Page 94 of Cruel Cravings

I take a step forward with my scythe at my side, revealing myself to the girl.

She staggers to a stop once she sees me. She struggles to process what she’s even seeing—a huge man standing well oversix feet with the head of a minotaur and a bloody scythe in her path.

I set off at a slow walk toward her and then gather speed the more steps I take. The walk becomes a run.

Imani spins on her heel and takes off. She weaves down different passages in her attempt to lose me, the sharp vines and twigs further tearing at her long dress. Fear grips her so intensely she doesn’t seem to care as she pumps her legs and runs even faster.

She doesn’t even notice once I’ve slowed down and let her slip away. She keeps running for her life.

I could’ve easily overtaken her. I could’ve done it, ripping her off her feet and slamming her to the ground. My scythe would’ve come down and slashed her to pieces.

The kill would’ve been quick, over in seconds.

It would’ve shown Jael that I’ll do anything for her.

But I’m aware who else is watching. The two guardians Imani has had, much like I’ve protected Jael.

One of them appears to me moments later as if he’s sensed what I was considering.

Archer Hurst steps into view like a ghost from the past. He’s grown from a smug, snot-nosed boy to the adult equivalent in a polished black tuxedo and signature smirk.

Neither of us move as we face each other and screams sound from elsewhere in the hedge maze.

“I thought you were dead,” he says.

My grip on the scythe tightens and my glare narrows from behind the slits of the minotaur mask. He seems to sense this because his smirk spreads.

We both know what would happen if the other made a move. It would be bloodier, more gruesome and violent than the fight in the woods many years ago.

I would kill him. I would make him suffer until his body gave out. The revenge deserved.

He takes a step back, deciding not to test his luck. “Stay out of my way or I’ll finish the job.”

Archer disappears down the passage he came.

We’ve reached a stalemate for the time being, but it won’t last long. My thirst for violence and his smug sense of victory can’t coexist. The isle is too small for the both of us.

The scythe drops from my grasp and I turn toward the exit. The games are nearing their end, and there’s too much happening around the estate to remain where I am any longer.

Jael is out there as the night wears on and what sounds like a massacre has begun. Screams that echo from outside the maze, elsewhere within Hurst Manor.

I’ll have to find her to make sure no one dares harm her, but also that she doesn’t do some harm herself, like I know she will.

29.Jael

Antagonist - Nova Twins

The foyer of Hurst Manor is like a crime scene. The grandeur that once defined it—the gleaming marble floors, the towering pillars, the sweeping staircase—has been smeared with the evidence of the night’s brutality. Blood streaks the checkerboard tiles in erratic, desperate patterns. The heavy double doors that once guarded the entrance now stand open, a cold draft blowing in. At the threshold lays the crumpled body of a player that didn’t survive.

Screams echo from the hedge maze as the last few players either fight back or are picked off.

My focus is on my singular goal of the night.

Locating Imani Makune and making sure that if she does escape the hedge maze, I’m the person that’ll greet her.

She’d been thrown into the Midnight Games last minute by the Hostess. It was some kind of cruel, demented joke on her part, forcing Imani to join the players in the hedge maze. I’d been serving the society members, still posing as one of the nameless, faceless help, but every moment that Imani was in the ballroom, I was watching her out of the corner of my eye.

Brontë has scolded me for what I’ve been doing. He’s said it’s risky taunting her the way I have, making her believe she’s seeing things.

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