Hunt Me! I Crave the Chase (Spooky Boys #3)

Memories twisted like a noose around my neck, flickering behind my eyelids.

Copper, copper, copper.

All day I’d caught myself wondering what she’d think. What she would do.

The answer had sent me running to the bathroom to throw up.

Because Lydia was not a savior. And I knew her solution to this problem would be to put a silver bullet in Mutt’s head.

Lydia had stuck her talons so deep inside my brain, even if I pulled them out splinters would be left behind. It was ridiculous to think I should ask her for help. She’d never helped me. Not a single day in my entire fucking life.

All she’d done was hurt me.

She’d peeled my skin from muscle, and beat every bone in my body till I was shattered and easy to rebuild.

“You’re a natural,” one man had said, a grizzled hunter with a handlebar mustache and too much chest hair. The woods creaked, the stars high above, darkness creeping around us. A group of ten or so hunters gathered, all staring at Lydia like she shined sun out of her asshole. But they weren’t here for Lydia today.

No.

They were here for me.

My first time as head hunter.

My initiation.

He’d slapped my shoulder, and I’d laughed—because that was the person I was supposed to be. My character would be happy. He’d be thrilled. He’d just killed a wendigo.

“I learned from the best,” I grinned, jerking my head toward Lydia.

“You’re lucky,” the man’s hand lingered on my shoulder and I hated the fact that it felt good. Kind touch had always been the surest way to tear me apart.

“I am,” I agreed. Inside I shriveled up, a withered husk.

“Your aim was a little off. But overall it was a good hunt. You did our name proud,” Lydia had said later that night as we’d fallen into our matching twin beds. She spoke like she’d just handed me a zillion dollars, a puppy, and a truckload of cocaine. Like I was supposed to fall to my knees in gratitude that she’d offered me a single shitty compliment. But I wasn’t phased. Because at age eighteen, I’d been with her for nearly ten years now, and I knew how to play her like a fiddle.

I still didn’t understand why we had to share a room. I’d won her trust. It had taken years, but I’d done it. You’d think that would come with a little freedom.

But the leash I was on was as short as ever.

“Thank you,” I’d smiled at her, fluffing my pillow and pulling my blankets high so she couldn’t see any part of my body.

“I think you’re ready,” she’d said, turning to look at me. I glanced over, because it was what she wanted, and I immediately regretted that choice. The way she was staring at me was…unsettling. Her tiny, compact body lay still as a corpse in her bed, her bleach blonde hair slicked back tight. And I knew then, that something was…off. Her eyes were manic, bright. Her painted lips were pulled into a grin that sent a chill down my spine.

“Ready?” I echoed, keeping my tone light even though I was terrified.

“For the anchor that’s been holding you down to be cut,” she’d hummed, like I didn’t know exactly what and who she was talking about. Like she hadn’t just talked about separating me from the only person that gave my life any meaning.

Blair.

“Lydia—” Panic. Panic zinged through my body, made me feel sick and small, off-kilter. I shouldn’t have gotten cocky. I should’ve never thought I could predict her, that I’d gotten a handle on this after all.

“Mommy,” she corrected me, and I flinched. Fuck. I hadn’t slipped up like that in years. What was I doing?

“Mommy,” I said, tone soft and careful. Careful not to show weakness. “What do you…I mean—What do you mean?”

“You’ll see.” Her reply was cryptic. And it…haunted me. Haunted me all night as I stared unseeingly up at the ceiling, a gun beneath my pillow, and my mind a million miles away. She turned her back to me, and for a single—solitary second, I debated killing her. But I lost my nerve.

I hadn’t known then what exactly she was planning, but in hindsight, I’d simply been blind. It felt so…obvious now. The papers she’d placed in her husband’s desk for us to find. The trap laid for Blair to come to Elmwood where she could take care of him once and for all.