Page 122 of Hunt Me

“I would have come for you.” I brush a collection of hair off his forehead. It’s a little sticky with blood and sweat. “You know that, yes?”

“Yes.” He blinks his tears away without letting them fall. “Is Denver going to be okay?”

“Yes.” I put my hands on his arm and rest my chin on my knuckles. “He’ll be fine. I’m going to ask him to move in with me. I love him. I want to keep him forever.”

“He’ll say yes. He really, really fucking loves you too.”

My stomach swoops. “Did Byron say anything when he took you into the mausoleum?”

Nico frowns. “Is that his name? That’s so grossly fitting.” He takes a breath, then shakes his head. “He didn’t talk much. He did a lot of pacing and muttering to himself. He got in Denver’s face a couple of times, screaming first. Then laughing. Then hetold him he was going to enjoy watching you find him there—that he knew what the cemetery meant to you. And that you’d never be able to set foot in one again.”

I feel a fresh wave of rage rush through me, but as much as I want to get up and go back to the shed, I know there’s no point.

I bow my head. “He was wrong.”

Nico takes my wrist and squeezes. “Yes, he was very wrong. I think he thought Denver couldn’t understand him. But I could see it on his face that he did. He hit him a few times, then he came and hit me a few times…”

I growl but stay in control.

Nico squeezes my hand harder. “Then I heard a noise. I tried to signal to Denver about it. The fucker got up and went to check on it, and that’s when I realized Denver had gotten out of the zip ties. He got his feet free by the time you all burst into the room. And, well, you saw what happened after that.”

Yes. I did. I feel a spike of lust race through me at watching my beloved, my little rabbit, take out the man trying to kill us all.

Nico strokes a touch down my arm until I look at him. “He’s perfect for you.”

I give a single nod. ‘I know,’ I sign.

Nico smiles, then lets out a soft breath. “I thought I was going to keep going—to keep traveling east. Hit the UP in Michigan or something, but…would it be the worst thing in the world if I stayed a while?”

“How could you being here be worse than leaving?” I ask. I’m so confused.

He laughs softly. “It was just a figure of speech. I needed reassurance that I’m still wanted around here.”

“Family is always wanted,” I tell him.

His eyes close for a long, slow blink, and then he looks up at me. “I love you. You know that, right?”

“Yes.”

“We love you too,” comes a voice from the doorway. I turn to see my dad walking into the room, and he sets a hand on my shoulder. “I think Denver might be awake. I’ll sit with Nico.”

I stand, and my dad scoots under Nico’s legs, taking his hand. Backing up, I watch the two of them for a moment, and I remember a time when one or all of us sat like that with him when things were bad. After a job gone wrong. After our mother died.

Even when I was at odds with him, he never hesitated to be there for me.

“Thanks for helping,” Nico says softly.

My dad shakes his head. “I will always be here for my sons. No questions.”

I see the look on Nico’s face—the shift between joy and pain because it’s a reminder that while he is family, he still carries the pain of being rejected by the ones meant to love him without conditions.

But we have time to remind him he can let go. For now, my little rabbit is waiting, and I am ready to hunt.

31

EPILOGUE- A FEW MONTHS LATER: DENVER

Things seemto get back to normal shortly after the chaotic events at the mausoleum. My brain comes to terms with the fact that there’s no one waiting to harm me anymore and that it’s truly over. And while there are moments when fear overtakes me and panic sets in, I don’t have that itchy feeling anymore. I know there’s no one left to hurt me, and the only one stalking my steps anymore is the only person I want hunting me from the shadows.