He will come, I repeated to myself. Unless…
Toby had gotten to him before he left with Pepper Jack. Oh god, what if he’d hurt them? What if Kiernan was hurt somewhere? This time I couldn’t hold back the sob as it erupted from my chest. I shook my head. I knew he heard me, but I couldn’t look at him. Kiernan had to be okay. There was so much life we had left to live. Together.
“You’re awake,” Toby said. I looked up to meet his eyes and flinched at the malice I saw in their depths. This wasn’t the guy I’d thought he was. He’d fooled me.
Toby walked in a circle around me, shaking his head. “You were quite difficult, but once I had my sights set on you, I wasn’t going to let go. Hunters never quit until they have their prey.”
Bile threatened to rise in my throat. I didn’t say a word, only watched him continue his circle around me, as he scanned me from head to toe as if I were a prized buck whose head he was hoping to mount on his wall.
“Why are you doing this, Toby?” I finally asked.
He stopped in front of me and grinned. He shrugged once. He grabbed the chair in front of his screens and a knife that was next to the keyboard. He sat down across from me, flipping the knife blade over handle and catching the handle perfectly each time. “Why not?” he asked.
“Because it’s wrong,” I hissed.
He threw his head back and laughed. He slapped his knee once as he continued to chuckle. When it subsided he watched me again. “Like I care about what you think is right and wrong. You’re the one that chose wrong. I give all of you an option.”
“I didn’t choose this,” I hissed, trying to launch myself forward. Anger was coursing through my veins along with the fear. “I’d never choose this.”
“But you did. I asked you out and you thought you were too good for me. Just like all the others. Every single one of you says no. If you’d have only said yes, you wouldn’t be in this position, and I could watch you without punishing you.”
“Punish me,” I whispered in complete disbelief. “This is because I wouldn’t go on a date with you? You never truly even asked me on a date. You suggested we get lunch. That’s not asking me on a date.”
“Would you have said yes?”
I hesitated before answering. “No, I don’t date inside my workplace.”
He laughed again and waved the knife in front of my face. I reared back, trying to get farther away from the tip of the blade. “Liar,” he seethed. “You’re dating that meathead and you hired him to find me. He’s good. He was so close a few times, but he couldn’t do it. And he won’t this time either. Well, at least not in time.”
I gulped. “In time?”
“I usually like to keep you for a few days, or until I tire of you, but again you like to ruin my plans. But I’m not going to quit or give up. I’d never do that. We won’t have much time together,” he said, frowning at me as if he were truly saddened by the prospect and expected me to be as well.
“You’ll be gone and I’ll be gone by the time your little boyfriend figures it out. The best hunters always avoid being the prey,” he muttered almost to himself.
I was shaking. I pulled on the duct tape binds again, hoping to loosen them even a fraction. I knew it wouldn’t work, but I had to try. I had to try anything.
A loud crack like splintered wood sounded from upstairs and then thundering footfalls. I closed my eyes. It had to be Kiernan, or at least someone he’d sent. A small smile crossed my lips, and I opened my eyes to find Toby inches away from my face with the knife against my neck.
“Don’t you fucking make a single sound,” he hissed at me before muttering to himself. “It wasn’t supposed to be this fast.”
The sound of feet running through the house was echoing in the basement. They’d never think to check for a basement, because most houses in Texas don’t have them. I had to alert them somehow. I glanced at Toby and then the knife, weighing my odds. He was turned toward the door at the top of the basement stairwell. The knife was a few inches away from my neck now.
I listened to the sounds upstairs, hoping I could time this just so. It was risky and it might end up costing my life, but if they caught him, he wouldn’t be able to hurt any other women. Ever.
As the sounds grew closer to being directly overhead, I took a deep breath and released the loudest scream I could manage. Toby reared back a fist and hit me on my cheekbone. Black dots surfaced in my vision. Toby raised the knife overhead and brought it down into my stomach. I gasped and lurched forward as he pulled it out, bringing it overhead again just as the door at the top of the stairs burst open, letting light flow into the room.
“Kiernan,” I whispered.
38 Kiernan
Caroline’s loud scream pierced the air. All three of us froze and looked around. “It’s coming from below,” I said. I scanned the walls, ran to a bookcase, and pulled on each of the books until I heard a click. I kicked in the hidden door behind the bookcase and ran down the stairs.
Toby was hovering over Caroline with a knife raised in the air, ready to stab her. I held up my gun and fired. He jerked to the side, his blood splattering all over Caroline before he collapsed to the ground. Hopefully dead.
Roman and Maddox were right behind me. “Make sure he’s dead,” I yelled and ran toward Caroline. Her stomach was bleeding. Her eyes filled
