Page 6 of Saint

After staring at me silently for a moment, the masked stranger reaches for the door handle and gets out, slamming the car door behind him.

I watch as he walks over to where Liam is still crouched. He tucks his hands in his pockets and looks down at him. Liam is shouting something, but it’s all white noise with my heart hammering in my chest.

The silent movie plays out before me as they continue to discuss the tire—or the party. A prickle of intuition creeps through me. Something is wrong, but I can’t put my finger on it.

After a few moments, Liam stands, slapping his hand on the car and kicking the tire. Liam cares more about his Ferrari than anything, so he’s clearly pissed.

He turns to the stranger, and they continue talking. I wait for either of them to pull out their phone to call for help. But they just stand there, speaking too quietly for me to hear them through the windows.

Every so often, Liam glances over at me, and slowly, his anger is replaced with a stone-cold expression. I can’t read the masked man with his face hidden, but whatever they’re discussing changes my boyfriend’s demeanor.

Finally, Liam relaxes. But something about it has my spine tingling, so I adjust the sleeves of my sweater and press my thighs tight.

There’s static in the air.

Energy that might as well be radiating up from hell in a warning.

Liam grins, and then he says something that has the masked stranger’s attention snapping to me. He pauses with that sick blue smile glowing through the night as he listens to whatever my boyfriend is saying.

The moment stretches between us.

Quiet.

Endless.

Boundless.

And when Liam finishes his thought and grins again, everything changes.

The masked stranger pulls a blade from his pocket just as Liam tips his head back in a laugh. And when his gaze catches the glint of the blade in the moonlight, I watch the fear fill his eyes.

And then there’s only blood.

3

Run

Violet

The scream that ripsout of me cuts off in a sob as Liam’s body slumps to the ground.

The stranger doesn’t so much as flinch. And while every survival instinct tells me to run, I can’t help jumping out of the car and rushing for Liam instead.

My knees scrape the pavement as I drop to where his body is twisted on the road. I plant my hands on his throat, trying to stop the blood pouring out, but it seeps between my fingers and drips onto the ground.

“Liam.” Tears streak down my cheeks, and my heart races as I watch what’s left of the light leaving his eyes. “Stay with me.”

His mouth falls open as he chokes for a breath, but all that comes out is blood.

Every cold thing he’s ever said or done is forgotten as I hold him. I’ve witnessed so much death it doesn’t matter if I wasn’t in love with him; I can’t bear the sight of losing one more person.

Maybe if I’d stayed at the dorm tonight, he would have stayed with me. We might have still fought about something small and random because that’s what we’re good at. But we wouldn’t have been out here in the middle of the night. On a road with no other cars and a killer waiting.

Maybe if I’d done this all differently, this wouldn’t have happened.

Blood spurts out, and I know there’s no hope. I’ve seen death enough—and in so many ways—that I knew he was gone the moment the stranger’s blade sliced open his throat. Still, I hold on and hope for the impossible.

I think back to the time I spent at a hospital growing up. My mom worked so many graveyard shifts, she brought me with her sometimes and let me sleep in the on-call room. It wasn’t allowed, but the other nurses didn’t tell on her so long as I stayed put.

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