Prey Drive by Jen Stevens
Chapter 46
the wolf
Stardust,” I roar, pointing my finger toward the door behind her.
She peers at me with tear-stained cheeks and shakes her head, once again refusing to acknowledge the truth staring right back at her.
That death incarnate has claimed her as his own. That the version of me she’s made up in her head is nothing but smoke and mirrors, her mind protecting her. That she’s being given one last shot at running away before I take her down with me.
And there’s no guarantee I won’t chase her when she does.
When that doesn't seem to sink in for her, I double down, my tone more harsh and cruel than it ever has been with her.
“Want to know the truth?” I shout like a madman, my face reddening as my blood pressure rises, my body's way of warning me against what I'm about to do.
“Don't do this, Bash,” Sienna warns from the corner of the room.
Skirting my eyes past her ghostly form, I snarl, then mentally will her away.
“I’ve hunted and tortured and killed for no other reason than I wanted to. I fucking crave my victim’s blood like an addict craves their next hit. I stalked you, for fuck’s sake. I’ve lived in your house beside you, stayed in your spare bedrooms for days at a time, and you had no idea. You can’t just ignore that part of me to make this seem more viable.”
“I’m not ignoring anything,” she mumbles into her chest childishly, flinching at the sheer volume of my voice.
“Yes, you are. But it’s time for you to face reality. It’s time for you to decide if you’re in this or not, because I’m not fucking around anymore.”
I've been on edge since seeing my father, watching my back and double checking around every corner like some kind of paranoid freak. Her departure has loomed over our heads for the past two days, though each of us has had entirely different reasons to dread it. Now that the time is here, I'm scrambling, throwing out ultimatums and confessions like I’ve officially lost it.
I didn’t want this. Any of it. There was no plan for me beyond killing the men who brutally murdered my sister. No future. I had tunnel vision, and it made me blind to her until she was standing right in front of me, offering an alternative I never envisioned. If she isn’t willing to brave the storm with me, I’m not sure what I’ll do.
“I don’t know what you want from me. What am I supposed to say to all of this?” she cries out, the dam finally bursting as she releases the reaction I’ve been trying to pull from her all along.
What do I want from her? Every-fucking-thing.
I want her anger, her fear, her joy. I want to feel every single emotion that flows through her because I’ve been so depraved in the past year, denying myself all of it. I just want to feel alive again, and she's the only one who does that for me. But my message is getting muddied.
I’m confusing her. I’m confusing myself.
Taking a long, deep breath, I pinch the bridge of my nose and gather my thoughts as she sobs uncontrollably, trying like hell to do the same.
“I want you to have a normal life, free of stalkers and murderers. You deserve peace, Stardust. The kind of peace I can’t give you. But the selfish side of me wants to hold you in my grasp for as long as possible. To throw you in a cage and feed off your innocent soul because mine is so tattered, I can hardly recognize myself.”
Stardust takes a brave, large step forward into the gap I’ve intentionally placed between us. “Fine. I want you, Bash. No matter the cost. But I can't just drop my whole life and never return. We can do this together the right way.”
“We don't have time for all that…” I'm trying to convey the urgency of the situation without scaring her, but that feels impossible when my heart feels like it's going to burst out of my chest at any moment.
“What's the rush? Just tell me, Bash.”
What's the rush?There's a society of dangerous men with nothing but resources at their disposal to come after her and destroy her with zero consequences.
But telling her that will only make her want to do something stupid, like go to the police. I can't have that. “I had a plan, and it didn't include you in it. The only way I can keep you safe anymore is by having you beside me.”
It's not enough. I can tell by the stubborn set of her jaw and her stiffened stance that she won't be cooperating. Not tonight. Not anytime soon.
“I'm going home. We'll figure out a way to make this work.”
“I'm afraid it'll be too late.” With that, I turn my back to her and walk out of the room, locking myself in my office to cool off before I do something crazy like tie her up.
When I've finally cooled down and am ready to speak rationally, I climb back up the stairs to find her room empty.
She's gone.
Instead of following her to Styx the way every fiber of my being is itching to do, I decide its best to watch my enemy instead. If I can't keep her safely tucked under my wing, then I'll just have to kill every threat that stands against her.