Page 36 of Drowning Her

“You drowned her,” she said.

“I killed her.”

“I want to feel it too,” she whispered. “I want you to drown me.”

My throat was dry, blood pounding in my ears. She had to be testing me.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

“You want me to kill you,” I said.

“You wouldn’t kill me,” she said. “I know you wouldn’t. I just want to feel it.”

That was why my father and brother had known to pick her. They must have sensed whatever this was circulating inside of her. That she was messed up too. This strange, obsessive need to feel, even if it meant fighting for your life. A recklessness that would drown us both.

“Give it up, Maisie,” I warned. “You’re in too deep.”

“I’m not.” She inched closer, and I widened my stance, making sure she knew I wasn’t going anywhere. “You said it yourself.”

And I knew exactly what she meant:When I want you dead, you’ll be dead.She was the living proof that I wanted her around.

“Run,” I said. Maisie blinked, unable to comprehend what I was telling her. “Run!” I yelled. Her eyes flashed with fear and her hands fell to her sides, wiping the sweat from her palms against her clothes.

And then she ran.

Chapter 13

Maisie

Adrenaline prickled across my skin,an electrical current running rampant through me with each stride. Every thought inside of me was at war. Wilder had warned me to run. But I wanted to stay. To show him that he was capable of more. To fight for him. To fight forus.

But I couldn’t let go of his warning.

I raced through the trees, relieved I was in gym shoes. I tripped over a root, my chin thudding against the ground. I pushed myself back up and kept going. If Wilder said to run, then I had to run.

He was following me. And that meant he wanted to chase me.

I stumbled with the keys to the SUV. Dropped them. Scrambled to pick them up. Focused on the car. I slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine. I was stupid to accept this car. They probably had it bugged with a tracking device. That was probably why Wilder had given me my own car in the first place; he would know whereI was at all times anyway. And that must have been how Sawyer knew I was connected to the stolen money.

And why was this the first time I actually cared about my actions? I had never cared about getting caught before. I was used to ignoring the consequences until they ran me over, flattening me. Because then, I could only go forward.

But I wanted Wilder to follow me, as much as he wanted to chase me. He wanted the hunt. I wanted him to catch me.

I drove fast, not knowing where I was going, letting my instincts lead me. I concentrated on the road. Black asphalt. White lines. Yellow lines. Green signs. Pierce. Crown Creek. Pierce Mountain. Pierce Park Tunnel. Anything to get me to where I needed to go. I finally took a deep breath. My heart rate slowed. I was in a car. I was getting away. Running like Wilder told me too. But what did that mean for Wilder?

I looked in the rearview mirror: Wilder was following me, only a few car-lengths behind. Even in the rearview mirror, his gray-blue eyes were haunting in the dusky light. Fear and lust destroyed me on the inside. What I was supposed to do? Where was I supposed to go?

Where werewesupposed to go?

I ended up in the woods near Pierce Park Tunnel, the only place that was emptyanddangerous, like us. I slammed on the brakes, then headed for the tunnel. He parked near my car. The car door shut after him. I held my arms around myself, the skin at the back of my neck tingling.

Wilder had drowned a woman. He was obsessed with water, with what it did to people, with what it did tome.Throwing the wet cloth on my face. Watching me squirm as he poured water on me. Shoving my head in the trough.

And he had killed her. Like he could have killed me.

And I had asked him to do it to me again. Knowing fullwell what he was capable of. Knowing that he wouldn’t do it. Because I trusted him. Like a damn idiot.

What was wrong with me?

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