Page 112 of Break The Ice

Raider runs to the door and grabs it, yanking hard, but it resists being opened.

“Fuck! Get out of the way, Wren,” he snaps and backs up.

Wren steps back, but I can feel the tension in the room shoot up. Raider snarls and puts his shoulder to the door, slamming repeatedly. The sound in the house abruptly stops.

Raider pauses, listening hard and steps back as footsteps run towards the bedroom. They stop on the other side. Raider glances back at Wren, and the pair of them reach for their hockey sticks.

BANG.

BANG.

BANG.

He’s on the other side of the door. Literally, a piece of wood separates us. But who is he? What does he want? Why won’t he go away?

Wren and Raider are intensely focused, both hefting their hockey sticks and ready to attack, but Kit slides his hand down my arm and wraps his fingers around my wrist.

Just when I think I’m about to shout from the toxic mix of frustration and fear, the person on the other side starts banging on the door. Repeated thumping sounds, faster and faster and faster, until I can’t hear anything but that.

I scream before I can stop myself. It’s too much. It’s far too much. Callan pulls me into his chest and wraps his arms around me super tight.

“Fuck this!” Wren says and charges the door.

We hear a manic laugh, and then footsteps running away, but the door has splintered under Wren’s weight. Raider throws himself at it, the two savagely breaking the door down to a broken ruin and fight their way through. The hole isn’t big enough, but they keep throwing themselves at it, refusing to give up.

From downstairs comes the sound of a door slamming hard. Callan is one step ahead of me, rushing to the window. I look past him and see the man rushing into the woods.

“He won’t be on camera. We have no proof,” I mutter in between desperate gasping sobs.

Callan hums and turns back just as Wren and Raider break into the hallway.

The two of them take off, but it’s no good. He’s already gone. I sit on the edge of the bed and look down at my hands.

Callan puts an arm around me and drags me against his chest.

“I’ve had enough, Callan. I can’t take this anymore.” My eyes fill with tears that spill over. “I’ve spent years running, training, and trying to shake this asshole off my tail. This,” I throw my hand to the door. “This was a new level. He’s escalating.”

“Ryann,” Callan murmurs and kisses my temple. “We’re going to catch him. We’ll be fine.”

I scowl. I don’t want to say that I’m starting to worry that we won’t, but he’s beaten the technology, the intelligence of everyone I know. He’s invisible.

The guys come back, but we’re all too riled to sleep, and I wonder if that’s part of his plan. We’re all sleep-deprived now. All a little bit slower, less ‘on’ than we usually are.

I look at Kit and remember how he came home a few nights ago. His eyes wild, his hair in a disarray, panting, panicked.

I’d heard the whispered conversation he had with Raider.

Someone tried to run him off the road, to kill him. It hadn’t just been a quick thing, the driver had terrorized him for more than an hour.

Is that what this guy is working up to? Will he kill to have me?

Am I prepared to kill to stay free?

A few months ago, the answer would have been resoundingly no, but tonight. Well, tonight, my answer is different.

If push came to shove, I could kill a person, and I would have to defend myself. I have something to lose. Just thinking about the fact I almost lost Kit leaves me with a killing rage.

And tonight, the invasion, the desecration of our safe spaces. It’s enough to drive a girl mad.

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