Page 60 of Hunted By the Headless Horseman
Thaddeus knows—truly knows—that something is out here, lurking just beyond his reach. Something unknown…with black eyes watching him from the shadows.
My fingers are restless as they hold my cane, the urge to bash his skull in is nearly irresistible.
With a final sweep of his gaze, Thaddeus turns and continues down the path, but his steps are slower, less certain—as if he senses the weight of an unseen beast tracking him. My smirk widens.
I’m ready to follow him home, let the wretch of a knave feel the fear, let it creep into his bones and fester. Soon, Thaddeus will learn what kind of ghost haunts him.
Soon, you’ll see exactly what kind of monster you’ve awakened.
Before I take another step, I feel it—a sharp, searing pain in my chest. A tether pulled taut. My bond to Belle flares to life. By God, she’s suffering, terrified. She’s in danger, and I have no time to waste.
No hesitation. I shadow through the darkness, moving swiftly and silently down the mountain, driven by one goal, one thought, one purpose.
Find Belladonna Holloway before it’s too late.
23
What will happen if we can’t find his heart by Samhain?
BELLE
He’s going to have my hide for this.
As long as I find him, as long as I stop him, that’s all that matters.
I urge Revenant up the rocky path, the terrain becoming steeper, the air thinner. She shakes her head with a snort, gnawing at the bridle, but she obeys.
Other than more growth, the path hasn’t changed—like it’s been frozen in time, suspended as Jack’s manor has. Sometimes, I’ve wondered if the Covenant was a gateway to hell, and it blackened everything around it. It would help rationalize the dark things that always seemed to creep in the air, the random pockets of chilled air, the chronic prickling along the spine.
I rushed to the sanctum of trees any day I could, finding solace in the books I’d hide under an obliging log or bury next to a tree I’d marked.
With each step, the oppressive weight of my past bores into me. Memories worm into my mind like shadowy fingers, and the chill of the night air wraps around me, suffocating my spirit. It’s enough to cripple me. Whatever energy surrounds this place, it’s threatening to drag me into its haunting undertow, devour me forever.
I suck down breaths, trying to focus on Revenant, on the silkiness of her hide, the coarseness of her mane, her breath leaving in ghostly huffs as she climbs. But my lungs are withering.
Memories I’ve buried like those books—but not happy ones—splinter through my mind in broken visions. My heart races, thumping wildly against my rib cage as the images and sensations claw at me, triggering my PTSD.
Find Jack. Go back. Find Jack.
The voices war within me.
Come back, Belle.All my nerve endings riot at the voice deepening in my mind. Nononono!
My stomach swirls with a thousand whirlpools. My head dizzies. No! It’s been years since I had a flashback.
Jack…Jack…
“Now, Belle,” the menacing voice commands.
Melancholy fills me as I put down my book, leave the sanctumof my chair near the fireplace in our room, and return to my husband, who stands in front of the bed. One of few books I’m allowed to read in the Covenant is the Bible. But some parts are missing. Mimi has shown me those parts.
I love the story of Esther. She was taken as a slave for the King, but she became Queen and saved her people. It always read like a fairy tale to me with the villain of Haman, the wise sage, Mordecai, the foolish King, the shrewd heroine, the high stakes, and the happy ending.
But my king is not foolish. He’s cunning. And I am not strong…not like Esther.
My heart pitches in my chest with every step I take until I arrive before him, my hands folded before me, demure and docile as is my place. The nightgown I wear is sheer and loose, but it feels confining…even if he could rip it from me in an instant, baring me until I’m vulnerable. Weak. Submissive. Ready for him.
Thaddeus towers over me, his shadow drowning me, swallowing me whole. His smile doesn’t give me butterflies anymore.
