Page 60 of Edge of Control

“Hello?”

“Jace, I need you. Please. Come over. I’m—bad panic attack.” Theo’s voice shook. My stomach instantly dropped.

“I’ll be right there.”

Chapter 23

Theo Glass

There was stillblood on my hands. I washed them in my bathroom sink. The water turned red. I ran to the toilet and heaved, chunks of my dinner splashing into the water.

I fucked up. Big-time.

I needed help.

Tequila wasn’t enough. Xanax wasn’t enough. Luke wasn’t enough.

I grabbed my phone, my hands still shaking. I missed Jace’s name twice, tapping it the third time. It rang twice before he answered.

“Hello?”

“Jace, I need you. Please. Come over. I’m—bad panic attack.”

This would likely be my second major mistake of the night. But I didn’t care.

I needed Jace.

I needed to get out of here. Halden’s roommate coming home early wasn’t part of the plan. He was still on the bed, ass up, wearing the pink thong I’d asked him to put on. My book bag was on the floor. I’d silently pulled out the knife. I was close to slicing his throat.

All I had to do was lean over, apply pressure, and be done with it. Then, I’d go through my ritual.

Delete the memory of the camera I knew was hidden in the closet.

Take a photo of the next line in the poem I’d written.

Clean up my hands before I inserted the wires into his shoulders.

Attach the raven feathers to the wires, one by one, knowing that I was doing the right thing.

Then, I’d search through his belongings, through his phone, his computer, all trying to find some kind of pathway to the finish line. The last three victims had a clean trail behind them, but I could sense that I was close. So close to cutting off the head of this snake. The last text message told me that they were onto me. But I bought a new phone, adopted a new persona, scheduled another night with one of their escorts. Someone who deserved this treatment.

Halden was a bad guy. He’d raped his best friend. I found this out through an article written about it in the small town where he was from. His daddy had money, connections, and the case was dropped. But the best friend insisted it happened. Even to me, when I reached out to ask him. He said Halden drugged and raped him.

And he worked for Pressure Point. He was part of thereason why my sister wasn’t around. Why people like me suffered.

So I had to make him suffer.

But I couldn’t do that. Not with the roommate in the apartment.

He wiggled his ass. “Hello?” he asked, voice muffled by his face in the pillow.

“Theo, Jesus, you look—not great.”

I let Jace into my apartment. It was the first time he’d come inside. The first time anyone had come inside.

He wasn’t wrong. I knew I looked like shit. He still wrapped me in a hug. I realized my breath still likely smelled like vomit. I avoided kissing him. I paced back to my bathroom and rinsed my mouth with mouthwash. Jace followed me, leaning on the doorframe.

Luke had decided to introduce himself. He rubbed against Jace’s leg.

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