Page 55 of Death Rydes Shotgun

In the oppressive dark, her breath hitches in short, frantic gasps, echoing from the room’s far corner.

I slide my heavy boot over the sill, stepping effortlessly into the dark cabin, the cold blade gleaming hot in my hand as the thunder roars overhead.

Seventeen

Cornered

HARMONY

2:20 AM

Ihuddle in the far corner of the cabin, my spine pressed flat against the damp, mildewed wood of the walls.

Every breath I draw is a quivering gasp, filled with the taste of rot, ancient dust, and pure terror.

My fingers curl tightly around the cold handle hidden inside my right boot. Thank God I had the presence of mind to grab Ryder’s blade when I was scrambling to get dressed back in the barn.

A sharp, violent crack of thunder rattles the rotting window frame, and my heart leaps straight into my throat.

Through the darkness, the blinding, relentless glare of lightning illuminates the high-set window, framing Ryder’s towering silhouette as he effortlessly hauls himself over the sill and steps inside.

He lands on the creaking floorboards with the terrifying silence of a feather.

My eyes snap down to his right hand.

My father’s heavy hunting knife glints hot and silver in the dark, the broad steel blade catching the dancing light of the storm outside.

Desperation tears through my veins.

I reach down, yanking Ryder’s blade from my boot, my hands trembling violently as I snap the smaller knife open. I hold it out in front of me with both hands, my knuckles straining, desperate to keep the monster at bay.

I glance down at the weapon in my grip, then up at the massive hunting knife in his.

Ryder’s blade, my blade, looks almost comical in comparison—a tiny, frail piece of steel held by a terrified girl desperately defending her life against a nightmare made flesh.

A dark, bitter bubble of hysterical laughter threatens to burst from my throat, and I have to bite the inside of my cheek until I taste the copper sting of blood just to keep from losing it completely.

At this exact moment, I know I’ve lost my mind. I’ve lost my grip on reality, my sanity, and any fleeting ability to control the outcome of this night.

I’m just a girl in the dark, trapped in a rotting cage with a shadow that wants to devour me.

Ryder slowly makes his way across the creaking floorboards, his heavy, boot-clad steps echoing in the hollow room like a death march. And I wonder how he managed to jump through that window sill absent of sound.

He stops six feet away, looking down at me from his towering height.

He tilts his head, his dark eyes dropping to the small weapon shaking in my hands.

“Clever.” His husky voice comes out smooth and chillingly calm.

He pauses, a slow, dangerous curve touching his lips as he takes in my defensive stance. “Are we going to play this game again? You’ve already watched me bleed. Are you going to afford me the same courtesy this time, pretty girl?”

A bitter, ragged laugh escapes my chest.

“If you come any closer, I’ll make you bleed, alright,” I choke out, raising the point of the blade toward his chest.

Ryder chuckles, a deep, sinister sound that vibrates through the dark cabin like low thunder. “Promise?”

My eyes drag over his gorgeous, terrifying frame, taking in the wide slabs of his chest, the intricate black ink, peeking out from underneath his shirt, clinging to his skin.