22. Hunt

22

Hunt

Violet

Friday. Midnight. Sigma House.

Four seemingly insignificant words when broken apart. But together, they tell me everything I need to know.

Kole is testing me. He's extending an invitation to see if I'll accept it. An invitation any sane person would have declined knowing what I do. Instead, I find myself standing outside the twisted iron gates of Sigma House, staring at the two skulls that sit in the center of them.

And they're locked.

I tip my head back and let out a groan.

I've never actually communicated with Kole outside of my in-person run-ins with him. The only way I have to reach him is through the Dark Desires app.

Through Saint .

I look back at my car, parked on the side of the road. An endless forest surrounds the fraternity, and I already know what Saint's thinking. He wants to take this back to the beginning. To the night he killed Liam.

I'm tempted to climb back in my car and drive away before this goes where it will inevitably lead. But I find myself pulling out my phone.

The moment I do, a message lights up the screen.

Saint : Good kitten. You came.

Of course, he's already watching me. Looking up, I try to see if I can find a camera, but just like the ones in my bedroom, it's like they don't exist.

Violet : Where are you?

Saint : Where I always am. Watching my girl.

Violet : Who said I'm your girl?

Saint : Feisty. Careful. I might be tempted to carve that defiance out of you.

A shiver runs down my spine because I don't think he's exaggerating.

Saint : You're lucky, tonight I'm willing to put that enticing idea aside. I'm in the mood to hunt.

Violet : What are you hunting?

Saint : You.

There it is again. That prickling on the back of my neck. The instinct that whispers in my ear because I know better than to feed into this.

I should fight it. But he knows I won't.

Violet : First, I want answers. I'm tired of you keeping me in the dark .

Saint : Bargaining like you have a choice in how this goes? You already lost the upper hand by showing up here.

Violet : Then I'll leave.

Saint : That wouldn't be smart.

Violet : Try me.

Saint : Twenty seconds, Violet, that's all I'm giving you.

Violet : Until what?

Saint : Until you run… if you're smart. But when I catch you, I'm going to make you hurt for me. Do well, and maybe I'll consider answering one question.

Violet : You don't get to make all the rules.

Saint : 20

Violet : I'm not running until we talk.

Saint : 19

Saint : 18

Now would be the time to get into my car and never come back here. Except I don't want to, and he already knows that.

Another chime rings out from my phone, but I don't look at the screen. He's counting down the seconds and watching me.

There's no use bargaining.

Kole might listen to me, but right now, I'm dealing with Saint. If I want the answers I'm looking for, I'll have to play on his terms first.

My phone chimes again, and I jump, dropping it. He'll just use it to track me if I keep it anyway. Looking at the gate a final time, I imagine he's watching.

Waiting patiently .

Begging me to run just so he can chase.

So that's what I do.

I start toward my car but run past it into the forest that surrounds Sigma House. At least I was smart enough to wear sneakers. But my sweater catches on every branch as I run past.

The clouds that hung in the sky all day have parted, letting the moon shine bright enough to see where I'm going, but it all looks the same. Trees, rocks, vines. And I weave through them, even if the branches grab me like the arms of the earth warning me to turn back.

Winter is finally starting to break into spring, but it's still cool, and the air burns my lungs with every hard inhale as I run faster.

Leaves crunch, and I can't tell if it's from me or someone following.

I feel Saint out here, even if I can't see him. He's in the air around me—he's the eyes on me. The chill running through my bones and the grip on my heart.

He's everywhere and everything, and as much as I fear him catching me, I wait for it.

"Scared yet, kitten?" Saint calls out, and it echoes inside me.

I don't answer. I run faster.

My lungs burn, and my ribs hurt. My legs are on fire, but I can't slow down.

Darting around another tree, I trip on a branch and fall to the ground. My knee strikes first, landing directly on a rock, cutting through my jeans. Pain radiates up my leg as I swallow my scream and crawl forward .

I struggle to my feet, but I'm barely standing when fingers wrap into the back of my hair.

My scalp burns as Saint stops me. "Nice try. But not good enough."

He pulls my back to his chest and wraps his arm around me, not letting my hair go. Gripping the front of my sweater, he tears it open, ripping the buttons from their stitching.

"Let me go." I struggle, reaching up and clawing his hands.

All he does is chuckle at me, pressing his face to the side of mine. The ski mask he's wearing rubs my cool skin as he brings his mouth to my ear.

"I'm never letting you go, Violet. That's the point." His hand drags down, and he grabs me hard between the legs. "There's only one way you'll escape me, and even in death, I promise I'll find a way to haunt you."

Jutting his knee forward, he forces mine to bend, and I drop to my knees in the dirt.

Saint doesn't release my hair as he tips my head back. He makes my body arch so I'm looking up at him as he towers over me from behind.

His sleeve pulls up with my struggle, revealing my teeth marks still healing on his forearm.

"You like that?" Saint leans down, bringing his face over mine. "Do you enjoy seeing the pain you caused me forever etched in my skin?"

"You don't feel pain," I bite back.

"Oh, but I do." He grips my hair tighter. "You hurt me every time you try to run away. Thinking I'll let you. "

Reaching up, I grab his mask and pull it off him, elbowing him in the leg with my other arm as I do. It's enough for him to release my hair, so I steal the advantage and try to stand.

But Saint's too fast. He grabs me by the arms and pulls them behind my back the second I'm on my feet. I try to tug them free, but he wraps something rough around my wrists and pulls them tight behind me.

"Don't!" I cry out as he tightens the rope.

Saint spins me around. His hair is messy from the ski mask he was wearing, and now that his face is on full display, his dark eyes sear into me.

He grabs my chin and shoves my back against the nearest tree. The rope digs into my skin as I try to free my hands.

"There's no use. You'll just tighten them more." Saint reaches behind him and pulls out a knife, bringing it to my throat.

I freeze as he presses the blade under my jaw. "What are you doing?"

"I told you I was going hunting." He leans in so his lips brush mine.

"Are you going to kill me?"

"Kill you? No." He tilts his head, and his eyebrows pinch. "I'm going to tell you a story since your curious little mind has been wandering around the internet trying to figure me out. So, tell me, kitten, do you want to know something real? Something you'll never find online?"

Probably not, but I have no choice in this position .

"Yes."

Saint grins, but it feels more like rage. Like a painted warning on his face.

"When I was a child, my stepfather used to take me hunting." Saint presses his body tight to mine, pinning me to the tree. "He taught me everything I needed to know about tracking an animal. Tying them up. Killing them. You can fight all you want, but the more you do, the harder those ropes will hold you. Just like if you try to escape me."

Blinking, I fight back the sheen starting to fog my vision.

"Don't cry; animals kill each other all the time." He wipes the tear that trails my cheek. "But do you want to know the difference between hunting and killing?"

I swallow hard. "What?"

"Mercy." Saint pulls back on the knife so he can skate the tip of the blade gently down my throat. "Killing is kindness. Putting them out of their misery. Erasing them from their meaningless existence. Killing is quick."

I don't know what to make of the fact that Saint thinks of killing as showing mercy and not murder.

Saint drags the knife down over my chest, down my arm, scratching the fabric of my sweater.

"But hunting… hunting is for the thrill." Saint unbuttons my jeans and pulls them down until they fall to my ankles. "It's for fun. For sport. With or without purpose, it's a demonstration of power. One animal versus another. And you can draw that out if you like. Until they fear you. Until their imagination runs wild with everything you could do to them. Fear can be worse than doing anything at all. "

He grabs the front of my underwear and rips them off me.

"So what are you then?" I challenge him, knowing better but not able to help it. "A hunter or a killer?"

What I'm really asking is if he believes his actions are mercy or if he simply wants to incite fear. But even as the words come out, I know it's not that simple.

"You already know the answer to that question."

"Because you're both."

"I was…" Saint's gaze snaps to mine at my question, a wicked smirk painting his perfectly chiseled face.

"Past tense?" I glare at him. "Then what are you now?"

He grazes my cheek with the back of one hand, bringing the knife between my thighs and shoving the handle of it into my pussy.

I tip my head back as I lose my breath. And Saint grins as he fucks me with his knife.

"I don't know, Violet. What am I other than being yours anymore?" he asks. "You feel better than any kill. Your fear tastes unlike any hunt. There is no gratification without you. And I can't fucking get enough."

He shoves the knife handle deeper and grinds his thumb over my clit. My feet are trapped with my jeans at my ankles, but I do my best to widen my stance to avoid being cut with the blade as he thrusts in harder.

"Saint," I moan.

My eyes flutter closed, my entire body shaking as his movements rocket through me.

"So beautiful. Let me see it, Violet," he praises. "I've waited a week to watch you come again. To hear you scream for me. I thought of your blood on my cock while I stroked it, and even that wasn't enough. I need to see you."

Opening my eyes, I lock gazes with Saint.

With Kole .

With the man who has so many layers, he reveals my own.

He moves the blade handle in and out, and my breath races. I hate how easy it is for him to make me feel like this.

My vision darkens with his gaze, and I can't fight it. I can't think. I can't breathe. My body unravels, and I'm leaves in the wind, breaking free and floating away.

And Saint is my forest. My maze. My purgatory.

I come on the handle of his knife when I should be screaming for help. Instead, I scream for him. A man who wakes up my dark side.

Saint pulls the knife handle out, lifting it and licking the length. His tongue drags slowly, like he wants to savor my climax. And the sight of him watching me while he tastes me has my thighs clenching.

He groans when his tongue reaches the top. Leaning in, he lowers his mouth to my ear.

"Ask your one question now, Violet." He drops the knife to the ground, wrapping his hand around my throat and pinning me with his gaze. "Because when I'm done with you, you aren't going to be able to speak."