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He nods.

“That’s Halloween,” I tell him.

“Well, then I’ll wear a fucking costume. What do you want from me, Edie?”

“You don’t need to wear a costume.”

“Are you still at that old fat camp?”

“Yeah.”

He laughs, cold and bitter. “What were you thinking with that, by the way?”

I look at Sawyer, who stands a few feet from me, silent and still, looking very much like the monster I saw fifteen years ago. The monster who gave me comfort. I thought I was coming here to hide from Scott, but really, I wonder if I was coming to find Sawyer.

“It just felt right,” I say, and then I hang up the phone.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

SAWYER

We don’t have much time to get everything ready, but I’m glad Edie’s ex is coming out sooner rather than later. I can smell the nor’easter on the horizon, the metallic scent of frost and snow. Every time I go outside, my skin prickles with it. An early snowstorm is just what we need. It’ll blanket everything in silence, cover our tracks for at least a week. By then we’ll be long gone.

She collapses into my arms after the phone call with her ex, and I hold her and stroke her hair and kiss her neck, but really my thoughts are on the upcoming kill. Taking care of the PI the other day quieted the bloodlust, a bit like an appetizer before a big meal. It means when Edie’s ex shows up, I won’t get so overwhelmed with need that I end it too quickly.

I’m gonna take my time with him.

I’m gonna cut him open and remove his organs one by one and leave them stacked like a box of jewels.

And I’m gonna make sure he knows it’s Edie who sent me.

Watching her talk to him, I saw all the ways he hurt her. She thinks she hid it from me, playing it cool, but I felt the way her pulse changed whenever he spoke. I saw the way that pretty lightin her eyes dimmed every time he opened his mouth. He took a girl who already felt worthless and told her it was true, all so he could control her, shape her into something else.

The thought floods me with rage, even as I’m holding Edie now, running my hand over her thick curls, squeezing her soft, strong body in tight. It reminds me of how I felt fifteen years ago, seeing how those counselors treated her. This ex is the same way. Just richer. More powerful.

But he’ll fall under my blade just like they did.

“Is this really happening?” Edie pulls away from me and rubs her arms like she’s cold. “Is this really going towork?”

“Of course it is,” I tell her. “But we’ve got to get everything ready. We need to be able to run after it’s finished.”

I see flashes ofit. Blood and viscera. A man’s screaming face. The gleam of my knife blade. My cock stiffens.

Edie nods. Part of me wants to bend her over the counter and slide between her thighs, just to quiet the lust. But I don’t want either of us getting distracted.

“Right,” she says, a nervous chatter in her voice. “I need to close my bank account. That way we’ll have money. We’ll need supplies, right? Food? Clothes? We won't want to have to stop after we—after you…”

Her voice kind of trails off, and she gets this worried line between her brows. For the first time, I feel a tickle of doubt.

What if she doesn’t let me go through with it?

What if my perfect prey ruins my gift for her?

“You’re right,” I say. “We’ll go into town. Together, just in case there are any more surprises from your ex.”

The lines in Edie’s brow deepen. “Is that a good idea? For us to be seen?—”

“Baby, nobody knows who I am.” I grab her chin and tilt it up so she can look me in the eye and know I’m telling the truth. “I’ve got a fake ID. They think Sawyer Caldwell’s dead. It’s fine, okay?”