Page 246 of Craving Venom

“Trevor’s. I found him in the alleyway, all bloodied and beaten. His lip was shoved so far down his fucking throat I could see teeth in his stomach. His nails were ripped off, one by one.Like someone sat there and peeled him open piece by piece. One of his eyes was hanging by the optic nerve. Just… dangling.”

“Oh my God.” Tria’s hand flies to her mouth.

“I found him with seconds left,” Xaden croaks. “He was choking on his own blood. I held his head up and he just looked at me, like he recognized me, but not really. He was already gone.”

Xaden wipes his mouth with the back of his shaking hand. His eyes are red, raw, unfocused.

“He mumbled something,” he whispers. “Before he died.”

My spine stiffens.

“What did he say?”

Xaden looks up. Straight at me.

“The Nighthawk.”

The room spins.

Everything inside me collapses, all at once. My lungs don’t work. My legs don’t feel real. The blood in my veins turns to ice.

I did not just sleep with a stalker.

I slept with a wanted serial killer.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

THE BEAUTY

The phone won’t stop trembling in my hand. Maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m the one shaking, but it feels the other way around. I keep pacing barefoot as the cold hardwood bites into my soles. My thumb taps redial before I even think it through. Still no answer.

“Pick up, pick the fuck up,” I whisper, dragging my palm down my face. Sebastian’s voicemail kicks in again. I hang up before it even ends.

Tria left a couple hours ago, finally, after I practically had to scream at her to go be with Xaden. I promised her I’d be okay. I’m such a good liar, aren’t I?

I hit the call button again, this time on my mother’s number. My thumb hovers over the screen as I hold the phone to my ear. “Mom, I need you to try Sebastian. Please. Something’s wrong. I—”

No answer.

I check the screen again. Calling… Not connected yet. What the hell? My other hand clenches into a fist as I spin and dark my eyes around the room.

A few hours ago this place felt safe. Now the shadows stretch differently, like they’re watching me. Feeding off my unease. I glance at the door. It is closed with the hallway light spilling underneath in a sharp golden strip that cuts across the floor and then I see movement. A shadow is blocking the light.

I don’t want to go to the door, but I creep towards it anyway. Because I’m stupid. Because I’m curious. Because something inside me is broken and doesn’t understand survival instinct anymore.

I press my ear against the wood but there’s nothing. Just my heartbeat screaming in my ears. Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe I’m losing it again.

I unlatch the lock and twist the knob, cracking the door open to an empty hallway and nothing but silence.

I almost laugh, until I feel a body behind me.

The heat at my back spikes like a fever. The hairs at my nape rise. A breath ghosts against my neck, and I know. I fucking know.

My phone buzzes back to life, lighting up with a green icon. My mom. I raise it to my ear with the grace of a corpse.

“Faith?” her voice is groggy, confused. “Sweetie, it’s late, what’s wrong?”

“I… I just wanted to tell you I love you.”

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