Page 62 of Because the Night

“Did you actually just admit to planning to stalk me?”

He lifts one shoulder in an elegant shrug. “The way I am with you is strange and new to me. I cannot explain it, but denying it is pointless.”

“So, what you’re basically saying is that I can leave you, but you’re coming, too.”

He thinks it over and nods. “That about sums it up.”

“Lucas—”

“You should get some sleep. Even Henry has been resting today, and he has centuries on you. Healing takes energy.”

He has a point. But my mind is busy as fuck. “I keep thinking about the instruments of torture they had lined up waiting for me in that place. The knives and hammer and saw are all pretty obvious. But what were they going to do with the salt and the needle and thread?”

“Salt in a wound hurts and it delays healing.”

“Oh.”

“As for the needle and thread…I am not sure.”

“I watched a show once where they sewed a person’s lips shut as some sort of strange punishment.” And just the thought of such a thing sends a shiver down my spine. “So gross.”

“Most anything is believable of my brother. Though, I’ve never heard of Marc doing such a thing.”

“I want you to use me as bait to lure him out,” I say before my courage can desert me.

“What?” snaps Lucas. “No. Absolutely not.”

“We need this to end. I refuse to spend every night looking over my shoulder. Just waiting for him to mess with me some more.”

“Skye, he will be found and dealt with. I promise you.”

“I don’t want anyone else being sent back as ashes in a box, either.”

His lips flatline.

“Using me makes sense. You know it does. We can turn his weird fixation with me into a positive. Lure him into a trap and finish him once and for all.”

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“No,” I say. “I’m not. You said this was a family, and I am supposed to be part of it. So let me help solve this problem.”

His sigh is mighty. “I will consider your offer. But first you will allow Nico and me to track him and attempt to deal with him our way.”

I just nod. It’s the best response I’m going to get for now. “The needle and thread were fine.”

“What?”

“The needle and thread with the torture stuff. They weren’t thick. Wouldn’t you need something substantial to push through skin?”

Lucas just looks at me, saying nothing for a long moment, and then, “Skye, what color was the thread?”

“Black.”

“Like your dress.”

“Yes.”

And he’s gone. It takes me a moment longer to follow him into the bathroom, where my abandoned dress is laying on the ground. Lucas inspects the seams of the garment, and then the hem.

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