Page 15 of Hell Gate

LILY

When my eyes snap open in the middle of the night, my pulse races. I lay still beneath the floral quilt in the dark, trying to get my brain to work. I wasn’t having a nightmare. After I went to the library two days ago, I stopped having the same dream of the fake fantasy world my mind invented.

So why…?

Movement from the corner of my eye makes my heart stumble violently. A gasp catches in my throat as the huge shadow moves into the moonlight.

A large hand covers my mouth before I release the scream building in my lungs.

“Hush.”

It’s Alder. The last of my shadows.

I grab his wrist and squeeze hard, digging my nails in. He brings his face close to mine, near enough that I can make out his unaffected smirk in the faint light filtered through the curtains. Forcing out a pissed breath through my nose, I react without thinking, attacking hard enough to break skin.

He flexes his grip, giving my jaw a little shake before he lets go without even a grimace of pain. I want to scream just to spite him. Sitting up, I press my back against the wall, bringing my knees up.

“What. The. Fuck?” I hiss. “Are you psychotic? How did you get in here?”

How long was he there watching me before I woke up?

Alder emits a gravelly rumble, jerking his chin at the window. I gape, eyes sliding from his massive build to the tiny window.

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” I whisper-shout.

Across the room, Marie snuffles in her sleep and rolls over. My death grip tightens on the blanket. Oh god, if she wakes up—

“She will not wake,” he mutters. “No one will while I’m here.”

Is that a cryptic and creepy way of telling me he killed everyone else in the house? Dosed them? What is wrong with him? This is taking their odd obsession with messing with me too far.

My chest tightens. Even if I report him for breaking in, no one believes me when I’m in trouble. Sharp sensations prickle across my palms.

Licking my lips, I fight to control my rapid breathing. He can’t hurt me. Hewon’t. If he tries anything…I’ll lose control, like I always do when I let go of my emotions.

“How did you even find me?” My eyes widen. I knew I felt someone’s gaze on me the other day. “Did you also follow me? Have you been watching me?”

He crosses his arms, making his rugged muscles appear bigger. “I tracked you by your scent, little stray.”

My shoulders go rigid. What the fuck?

Pursing my lips, I subtly run my fingers through my hair and angle my head to take a sneaky whiff, checking if I stink. His friend insulted the way I smell, too.

“What are you?” he rasps. “Vale was right, your scent is…”

His gruff words trail off. Leaning in, he touches my hair, thick fingers sliding through it until he gives the short ends a light tug. Nothing about it is threatening. It feels sort of nice, which pisses me off. With an uneven breath, I lift my hand to bat him away. He grabs my wrist, his touch hot against my skin.

“Scars.” I shudder at the fierce way he says it, the deep, angry rumble vibrating through my body.

“Burns,” I correct harshly, even though scars is right.

Clenching his jaw, he examines my hand and follows the old wounds from my childhood up my arm. His piercing green gaze is intense and inescapable when it meets mine once more, even in the dark when I shouldn’t be able to discern the vibrant color.

Each tiny movement I make, Alder tracks with the hunger of a predator, a hunter. If I run…he’ll chase me until he catches me. Maybe push me face down into the dirt, wrap his huge hands around my hips and—

I slam down on the direction of my thoughts, chest heaving. When Valerian dared me to run, it sounded sinister, a challenge I would accept just to piss him off, but thinking about being hunted by Alder sends fire into my veins. The idea of doing anything with a man I hate should repulse me, but it has the opposite effect, my nipples pebbling beneath my camisole. He watches that too with a gleam in his hypnotic eyes and a ghost of a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“Stop it.” I wrench my wrist from his firm grip. Screw my last few weeks as a ward of the state in the system. I don’t want to stick around if it means living in close proximity to them. “I’m over this game. If you guys don’t stop stalking me, I’m out of here.”

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