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The Society is testing me. My mind is already racing with how I’m going to prevent a child from dying in front of my face without killing them all.

“Is that so?” I say, my tone intrigued.

“All I ask is Friday night, you meet me at a dinner party I’m hosting.”

Friday is two days from now.

My head spins as I try to figure out what Dan is planning. It’s something evil, I know that much.

“What’s the purpose of this appetizer?”

If Dan has a problem with my questioning, he doesn’t make it known. And frankly, I don’t give a fuck.

Feeling the urge come over me, I switch my screen to a live feed of security cameras I have set up around Addie’s property. She’s home, and Daya's car is still parked outside of her house.

Later, I’ll have to go over more training with her. I’ve gone over several things she should do if ever kidnapped but I want to make sure Addie is fully prepared. