Page 44 of Kat Bethel

Others were gone before they even stepped out.

The building groaned before cracking under the pressure and collapsed on itself like a house of cards.

It left the bodies looking like effigies to warn people away. The sirens blaring in the distance didn’t help any.

Turn back. Death is here.

Tears streamed from my eyes, and I hated how my hands shook.

The scent of metallic blood and rust carried on the wind, and a soft gargle of someone’s last breath filled the ringing silence.

A footprint blackened each side of me, like he was standing right over me. “You don’t need to be afraid, Dandelion.”

One question, and he’d destroyed this place in minutes.

What would happen when I wasn’t special anymore?

His fingers rubbed soothing circles, and I hated that it eased the frayed edges of my mortification.

It was my job to kill him.

I’m so sorry.

Chapter 16:

Ispeddownthehighway until I couldn’t feel him breathing down my neck. Once I couldn’t sense him anymore, relief and something akin to disappointment washed over me.

I turned on the overhead light to check my shadow for any weird behavior, but it was what I expected. Good.

Kind of.

The breath I’d been holding for countless miles came out like a disappointed sigh instead of the relief it should have been. My bones complained as I loosened my grip on the wheel.

I didn’t have the mental capacity to try to untangle that fuckery, so I didn’t bother. Instead, I let the loneliness seep in. It highlighted the emptiness inside me in a way that I hated.

A couple of days of a shadow following me gave me a taste of something I couldn’t expect from something like him.

Not unless I wanted everything else to crumble.

The kid’s body on the snapped spikes of wood filled my mind, making me swallow loudly in the silence. This was the best decision for everyone.

Still a huge chunk of me complained that it wasn’t the best choice for me. I spent two more hours arguing with that logic, until there was no way he could reach me from Dudleytown.

Even though I wanted to drive back as soon as I put my truck in park outside the only hotel in town.

Are you sure he’s gone?

I double-checked my shadow again when I hopped out of the truck, standing there a long minute, waiting for anything to signal that he was still with me. When I couldn’t see anything suspicious, I entered the building.

“Room, please.” My request came out harsher than I intended as the irrational part of me argued that this was too far away from him.

It’s not far enough, the other part of me argued.

I ended up coughing to pretend the attitude I’d given the young clerk was an allergy issue. I handed my fake ID and a wad of cash over as an apology. The woman at the counter didn’t ask any questions and started checking me in.

A child I assumed was her daughter lay on a cot, watching cartoons with sleepy eyes. Her big brown eyes lazily drifted to me before her eyes widened in fear.

I whirled around, looking for any signs of him, but my shadow still looked like it should. No lights flickering. Nothing was there.