Chapter Thirteen

The pain let up, the absence of it making me collapse forward like some puppet without strings. I gasped in shaky breaths, my chest burning, my muscles weak.

Harrison crouched down in front of me, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. It was strange to see him in such casual clothes, but he must have left soon after I had. He must have rushed to get here. "What are you doing out here all alone?"

"I got a little stir-crazy," I forced myself to say, wishing I'd come across as smooth and in control. I doubted that was the case, though. Instead, I sounded just about off the deep end, hanging onto my sanity by the thinnest of strings.

"Well, that was pretty fucking stupid, right?" His words made me frown, but my brain still felt scraped raw. I couldn't make it through enough to really know what bothered me, what didn't sound quite right. "Did you really think I wouldn't find you? That you could ever escape me? Because that was a bad choice. All I had to do was wait."

"And now what?"

"Now? I don't think we'll get interrupted, so I'll enjoy pulling apart your brain. You're not like anyone I've ever tasted before and I just can't get enough. It doesn't matter what you do, where you go, you'll never escape me." He caught my shirt and pulled me closer.

A sheen rested on his lips, and it made my stomach clench in something that wasn't even close to pleasure. I thought about the kisses we'd shared, the feeling of his body, all of it. Just yesterday I'd been so sure that there was something between us, but now? The idea that he might press those deceitful lips against mine made me promise to bite them the fuck off if he tried—consequences be damned.

"You're much prettier than I realized at first. This hair is like a lure. Is it how you draw men in? It's like feathers on a pretty bird."

"More like the red hourglass on a black widow," I spat back.

He smiled, the look nothing like the man I'd gotten to know. It was so wide, so open. "I've always liked easy women, but fuck, maybe you're able to show me the benefits of one that takes some work. Fuck knows you've been more fun than I've had in a while. I can't wait to see what else you've got hiding in the thick skull of yours." He leaned in closer, his breath smelling of something sweet enough to make me nauseous.

"Well, that's really too bad." I wrapped my fingers in the soil beneath me, then twisted, tossing it right into his stupid eyes.

He must not have expected it, because he didn't have time to even close his eyes. Instead, he yanked backward in surprise, a yelp funny enough I almost laughed in response. That would have been a waste, though, so I took off instead, rushing toward the park. At this hour, there were no cars on the road, no businesses open in the area. Help wasn't something I was likely to get, which meant my better chance was to break line of sight. Without that, he was unlikely to be able to affect me with his powers, and since I couldn't be tracked in any way other than visually, I'd be safe if I could just get away.

My foot hit an uneven bit of ground, sinking into where something had burrowed beneath, pitching me to the side. I caught my balance, somehow, and kept moving away from Harrison's angry shouts. I knew damn well that moving away from angry yelling was usually in my best interests, especially when the angry yelling including cursing my name.

If Harrison had been pissed before, I had a feeling that getting dirt thrown in his eyes wasn't going to make him any happier to see me.

If I could just get a little distance, I could change into my crow form. Sure, he'd spotted it easily before, but the smaller footprint would allow me to hide in places my stupid human body couldn't. I glanced around the trees, the darkness, looking for anywhere that might work. Nothing looked promising, though.

Instead, I leaned down as I tripped and wrapped my fingers around a thick branch, one about a foot and a half long. It wasn't the best weapon, but it was better than nothing. When running didn't seem possible, the only other options were fighting or giving in—and I'd never been the type to give in.

I moved behind a tree, pressing my back to it, trying to slow my breath. If I could just stay out of sight for a little bit, I had a shot. Harrison was powerful, sure, but he was as fallible as any other living creature.

The bark of the tree dug into my back, but I ignored it, straining for sounds of him following me. I had no idea how long I waited. I didn't dare to try to open a portal to get a phone, didn't even dare to breathe deeply. No sounds echoed through the park, nothing to tell me where he'd gone, to let me know when it was safe to try to take off. One wrong move and all I'd do was hand myself right over to him.

A snap behind the tree made me press my lips together to silence the noise of surprise. I reminded myself he couldn't track me, which meant he had to be looking blindly for me.

I held the wood tighter, my arm crossed over my chest, holding myself as still as possible. Another snap, another groan of the dirt beneath shoes, and it was obvious. Harrison was headed this way, just on the other side of the large tree I hid behind.

I sent up some prayer, one I didn't expect to be answered, then twisted out from behind the tree, aiming based on my hearing. The branch sailed through the air, and a sickening thud came when it made contact. I'd swung it so hard, even my shoulder hurt, the vibration from the hit running up the wood and into my arm. Not that I gave a fuck about that—I wish I could have hit him harder.

