Page 65 of Run to Me
My heart sinks and I drop to my knees as I watch him leave, my world crumbling around me. He’s finally seen me for the person others told him I was, and I showed him I’m exactly what they were all waiting for me to be.
Thirty-Two
Nate
My hands shake against the steering wheel as I sit in the parking lot of the airport, trying to wrap my brain around everything I saw. Trying to understand why I want to go back. Trying to understand why I love him as much as before and wasn’t as disgusted as I should be.
He cut a man’s tongue off—he was the man my dad warned me about. A sick feeling comes over me. Not because of what he did but because of how easily accepting of it I was. That man really did deserve what he got, and there’s no doubt in my mind the others did too.
These are bad men. They hurt people. But did that give Jace the right to take justice into his own hands? I meant what I said about him risking his life. These men are dangerous. Some might want revenge after he lets them go. They might tell their other friends about what he’s doing, and say whatever it takes to send them after him.
Worry rattles my heart in my chest. This is why he wanted me far away from him. He really was doing it for me. As I’m about to reverse the car and drive back to him, a cloth is held to my mouth, a pair of cold eyes watching mine in the mirror as everything starts to fade to black . . .
Thirty-Three
Jace
The picture coming through on my phone shakes me to my core. I was on my way home from dropping my last victim in a random corn field four hours away from where I live when my phone chimed. I waited until I stopped to get gas to open the message, my heart threatening to escape my chest when Nate’s scared face takes up the screen. No. No No.
It’s finally happened. My darkness has reached him and I might not be able to save him from being smothered by it.
Unknown number:Meet me at the address below if you want to see your brother alive again. You have twenty-four hours before I start cutting his skin from his bones.
My throat constricts, eyes seeing red as I drive to the location stated in the message. Driving way over the speed limit, I only stop to get gas, and I bypass every car who slows me down. More hours pass until I finally reach an older house standing alone on the corner of a dead-end road.
I park the car and get out, shoving a gun into the back of my pants as I slowly approach the weathered porch. The door pushes open easily at the touch of my hand and I enter the house, eyes roaming in every direction as I stay on high alert.
“Back here,” a familiar voice says, and my heart shoots into my throat.
I make my way to a small light shining from a room and pause in the doorway, bile rising in my throat when I take in my dad’s wicked smile.
“I knew I’d get you to see me eventually. I was just really hoping it wouldn’t come to this. Then again, I think I could make a pretty penny off this one.”
“What do you want?” I say through clenched teeth.
His face turns to stone and he lifts the hood from Nate’s face. His eyes are closed and his moving chest is the only indication that he’s still alive.
“According to some important friends of mine, there’s a guy who’s been after men who fit a certain criteria. I didn’t want to believe at first when one of them mentioned the scars on your hands, but then I had you followed. With this one’s help, I was able to track down your location and contact info.”
“What do you mean, with his help?” My hackles rise. “Did you put a tracker on him? Did you bug his fucking house?”
“Not me, but someone who was able to get as close as you were. I gotta say, I was disgusted at first to find out you were fucking your own brother, but then I remembered how he and his dad weren’t really anything to you. And I just know how much this will break your mom’s little heart.”
I focus on what he’s saying, pulling all his words together. “Glen . . . He—”
“Actually his name is Devin, but yeah, he was definitely worth the money I paid him.” He looks back at Nate and my fists ball at my sides when he sweeps a finger along his cheek.
“Don’t touch him.” I knew Glen had skeletons in his closet but I didn’t think they’d be worse than mine. He was working for my dad all this time. I know I told Jace I’d stop and I will, right after I make Glen regret ever stepping foot into his life. Fucking piece of shit asshole.
“Oh, but he’s so tempting. And like you, I’m finding it too hard to resist him.”
“I still don’t understand what you want.”
“I know your secret. One call and I can have your whole perfect little family buried six feet under. Don’t think I won’t.”
“What the fuck do you want?” My teeth rattle in my mouth at my raised voice.
He lifts his head, lips tilting in a mocking grin. “For you to work with me again. You were always so good at taking care of the visitors before they went to their new homes. You were made for this life.”
