Page 42 of Beautiful Cruelty

I drop down from the window, my expensive shoes squelching on the mud below. Another piece of thread catches my eye, snagged on a rough patch of stone several feet away.

Crouching down, I compare its position to the first one still clinging above.

And draw a straight line toward the tree line at the edge of the grounds.

Clever girl.

My pulse quickens as I imagine finding her. Will she try and fight me? Or will she come back willingly? Either possibility is making my blood sing in anticipation.

Without hesitation, I sprint toward the trees, my long legs eating up the distance. The familiar rush of the hunt floods my body, and I can't stop the grin spreading across my face at the thought of catching her.

12

LACEY

I freezeat the sound of a branch snapping behind me. My heart pounds against my ribs.

Another snap, closer this time.

Vadim.He's close. He has to be.

I squeeze my eyes shut, picturing him prowling through the woods like a predator. Those storm-gray eyes must be dark with anger now. The thought sends a shiver down my spine that has nothing to do with fear.

I will my feet to move, but for some reason, they remain perfectly still.

"Do you really think you could run from me?"I imagine his voice rumbling in my head, low and dangerous.

Heat floods my cheeks as unbidden thoughts surface. Powerful hands gripping my waist, and spinning me around to face him. Thick fingers digging against my hips as he pushes me up against a tree, until there's nowhere for me to run...

"Stop it, stop it, stop it!" I whisper to myself, trying to banish the images. But they persist, taunting me with possibilities that make my breath catch.

"I'll have to teach you what happens to people who don't obey my orders.”The imaginary Vadim of my mind purrs in my ear.

The footsteps draw closer. Leaves crunch under deliberate steps. My body trembles, wavering between the urge to run away and the traitorous desire to stay exactly where I am.

C'mon, Lacey! Move!

What the fuck is wrong with me right now?

"You can’t run, zvyozdochka. Not when I’m already in your head.”

A twig snaps directly behind me. I hold my breath, frozen in place like a rabbit before a wolf. The air feels electric, charged with anticipation, and I realize Iwanthim to catch me.

To pin me down.

To teach me a lesson on why I shouldn’t run from him.

"Fuck that," I snarl, and force myself to take one step forward, then another, and then another, until I start running again.

Branches whip past my face as I sprint between the trees. The sound of pursuit grows closer. Vadim's footsteps crush leaves and twigs in his relentless pursuit, closing the distance between us with every stride.

My lungs are on fire. I can't keep this pace much longer. But I have to try.

A flash of movement catches my peripheral vision. A dark shape moves parallel through the trees. My heart hammers against my ribs. He's trying to cut me off.

I veer sharply left, away from him. And that's when my foot tangles into something—a twisted root jutting up from the ground.

Gravity shifts, and the world tilts sideways as I pitch forward with a scream.

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