Page 22 of Prey

The door slammed shut at my push. Before that bastard attacked her and marked his territory across her fucking chest. God, I could still see that word. Mine. Fuck him. Tessa was my first everything. If she belonged to anyone, it was me.

I rushed through the front door and rounded the hallway just as she was walking into her room. She was already dressed, like I knew she would be. Since I’d been here, she rarely came out of the restroom not wearing either her clothes or a robe.

The situation couldn’t have turned out any more perfect. I stopped in my room, grabbing one of my ties from my interview suits and headed back to her room. She was staring at her opened closet that was a mess. Hangers dangled from others. Some were scattered on the floor. I didn’t wait. I slid the tie over her eyes, pulling the back of her head to my chest.

“You’re coming with me. Don’t you dare take this off until I tell you. If you can’t see, neither can he.”

“But…” Tessa didn’t fight as I stepped back, knotting the tie. “Hunter, I think he can feel me. He knows things. You don’t understand.”

“Let him look. If he’s that good, I’ll kill him. It works out either way.”

Chapter 10

Tessa

To truly love a monster made me question whether Marko was the evil one at all. Maybe it was me. Maybe my yearning for something forbidden had finally caught up with the present, and all those dark fantasies I tried to keep buried were finally materializing around me. I wasn’t good. Not deep down. Regardless of my life in the church, I was a beacon of endless dark, fucked up fantasies. The thing was, Marko had to have seen it from the beginning. He didn’t speak the truth out loud, but it didn’t mean he hadn’t been aware. I couldn’t stop the images I saw in my head of the two of us. Of me coming all over his cock repeatedly while he painted my body with blood. It was sick. Wrong. Yet, here I was, blindly staring toward the window, daydreaming of what I knew shouldn’t be. And he was seeing it all. His moans broke through my lustful fog, making my cheeks heat in mortification. I couldn’t believe I was doing it once again. That I was doing it at all. Never before had I thought about bloodplay, but it fit in with the twisted thoughts I had around sex and power. With him, it was just so right. Natural, even. And I couldn’t stand it.

Why? Why was this happening? I didn’t want to feel for this monster. So, why was I inviting death in at every opportunity? To him, I was teasing him with what he ultimately wanted and for some reason, I had no control over it. Maybe I wasn’t thinking it at all. Maybe he was somehow making it happen. Perhaps it was his projection.

Fuck, I didn’t know. Control over my mind was gone. I was doomed. Doomed to die in his arms as he sent me over the brink of pleasure. He’d make me beg for death just as much as I’d be begging for him to end this torture. He was the devil. He had to be.

My head turned away from the open blinds as I silently prayed to make it all stop. If God heard me, he wasn’t helping. For some reason, it didn’t surprise me. Not with my lack of faith. For so long, I’d tried to understand, but I just couldn’t ever convince myself to believe. Nothing made sense. Especially now.

Hunter was sitting on the bed next to mine, messing with his guns. I tried to ignore how they made my anxiety worse. I’d never trusted them. Too many times, I’d heard of one accidently going off and killing someone. Despite my fears, I couldn’t deny their presence did make me feel a little more at ease. Bullets might not kill Marko, but maybe it would give us enough time to escape.

Hunter glanced over, his brow creasing as he stared at me. Whatever was on his mind was consuming him. He kept silent a lot and constantly messed with his weapons. I wasn’t sure where his head was at and I was almost afraid to know. Whatever he’d been through in his time of service had left its mark. I could see that now, I just wasn’t sure how deep his scars ran. Was this situation with me making him worse? It had me questioning whether I should look for a reason to break our ties together. I didn’t want Hunter suffering because of me. And he surely would if he got in the way with Marko.

“I still think we should have left after the first night.”

The statement came out of nowhere and he turned back to his guns. I instantly frowned as I recalled fighting against him as he tried to get me to head back to the car.

“I told you, it’s pointless. We’re away from the city. That’s what counts. Besides…I don’t want to go further. I just want…” He knew what I wanted. I wanted to go home. I hated being out of my element, regardless of what that meant. But I’d stay here because it was my only way to protect myself. At least, until Marko came to get me. If he was even going to. Since I’d left, he refused to speak. It didn’t mean he was giving up. He wouldn’t. The blood told me that.

“Tessa, when was the last time you went out and did anything? Lived? Seen another state or went to an amusement park? The beach isn’t but a few hours. Have you gone in the last decade?”

My head lowered and even though anger surfaced, I pushed it away. “It’s hard for me to do anything. I don’t know why. I guess I’ve let my life slip away in routine.”

“Come with me,” he urged. “Let’s just…go. We may be on the run, but what an adventure we’d have. I’d show you things. It would be only me and you. We used to be so close. Think about it. Me. You. Together. Just—”

“Trying to outrun a vampire who could easily track me in a day,” I said, interrupting. “It won’t work. I can feel him, Hunter. He knows where I am. It’s only a matter of time before he loses patience and when he does, my life—and probably yours—is in his hands.”

“Bullshit,” he exploded. “I refuse to believe he’s that powerful. God, I almost wish he’d fucking come so I could put an end to him once and for all. The hate I have for that motherfucker has no bounds. I want to kill him, Tessa. I want to…” he trailed off, angrily turning back to his guns.

This new side of Hunter had my eyes moving to stare at the bed in surprise. I’d never seen him so enraged. The red of his face, the crazy look of his eyes…it scared me.

The sound of the clip slamming into the gun made me jump and I glanced over as he picked up the next weapon. I licked my lips, unsure of what I should do. Should I say something to ease the tension I felt surrounding us? I knew it would have been for the best, but the words wouldn’t come.

“There has to be more people who are in the same predicament. I’m going to find them, Tessa. And then we’re going to team up and we’ll kill them all.” His mouth opened, only to shut. The wary expression he threw had me knowing where his thoughts were. Hunter didn’t trust me. Whether it was because Marko could read my thoughts or because I was connected to him now, I wasn’t sure. Probably both.

“I would try to kill Marko if it came to it,” I whispered. “I don’t want to die.”

A sympathetic look crossed his face and Hunter stood, coming to sit on the side of my bed. His hand reached out, grabbing mine.

“You didn’t ask for this to happen. God, Tessa, I shouldn’t have left you alone. This is my fault. If I had stayed—”

“No,” I rushed in, shaking my head.

“It is,” he continued. “I won’t let him kill you. I can’t.” Tears came to his eyes and he lowered his face. “If you die, I’d be responsible. It’ll be like I was the one who…God,” he growled. Seconds went by while he stayed lost in his thoughts. “No. Marko will be the one who ends up dead. I can’t lose you,” he said quietly, looking back up. “I refuse to lose you. Whether that be to death or him, it doesn’t matter. He may have your mind, but he won’t have you.”

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