Page 75 of When He Hunts

Oh, no. “Ronan…”

“They came into the house while I was sleeping. My parents were downstairs. It was my mother’s scream that woke me.”

She shook her head. No, no, she did not want to hear this story. She could already feel a teardrop sliding down her cheek.

“Why the fuck are you crying for me?” Now his hand was on her cheek. Wiping away the tear.

“Because I’m so sorry.”

“You didn’t do it. Hell, Luna, you’ve probably never hurt a person in your entire life.” His hand lingered. Then fell. “But I have.”

“You were defending yourself.” She knew he must have been. He’d woken to a scream. He’d stayed alive. He’d done what was necessary.

A shrug. “Then, sure. If that’s what you want to say, I defended myself. I ran downstairs and saw the man over my mother. He was pulling the knife out of her chest. My father was running for the door.Runningto leave her and to leave me. The guy dropped the knife. He took out a gun instead, and he fired at my dad’s back. I swear the gunfire seemed so loud that I felt like it shook the whole house.” A shake of his head. “I’d never heard gunfire up close like that before.”

Another tear leaked out. She swiped it away. Luna almost lost her sheet but managed to keep it up with a frantic grab.

“My dad fell right there, and I ran into the bastard with the gun. Hit him from behind.”

“You stopped him.” She nodded.

“He got loose. Swung at me. And laughed.”

Luna blinked.

“Then he put the gun to my forehead. Told me that my dad was a fuck up, and I had to pay the price.”

More tears. She couldn’t stop them. There was no emotion in his voice. But he must have been so afraid back then. Terrified.

“But this guy, he liked a personal touch with his kills. That’s what he told me. As he held the gun to my head, he told me that knives were better. They were his favorite. He smiled, and he put the gun down. I backed the hell away as he picked up the knife that still had my mother’s blood on it. This fucking freak could have killed me with a pull of the trigger, but he got off on slicing up his prey. My mom wasn’t dead, you see. I could hear her breathing. Gasping. And his eyes kept sliding back to her.”

Luna shook her head.

“He was going to torture us both. My prick father had gotten off easily. When he ran and left us, he got a swift trip to hell. The bullet blasted through his head. His brains were on the door.”

She put a hand to her mouth.

“Disgusting, isn’t it?” Flat. Still so emotionless. “Brutal? Welcome to my world. Welcome to my life. That’s what I am, Luna. I’m brutal. Because that’s what I had to be. He came at me with the knife, and I tried to dodge. The blade sliced down my chin. The freak said something about drawing first blood. Like it was all a game. Like life and death were a game to him.”

Her hand fell back to her side. “How did you get away?”

“Wrong question. Don’t you mean, ‘How did I kill him?’”

She waited. Then, nodded. “Yes.” That was what she’d meant.

“I ran at the bastard. I was a defensive end on my high school’s football team. Always bigger than everyone else but still damn fast. Bastard was laughing. Twirling that damn knife in his hand, and something broke inside of me. All I wanted to do washurthim. Rage consumed me. No, more than that, I lost myself in the rage.”

“Ronan…”

“I slammed into him as hard as I could. Then I started beating the hell out of him.” His hands fisted again. “Over and over again. And when he swung back, I barely felt the blows.”

Her feet were rooted to the floor.

“I thought I’d knocked him out. I rose. I found the gun because, hell, I figured I needed some kind of weapon. I was calling for help when I heard the floor creak behind me.” He swallowed. “I whirled, and he was coming at me. I fired. He went down.” Brittle. “By the time the ambulance and the cops arrived, my mother was long gone. I was holding her in my arms. My dad’s body was just where he’d fallen. They had to step over him in order to get to me.”

A slow exhale. “That doesn’t make you a killer, Ronan. You were defending yourself. Trying to protect your family.”

His lips twisted. “He was only the first, Luna. After we buried my parents, I went to live with my grandfather. I even tried the whole college routine, but it wasn’t really for me. I finally wound up as a Marine.”

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