Harrison looked back at me, his eyes wide, as though he couldn't figure out what I'd done or why. Blood streamed down his face, appearing black in the darkness. I'd struck him on the temple, aiming high because if I was going to hurt someone, I'd do as much damage as possible. Half-assing was for diets and workouts—not battles for survival.

The thing that took me by surprise, however, was the shock on his face, as if he couldn't figure out what had just happened. The blood streamed from a gash at his temple down his face, over his throat, dripping onto the collar of his white coat.

A coat?

Something struck me as strange about that, but I couldn't figure it out as I backed away, stumbling and catching myself against another tree. "Stay back," I warned him, holding the branch up in threat.

"What do you think you are doing?" he asked, lifting his hand to hold it against the wound. "Why did you disappear?"

"Why? How about because you've been behind this all!" I couldn't believe how hysterical I sounded, but fuck if that wasn't exactly how I felt. "You tricked me. Why? Did you just find it hilarious to see me struggling so bad, to hurt me then pretend to help me? Was this some fucking game for you? I heard that you were fucked up, that you were twisted, but I never would have thought you could do something like this."

Harrison frowned, deep lines in his forehead, as though I were speaking a language he no longer understood. Did I really hit him that hard?

Bushes to my left moved, the leaves rustling just as someone burst through the area. Was someone drawn by my yelling? I didn't want to think about what Harrison could do to an innocent bystander, but I couldn't deny a thrill at the idea of not facing this entirely alone. I turned, but what I saw made no more sense than anything else in my life.

Harrison, in jeans and a T-shirt.

I did a double take, back and forth between the one in a coat with a bloody gash on his face and the one to my left, a sneer on his lips.

There are two of them?

Suddenly I was a hell of a lot less sure than I'd been before. They looked identical at first glance, but all those little things that had bothered me came back.

The way casual way the one in jeans had spoken to me, totally unlike the way Harrison normally spoke. His clothing, his smile, none of them were what I'd come to expect from Harrison. It could mean only one thing—somehow, Harrison had a doppelganger of some sort.

Oh, right, and I'd also just hit Harrison in the head with a stick…

I really hope he doesn't hold grudges.

I twisted, pointing the stick at the fake Harrison. I wasn't sure I could trust Harrison, but I knew for sure I couldn't trust this asshole.

He turned his gaze from me to Harrison, and a rage unlike anything I'd ever seen flashed across his expression. " You," he all but growled out. "Why am I not shocked that I'd find you here, ruining everything again?"

"Ryder," the real Harrison said, his voice saturated in pain.

At least I have a name for the asshole now…

"Don't you use my name," Ryder snapped back. "And don't you think this is anywhere close to over. You took everything from me—I won't let you get her, too." Ryder spared one more at me, one that seemed more like a promise than anything else, before he took off at a run.

I took a step to follow, hating the idea of him getting away. Leaves crunched behind me, along with a pained groan. I turned to find Harrison had collapsed to his knees, his hand on the tree beside him to keep him somewhat upright.

It meant I either had to give chase or help Harrison. I'm really not up to the weight class of Ryder, clearly.

I kicked the leaves on the ground before dropping my stick and going to Harrison's side. I'd done the damage—that made it my job to take care of it, right? It was like after a bar fight. If you knock a fucker out, you gotta wait in the hospital until they wake up.

"I'm okay," Harrison argued, but the slur of his words told me that wasn't true.

I took his weight as I helped him back toward the car, listening carefully for signs of Ryder. I didn't expect anything, because he hadn't seemed interested in tangling with Harrison, even when he wasn't up to snuff. "Yeah, you look real okay. Just shut up—we need to get your head looked at." I helped him into the passenger side of his car, then went around it to the driver's.

"No," he muttered like a petulant kid before his eyes slid shut.

That was probably not a great sign.

And it meant I needed to get him looked at. I could have tried to contact someone I knew, but that didn't sit right. I didn't trust that Kelvin, Ruben or Galen might not take advantage of the situation for their own benefits, and I didn't know who among the Minds I could trust.

However, I did know one doctor who would do as I asked no matter how much he bitched, and I sure as fuck trusted him not to screw me over.

I turned the engine on and pulled the car into the dark road, headed for the clinic where I knew he could get treatment.

"Hope you're ready to meet my family—if you think I'm a handful, you really have no idea."