Page 73 of Psycho

People.

Two people, to be exact, standing in the empty parking lot below in a passionate embrace. My first thought was to shatter the glass and scream for them to call for help, but as I raised my fist, clutching the scalpel in my palm still, the two bodies took a step away from each other.

And I recognized them.

Damon.

And Mack. That traitorous supermodel.

Jesus, fuck.

I swallowed down some bile as she smiled up at him before he kissed her again and walked back into the building as she turned and walked around the building.

That was when I realized where we were.

The building was only two blocks from Maddox’s home. My home.

Jesus, fuck, indeed. She set me up, some way or another. That conniving bitch was part of the reason I was here.

And I was going to use the boiling rage racing through my veins to get the fuck out. As I turned from the window toward the door, the handle turned before I could open it, and the door swung in, forcing me to duck behind it as the doctor entered.

I didn’t think.

I didn’t process or plan.

I acted.

And I acted like a caged animal intent on enacting catastrophic damage to my prey.

Swinging my right arm in a downward arch, I buried the scalpel in the side of his neck as he walked into the dark room, kicking the door shut behind him and swinging my left hand around the front of his neck, slicing it and soaking both hands in warm blood as I shoved him to the floor.

He rolled over on his back, frantically clawing at his neck to staunch the bleeding as it spilled out through his fingers, staring up at me with wide eyes in shock.

“You deserved this.” I sneered down at him as he collapsed flat onto his back, bleeding out faster than he could process, even with his medical degree. Standing over him, I watched long enough to see him take his last breath before I turned and headed back out into the hall.

My blood was cold, and fury filled every cell in my muscles.

Fuck them all for thinking they could just take what wasn’t theirs.

They’d pay for it with their lives before I was done.

Every single last one of them.

But as I tiptoed down the dim hallway again, a hand covered my mouth as a strong body ripped me backward into one of the rooms. My arms flailed, slicing skin with the scalpels as the man who grabbed me slammed my back against the wall, grabbing my wrists and pinning them above my head with his hand still over my mouth.

Piercing blue eyes, one covered with blood from a fresh slice to his forehead, stared back at me and I screamed against the palm. My stomach contracted, but I was so scared of the man holding me, I hardly even noticed.

“Well, well, well, Little Hacker.” The Duke whispered at me as he held me prisoner. “And to think, I came to rescue you, butit looks like you were well on your way to do it on your own.” I fought his hold as the pain of the contraction intensified and my knees gave out. “I think it’s time we called in reinforcements to get you out of here alive, don’t you? After all, my brother Dane loves when little brother Tamen calls and interrupts his life.”

Chapter 34 – Maddox

Idrove through the city, with my tablet propped up on my dash, running a scan every few hundred yards, hoping and praying that something would come up on the tracker in that damn bracelet.

But with every passing city block, my anger soared higher at the lack of even a blip on the screen.

My phone lit up with a number I recognized as one I never answered willingly. Seconds away from declining, I cursed myself and hit the accept button.

“Feel like dying today?” I asked in place of a greeting.

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