Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100859 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100859 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
I’m going to die here. He’s going to kill me.
He squeezes harder, leaning in until I see a malevolent spark in his glassy black eyes.
“If I can’t have you to myself, then no one else can.” He grinds out. “I will put you in the grave.”
I struggle, panicked, trying to rip my hands free from his grip. But I’m helpless, just as I was with the horseman before.
Except…I wasn’t.
I close my eyes and try to conjure that same energy inside me, bringing it out of me like I would to the flames of a fire.
Brom. Please. It’s me, I think. It’s Kat. Let me go.
I let that energy build until it explodes out of me. I feel fire flow, reaching for him.
I open my eyes to see Brom go still above me. His head tilts, mouth dropping open for a moment.
Then his eyes go wide with clarity.
Shock.
Horror.
It’s Brom.
“Run,” he whispers to me in anguish. A desperate plea. “Run!”
I don’t hesitate.
He lets go of my wrists, and I scramble to my feet while he stays on the bed, his head in his hands. “Get away from me, get away from me!” he cries out, and I run to the door, expecting to fling it open. But the door won’t open. It doesn’t even have a lock on it, but it won’t budge.
“Help me!” I scream, pounding on the door. “Mother! Famke!” They have to be home by now, don’t they? Did they bar the door shut? Did they lock me in here?
“Go!” Brom yells. “I can’t hold it off much longer!”
I whip around to see him getting to his feet, but it’s like he’s fighting a war with himself, part of him wanting to come toward me, the other part trying to hold him back.
I meet his eyes, see the pain in them, the battle, and then I run to the window and scramble out of it, dropping to the damp earth.
“Run,” I hear him say again from inside my bedroom. “Please.”
I run.
Chapter 30
Brom
I can’t breathe.
I’m on my knees, my head exploding with pain, and then I’m on the floor, my knees digging into Kat’s thin rug.
There is so much darkness in me, a putrid tar that pulls me under, and I know if I don’t fight it, I will submit again. Something evil has found my weak spot. It knows how good I am at letting someone else take over and control me, manipulating my urge to belong, except now there is no pleasure, and there is no reward. There is only death.
What am I doing here?
Where did Kat go?
One moment, I was deep inside her, fucking her hard against the wall until I thought the house would collapse, and the next, I’m…I’m…
I raise my head, stars behind my eyes.
Why did she run away?
Run.
I needed her, wanted her, craved her like a starving man.
She’s the only bright spot in my life.
The star that guided me back home.
I can’t remember the last four years, but I do remember wishing I could return to her.
What time is it?
When will the pain in my head go away?
I open my eyes, and they sting.
I burn.
Everything inside me burns.
My heart is on fire.
Kat. My daffodil. My love.
Why did she leave?
Where did she go?
Run. You told her to run.
She’s running away from you.
I stagger to my feet.
I’m naked.
My dick sticks out half-hard. I remember coming inside her, wanting to bury my soul there so that she’d never be rid of me. She liked it. Loved it. I told her I loved her. She didn’t tell me the same.
Did I do something wrong?
Did I say something wrong?
“Brom,” Kat had gasped as I made her come, and it sounded like a prayer.
But I’m a devil, and I don’t know if that prayer was for me.
I slip my trousers and shirt on. Pull on my boots.
Did I walk here from the school? Did I ride?
How late is it?
…who am I?
Who am I?
Who am I?
My head spins, and I stumble, having to lean against the wall for a moment. I try to catch my breath, but it feels like I’ll never breathe again.
Beneath my skin, the darkness bubbles.
It wants to fuck again. It wants to kill.
No, I think. No, you will not. You can’t have me that easily, not anymore.
Oh, but God. To belong to someone. I want to belong to someone.
The door to Kat’s door slowly creaks open.
I raise my head to see a woman’s silhouette in the doorway, the living room behind her lit by candles.
“Brom,” Sarah says softly. “My good soldier. How are you?”
She scares me. She always has.
I want to run, but I don’t want to be a coward. I don’t want to run again.
I try to speak but can only emit a noise. I sound like a wounded animal.
“It’s okay,” she says in a soothing voice. She walks into the room and stops in front of me. Puts her hand on my cheek. “You’re almost there, Brom. Just a little bit further.”