Page 47 of Kat Bethel

But a vacation couldn’t hurt.

I’d seen every corner of this country. This time I could experience it for fun.

Could I even do that?

What was stopping me?

Hunters didn’t take time off. When we did people died. I’d already agreed to go home. I’d start there, get my mind right, and come up with some kind of plan after that.

I grabbed my duffle bag and tossed it over my shoulder. Every step to load my truck was heavy, like someone tied weights to my ankles. I shut the back cab door and sighed.

I was never a fan of leaving a job incomplete, but this was different.

He was a monster that could end me, and I had absolutely nothing to defend myself with. This was the best decision.

How did Margaret Rinah die? Why did he come unglued when I asked about her?

It didn’t matter anymore.

The hunt was over.

A loud boom, coming from the room beside mine, caught my attention. Gunfire.

The maid ran out screaming, “He’s got a gun.”

I leaped into action without a second thought, running into the room. A man was on the bed with the shotgun in his mouth. Wet strands of brain stuck to the wall as fresh blood dripped over the chunks. The scent of gunpowder and metal filled the air.

My stomach turned sour as the realization that there was nothing left to save hit me full force. It also confirmed what I suspected last night.

The silence in the room was fabricated.

I never escaped.

And another person was dead because of it.

“How are you here?” I let out a defeated sigh.

The shadows in the room pulled together until he stood before me. “I’m with you. Every step you take.”

I swallowed harshly as the implications of his words sank in. There was nowhere I could go.

Followed by indignant anger that I had no business feeling. Not when my intent was to escape. “Where have you been?”

“You needed space.” He shrugged casually, as if he hadn’t been the source of my moral quandary. “I gave you as much as I’m willing to allow.”

Which wasn’t space. It was the illusion that I could fall apart without him watching. The little girl’s words from the night before punched me in the gut. My lips trembled.

A monster so big even his teeth are bigger than you. “You were the monster the little girl said was over my shoulder.”

He hummed in consideration, “I have many forms.”

“Then why do you show up looking like a man?” What I wouldn’t give for a chance to smack him upside the head.

“I didn’t want to scare you,” he answered too innocently. Something told me it had less to do with my well-being. More like he was terrified I’d reject his true form.

I finally asked the question that had plagued me ever since I laid eyes on him. “Who are you?”

“We both know you’ve already figured out that I’m Abiel Dudley.” He tilted his head to the side, but I sensed the deflection. He was right, we both knew he was Abiel Dudley.