35

My head is spinning as the door to my office slams shutin front of me, Ava disappearing with it.

Slowly, I turn around and pull thepiece ofpaper out of my folder. The little image I scrawled stares back at me. DrBlackwood'ssymbol of the Utopia Project. An eye within a sun.

Why would this serial killer have that symbol on his knife?

Ava seems convinced thatshe'sright about Hyde targeting me. But she also tried to conceal the fact that Hyde was stalking her.

Fire burns under my skin. A voice in my head is whispering that I should have protected her. The urge to destroy every little thing that threatens her is coursing through me.

In all honesty, I feel foolish.I'veflirted with crossing my professional boundaries to be close to this woman. But how many countless men have obsessed after Ava Cain? She has the beauty and the fascinating depths hidden behind herdetective'sbadge. NowI'velearned Hyde and I are brothers in our fixation on this woman.

His obsession with herdoesn'tsurprise me. I can see the flicker of darkness in her eyes. My own darkness calls out to it.

I thought Ava was wrong about Hyde blackmailing me. But do Ireally trust my ownmemory anymore after the last few weeks? What if Hyde is targeting me?

The notes I found at my house flash back into my mind. I thought I left them to myselfin my sleep, but maybe it was him.

I ask my assistant to cancel the rest of thisafternoon'sappointments. Instead, I drive home. Dread crawls along my skin as I unlock the front door and step inside.

According to Ava, Hyde was in this house last night. I scan the doors and windowsbutthere'sno obvious sign of a break-in. Still, Ava is right; I should head to the station and let her team whisk me away to a secure location until they catch him.

But something compels me to stay. I walk through the rooms, running my fingertips along the walls. The silence around me is heavy and tense.

It"sas if I can feelHyde"spresence lingering in the air of my own home. Some part of me knows she was right. He was here.

It feels intoxicating.

Why does it feel like Hyde holds an answer to a question that Idon'teven know? But oneI'msilently asking, over and over again…

Seeing my parents this morningdidn"tprovide the answers I sought. Instead, it unleashed more unsettling questions. I already feel like my mind is slowly being unraveled. What buried memories are lurking, waiting to flood back into my mind and disrupt my present?

There'ssomething tugging at the back of my brain. I flip my laptop open, pulling up search tabs for each ofHyde'svictims.There'sa lot of info to dredge through. Info thatI'msureAva'steam has already combed endlessly to no avail.

But what if they were missing a piece of the puzzle—

A lightning bolt of pain burns through my brain.

I feel it in a surge, the dizzying darkness rising like a tidal wave inside me.It'son the brink of crashing down.

Hatred. Hunger for blood. Lust.

It's coming too fast and strong; poisoned black floodwater coursing through my veins.

I need to dosomething,anything,to snap myself out of this beforeit'stoo late.I stumble down to the basement, knocking over files as I sink into the chair and reach for the laptop controls.

This time, something about it feels different.

Somehow, I know this to be true: whatever darkness is inside me is about to take control.

Forever.