Page 60 of Death Rydes Shotgun

She stares at me, trying to steady her erratic breathing as she slowly pulls her hand—and the blade—away from my neck.

“Why, Ryder? Why did you come back to town on this particular Halloween night? Did you come to get revenge for Noah?” Her tight voice rasps, trembling.

A quiet, sinister rumble builds in my chest as I tilt my head down at her.

“Who deserves my vengeance, Harmony?” My thumb comes up to wipe a smear of my blood off her bottom lip. “If what you told me back in the barn was true... Noah died from a hit and run. An accident on a cold, dark highway.”

Harmony’s breath hitches. She looks down at the knife in her trembling hand, her jaw setting in a fragile line.

“Noah wouldn’t have been out there if it wasn’t for me and my secret. He wouldn’t have been on that road if I hadn’t let them take him,” she says, the guilt bitter and thick on her tongue.

I lean closer, my mouth brushing against the shell of her ear. “Yet, you’re the only one I’m interested in.”

She flinches slightly at the weight of my words, but I don’t give her space to pull away.

“I’ve watched you since middle school, Harmony,” I whisper darkly into her skin.

She shivers as the truth washes over her like ice water.

“I didn’t intend on making contact with you tonight. But then you picked me up on the side of the road. Fate brought us together on this Halloween night.”

I let out a low chuckle. “I’ve been coming to Blackwood every single Halloween, you know. Standing in the tree line, watching in the dark as you visit the place where Noah died.” I pull back just enough to catch her eye. “What do you say to him when you’re standing alone on that dark stretch of road?”

Harmony’s eyes widen, her expression suddenly guarded and cold. She turns her face away from me, staring into the shadowy corner of the cabin.

“That’s private,” she murmurs.

“Do you regret your actions that night? Do you regret what you did to him?” I press, my hand tightening on her waist, pulling her flush against my hip.

She goes quiet for three long heartbeats, the sound of the pouring rain drumming against the tin roof filling the silence.

She finally turns her head towards me, her eyes somber and unflinching, holding mine with an unsettling honesty. “Would it be bad if I said yes and no?”

My brows rise in genuine interest. “Elaborate.”

Harmony swallows hard, taking a trembling breath. “Yes, because he was just a kid. He didn’t deserve to die in a ditch in the cold. But no... because his death showed me who I really was. It forced me to see the parts of myself I never knew existed, and it showed me how I needed to accept that change was needed for growth.”

The confession is stripped bare and honest.

She looks straight into my eyes. “I thank Noah for opening my eyes that night. I really do.”

I stare down at her, a twisted sense of admiration blooming in my gut.

She isn’t a saint weeping over her sins; she’s a survivor who digested her own bleak past and used it to harden her soul. She really is a magnificent, mysterious creature.

Harmony steps back, breaking the physical contact between us, though her eyes never leave mine.

The mood within the room transforms, shifting from an intense sexual energy to something significantly colder and more lethal.

Suddenly, her voice drops into an accusatory whisper. “Did you have something to do with Blaire’s disappearance?”

I hold her gaze for a long moment, wiping any expression from my face. “Why would you assume it was me?”

Harmony’s eyes narrow. “Because she went missing tonight. And people don’t just vanish into thin air.”

“People die in this town on Halloween, Harmony. They have since Noah. It’s a tradition here. Just look at poor Mr. Knight,” I remind her as I move in closer until my shadow covers her again.

Harmony squints her eyes at me, her suspicion quickly turning into sharp distrust. “Are you telling me you didn’t do that? You didn’t slaughter Marcus tonight?”