Primal Pursuit

I light the cigarette, enjoying the nicotine as I pull it deep into my lungs. It’s an old pleasure, one I rarely partake in. I think the last one I smoked was about six months ago, after a tough kill.

The Dark Sovereign needed to teach a nasty player a lesson, and I was the one to deliver it. I poisoned her husband, then put a bullet in her lover’s brain for good measure, ensuring she was arrested for murder. She had been an integral part of an operation that bought and sold children on our turf, so with her gone, everything else crumbled to pieces. Money and power were lost, but at least that cunt would have time to reflect on her crimes while sitting in prison. I’d call that a very successful take-down even though I would have much preferred to slice that sick little bitch open from nose to navel. But those weren’t my orders. Sometimes there are punishments worse than death, and this one will wear the stigma of poisoning her husband and killing her lover, and in the underworld being labeled as a betrayer is as good as having a giant bullseye on your forehead. She’ll live in fear for the rest of her life until someone finally decides to hack open her spine and pull her lungs out of her back.

It was a tough operation because poison isn’t my thing. I don’t like it, as it’s got potential to turn into complications. Someone might get there in time, or there might be the right—or wrong—reaction. It’s unpredictable. Messy. But I follow the rules when it comes to my work and the Dark Sovereign. On other aspects of my life, I say fuck therules. I play shit my way, and that includes tasty snacks and rabbit-flavored treats.

This rabbit has sweet potential, and I want to see what all she has to offer.

Reading people is part of my job, and this one has a lot of hate she has a hard time hiding, and that’s what I want to tap in to. That hate. That anger. Two emotions that have the potential to burst into savage desire or turn deadly real fucking fast. I can’t wait to find out where hers will end.

She wanted to hate me for the knife and blood play even as it made her quiver and brim with need. But rabbits do certain things, like hop away. This one…I can see there’s a part of her that wants to linger, but since I fed her humiliation tonight, I’m sure she’s hightailing out of here. Partly because she wants to pretend like she doesn’t like me. Mainly to prove a fucking point.

I smoke as I start strolling through the parking lot of the club. The smell of fuel from idling engines and lush flowers wafts through the air. Inch-deep puddles cover the tarmac in places, and water sprinklers hiss on and off when they are stuck by a car wheel. Girls’ voices drift in the night, and I hear someone’s laughter. The undercurrent of their joy rings with greed and lust, and no matter how many times I come to Myth, the sound is always like nails on a chalkboard to my ears.

My skin crawls and drips with sickness, and I don’t even bother looking to see if my little rabbit is among them. That’s not her kind of crowd, and I’m sure she’d rather cut her own ears off than listen to their spine-grating giggling.

I glance around at the parked cars. I didn’t look at thesecurity footage before the fake Jacinta Harris entered the foyer, so I don’t know which car is hers. I’m willing to bet whatever she drove here tonight isn’t hers. She came in here with a fake ID, which means she went through a lot of trouble to—one, get into this club. And two, to keep her identity hidden. So, there can be two scenarios here.

Either she’s a real dumb rabbit and came in her own car, or she’s a smart little thing and came here in a rental. But rentals can be traced. If she’s truly a clever fucking prey worth hunting, she would have stolen a car just for tonight, and get rid of it after. That means she’d have to have her car parked nearby where she’d discard the stolen one, but not too close.

I round the building and get into the car I drove here—a rental…because I’m really fucking smart. Within minutes, I drive out the main gates and pull up in a dark area just around the bend before logging into the club’s security feed just in time to see Rabbit get into a black Porche Cayenne.

I grin. “Rabbit’s got taste.”

In the rearview mirror, I spot when she turns out onto the street headed in my direction, so I quickly pull into the road, forcing her to slow down behind me and she lays on the horn like the impatient little bunny she is.

She puts her foot on the gas, the black Cayenne overtaking me, and speeds out in front. Good. Now she won’t be too paranoid when she sees an unexpected car behind her.

I keep a safe distance as I follow her. The last thing I want is to scare this rabbit away. When she turns to the right down one of Chicago’s dark and narrow roads, Iimmediately figure out where she’s headed. It’s a parking area of an abandoned warehouse—a poorly lit area where thugs like to do their dealings. I’m slightly disappointed over the fact that she plays it safe here in the dark. But only slightly.

Now, where would she park her real car?

Not far. She’s got heels on, so I’m betting her wheels are nearby. That’s what I’d do if I had a hit where I needed to make a getaway. Arrive in one vehicle, cut down an alley after to the second that’s waiting.

Short, innocuous, sweet.

I park the car and walk up the dark alley, keeping to the shadows, when I hear her heels echo through the dark.

I can see her, but she can’t see me. She’s no longer wearing her mask, and I know she’s naked beneath her coat because I ruined her dress with a motherfucking smile on my face.

If I weren’t so impatient, I’d continue to follow her in the dark, observe her while I try to figure her out. But she’s got me all revved up, which means my patience is at an all-time low.

I want her now, and she’s not getting away.

“Asshole.” Rabbit’s voice reaches me.

I’m pretty sure I’m the asshole in question.

“Fucking asshole.”

I can’t help the low grin. This one is enigmatic and unexpected—two boxes I like ticked before indulging.

I lean back and watch as she steps out of the small pool of light when I decide to speak. “Little rabbits hopping down lonely alleys are likely to get eaten by a wolf.”

She slows but doesn’t seem surprised.

Interesting.

Is she as aware of the electric crackle in the air between us as I am? Or did sheallowme to follow her? So many variables. Keeps it interesting.