me,” I rammed him harder against the wall.

“Y…es,” he squirmed.

Something cold snaked down my back, and I gave him another shove. “Where is he?”

“I…I don’t know-”

Knocked his head against the wall again. “Where the fuck is he?”

He swallowed again, and Adam’s apple bobbled. “Gunner, fuck, I saw him go upstairs, alright, with a girl. Fuck, Gunner, what are you going to do?”

My hand dropped away, and I turned and ran up the wooden stairs as the siren still rang in my head and the color red blazed behind my eyes. The atmosphere was swirling, walls waving in and out, and I could hear my name shouted from the ground floor.

I tried the handle, but it’s locked. Panting and fucking noises hammering through the wood. I stepped back and kicked the door down with one blow as the siren in my head drowned out sounds, and a fire burned behind my eyes.

Shaun was naked, lying on some chick, legs spread. She startled and screamed, but Shaun was stunned, momentarily dazed. I could see the guilt on his face. He knew. He knew why I was here.

“Get out,” I ordered the girl, focusing on Shaun.

“What’s going on?” she cried out as Shaun rolled off her and threw her clothes at her to leave.

As soon as she was gone, I slowly shut the door behind me so it was just me and Shaun in the room. He tied a sheet around his waist and stepped back to the window, perhaps considering jumping as an escape. But even if I let him go, I’d still hunt him down and make him pay one way or another.

So, he had two choices. Now or later.

30

Avoicemail left by Sergeant George Tindale, wanting to check in with me like Judith always did, to make sure that I was okay and if there was anything I needed. Hearing his voice rather than Judith’s reassuring mannerisms sat uneasily with me. I didn’t know the man, and even though he was filling in for only a few months until Judith returned from maternity leave, I struggled to feel good about it.

Only a handful of people in my life knew who I was and where I came from, and Judith was one of them. She was there at the beginning, my guiding hand, counselor, and protector. It felt likeshe had cut me loose for a few months, which was a good thing in the long run.

My finger hovered over my screen to call him back, but I was distracted by the date on the screen. How did I not notice earlier? That date. Annika’s birthday. Annika, that blond girl adopted by the Kaiser family, gave her every material thing she could need and all the love and attention she could possibly absorb. Yeah, it’sherbirthday—the girl I used to be.

My mood turned dark, and even though Judith would’ve been the perfect person to talk to offload about my grief and frustrations, Sergeant George Tindale wasn’t. I didn’t feel comfortable crying on the phone to him about Annika’s birthday because he’d probably think I was being silly. It’s hard to explain how I forgot my past to create a new future, but those auspicious moments, such as birthdays, Gunner holding my hand when I cried, and Christmas around the tree, still cropped up.

“Happy birthday, Annika,” I whispered, then brushed aside the grief because there was no point dwelling on something that didn’t exist anymore.

Making a mental note to call the sergeant later, I slid my laptop into my bag and scrutinized my face in the mirror to ensure I didn’t have smeared food particles or pen ink. However, I noticed a thin strip of blond emerging under the chocolate brown hair color, but luckily, I booked ahead at a hair salon in town.

Being a fraud took a lot of work, regular hair appointments to cover the blond, never going anywhere without my glasses on, always having my green contact lenses in, etc. It’s tiring but necessary.

I left my lonely little room with my bag and headed to class, about a twenty-minute walk away. As soon as I stepped out into the sunshine, I glanced down the street for that shiny Mustang and smiled when I saw it parked behind a blue sedan. Due to thedarkened windows, I couldn’t tell if he was inside, but I expected him to follow me as I wandered down the street in the opposite direction.

This was our game. He followed me while I pretended not to notice. Sometimes, I felt him watching for most of the day and would wonder why he didn’t go to class. Other times, I’d see him for a fleeting moment, then won’t notice his sullen figure again until the following day.

After my fling with Ronan in the natural spring pool, I took a break from Rourke and ignored his messages. It wasn’t due to guilt but because Rourke was so intense that sometimes it was a little suffocating. Ronan went weird on me after he seduced me in the pool, and Rourke was too possessive. I needed a break from both men and was pleased Ronan wasn't there when I turned up for work last night.

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