Obsession

I smirked. “So, you guys are here to take care of her?”

“Yes,” answered Zombro.

“That’s kind of fucked up, don’t you think?”

“Kind of an odd comment coming from you.” Zombro’s chin went up a notch.

“Since when did Arum think anything is fucked up?”

I slowly unfolded my arms and shrugged.

“Or do you want to finish her off?” Zombro sneered. “I know humans don’t do much for you, but you can get something off her. You’d probably even enjoy it, right?” His revolted gaze did nothing for me. “Have at her.”

“Thanks for the offer.”

Richards cleared his throat. “It’s not anything personal. And either way, she won’t feel a thing. It will be over before she knows it, and her family and friends will be advised of her untimely death.”

“And her death will ensure that the truth of alien races inhabiting Earth remains a secret and blah, blah bullshit?” I laughed. “You guys have no idea. Every time the Luxen flex their will and succeed, it’s one more nail in your coffin.”

“Enough of this.” Zombro’s hand went to his hip—to his service gun. Lead bullets wouldn’t kill me, but it would most definitely slow my happy ass down. “Where is she?”

I thought about Serena, upstairs sleeping in my bed, wearing my shirt, hair spread across my pillows, lips parted, and blissfully unaware that her fate had just been sealed. She had no protectors now.

Smiling, I glided to the side.

Casting a look at the other officer, Richards stepped forward, keeping his eyes trained on me. I didn’t hesitate. When I’d been in the study, I knew what I would do.

Maybe I’d known before then. It didn’t really matter.

I moved—faster than Richards could react. Slipping up behind him, I grabbed the arm reaching for the gun and spun Richards around so he faced the other officer. I grabbed a fistful of Richards’ hair, pulling him back as I slammed my knee into the man’s spine. The resounding crack shuddered through the kitchen. Richards’ grunt of surprised pain was lost in the clanking of the gun knocking off the tile.

With a quick jerk of my arm, I snapped Richards’ neck. The officer’s body hit the floor. There was no twitching. I tolerated the man, so the death was quick.

My eyes met Zombro’s.

It wouldn’t be for him.

Zombro raised his arm, hand trembling around the service gun as he fired off a shot, but I darted to the side. He kept firing, one after another, as he backed up. I dipped and shot forward, knocking the gun out of his hand with a broad swipe of my arm. Without a gun, Zombro was defenseless. Hell, with the gun he hadn’t been a threat. Zombro hit the island, trapped.

His throat worked and the superior attitude gave way to stark fear. “Don’t. Please.

Don’t—”

“I’m sorry. This isn’t personal. You won’t even feel a thing.” I paused. “And I’m sure your family will be notified of your untimely passing.”

Zombro’s mouth opened, but my hand snaked out. I grabbed the man’s throat, ending his scream in a gurgle as I crushed his windpipe. Letting go, I watched Zombro slide down the island, grasping at his throat as his eyes bulged.

I stepped over the legs sprawled at an odd angle and knelt so we were eye level. “I might have lied just a little. Your death isn’t going to be quick. And it most likely will be painful.”

…

Jerking up in bed, my heart thumped heavily as the gunshot echoed in my head. At first I thought I was having a nightmare, but Hunter wasn’t in bed beside me. I swung my legs off the bed and yanked on my jeans. Hurrying to the door, I stopped to listen.

There was nothing—and then a fleshy crunchy noise that caused my stomach to roil, followed by a low gurgle, and then the sound of a body thudding to the floor.

Common sense dictated that I stay upstairs, but fear— fear for Hunter—seized my chest. Had more Luxen come for me? Icy terror clawed at my insides as I slipped out into the hallway.

Heart pounding, I crept down the two flights of stairs, wanting to call out for him, but I knew on an inherent level that something bad, something terrible had happened in the middle of the night. It was the same feeling I’d had when I spotted the man in the hallway outside my apartment.

My mouth opened, my tongue forming Hunter’s name, but no sound escaped my suddenly dry lips. I moved forward on numb legs.

As my bare feet hit the cool wood floors, I smelled the acrid afterburn of a fired gun. The air was thick with it down here. Grabbing the vase I had held the night Hunter had been gone, I clenched it tightly as I approached the kitchen.

I saw a leg first.

A black trouser-clad leg cut across the entrance to the doorway. The shoes were black and recently polished. Shiny. In a numb daze, I crept closer, my gaze following the length of the leg to the odd angle of the waist. The man’s jacket was laid open, revealing a tan gun holster. The gun was on the floor near the open hand.

I didn’t want to look, but I couldn’t stop.

It was Officer Richards on the kitchen floor, and his neck was twisted to the side, nearly turned halfway around. He was dead, very dead.

Oh God…

Beside him, propped against the island, was Zombro. Something…something had happened to his throat. It was pushed in, the fragile bones collapsed. Both of them were dead and Hunter…there was no sign of Hunter.

The vase slipped from my fingers, shattering upon the floor into large ceramic chunks. My throat worked on a scream, but there was no sound. I stumbled back, pressing my hand to my open mouth. This couldn’t be happening. My brain absolutely refused to process all the death. Maybe I was dreaming? No. Everything was too real—the sights, the stench of smoke and death, my pounding heart.

A hand clamped down on my shoulder, and the scream that had been building in my throat ripped through the silence. Twisting away, I tried to evade the grasp, but an arm snaked around my waist, pulling me back against a hard, bare chest.

“Serena, it’s me. It’s okay.”

Relief shot through me in dizzying speeds. I spun around, pressing my face against his chest. “Oh my God, Hunter, what happened to them?”

There was a moment of hesitation, and then Hunter’s arms swept around me. The embrace was awkward and stiff, but right now, I didn’t care. I held on to him like he was an anchor built only for me.

I inhaled his scent, hoping that it would wash away everything else. “They found us, didn’t they?”

“No.”

The word took a few moments to settle and make sense. When it did, I pulled back a little, lifting my head. I searched Hunter’s striking features. They were frighteningly empty. Nothing about them reminded me of the man a few short hours ago who had smiled and asked me to stay with him.

A niggle of unease stirred. “What do you mean?”

“This wasn’t the Luxen,” he said, his pale eyes meeting mine.

I took a breath, but it got stuck in my throat. That’s when I noticed the duffel bag on the coffee table and that unease grew like a weed, choking me. “Then who…who did that to them?”

“I did.”

My breath caught again. The room tilted a little, the floor suddenly uneven under my feet.

“You need to go upstairs and pack whatever you can. Now,” Hunter continued, his hands sliding off my back. “We need to leave.”

Taking a step back, I felt my heart drop. Based on what he’d told me about himself, I would’ve run a million miles away from the Hunter of four years ago, but not this Hunter. This one could be prickly and downright