Page 53 of Cruel Cravings

He won’t offer any other explanation. He won’t go deeper, telling me exactly what he means. But I don’t need him to—the sincerity in his rough, gravel-like voice spoke for itself. The sliver of understanding I find staring him in the face tells me what I need to know.

My throat tightens as I blink to tears.

“Thanks,” I mumble. “That… that actually… it means a lot.”

I give him more water and then take the empty glass and bowls into the kitchen, where they join the rest of the pile in the sink. The Klums will find a mess when they eventually return, but they’ll just have to understand that other things were more important.

Carrying my duffle bag and backpack into the main room of the cabin, I set them down by the door. The keys to the station wagon dig into the palm of my hand as I clutch them and turn around to face Brontë one last time.

“I wasn’t going to leave you alive. This place was going to burn down with you in it,” I say, gesturing to the bottles oflighter fluid in the far corner. I’d dug them out of the Klum’s shed out back. A laugh that’s dark and brutally honest leaves me. “But I’m not going to do that. I’m going to leave you like this and let you figure out your own way to escape. Hopefully, you’ll take it as a sign of good will.

“If I’m being honest, it feels weird parting ways. You’ve… you’ve been a part of my life for years now. You’ve brought me so much fear that seeing you still disgusts me. It pisses me off to know what you put me through. All the times I was made to feel crazy. But I guess… there was some other part of me that took comfort in the fact that you were watching. You were always lurking. In some fucked up way, I wasn’t so alone anymore.”

Brontë’s jaw sets. Something new darkens in his expression.

He’s angry. He… doesn’t want me to leave.

I turn my back on him and step toward the door at the same time there’s a sharp knock from the other side.

My blood turns to ice, intuition aware of who it must be.

“Ms. Hyde,” comes Deputy Dudley’s voice from the doorstep. “I know you’re home. Your car is in the drive and the lights are on. Please answer the door. There’s a very important situation I would like to discuss with you.”

I slink toward the door and peek through the peephole.

The deputy isn’t alone.

He’s standing beside another man in uniform, their squad car flashing red and blue lights from a close distance.

“Shit,” I whisper under my breath.

This can’t be good.

17.Jael

Disparate Youth - Santigold

“Afternoon, Deputy,” I greet, smiling wide. “I didn’t expect for you to be back so soon. And you brought a friend this time.”

My insides shake, my gaze panning from Deputy Dudley to the man he’s brought with him. He’s slimmer, more hard-edged, with a jaw that looks sharp as a razor and thin lips pressed into a tight line. Mirrored aviators block his eyes from view, making him look more intimidating than the average law enforcement official.

But it’s the gold star pinned to his chest that catches my attention most of all.

It hits me who this is. If Dudley is the deputy, then this man isthesheriff.

They know.

The two words slither through my brain, hissing at me in a cruel, taunting tone. I’d like to counter the inner voice set on basking in my destruction, but how can I when it’s the truth? Why else would they show up at the cabin if they didn’t know?

If they weren’t working with the others?

Laurent, Wolford, everyone is against me.

I can only rely on one person.

Myself.

I form my plan on the spot, keeping my broad smile and deciding I’m going down with a fight. I’m not going to let them take advantage of me anymore. I’ve let people bully me for too long and it stops now.

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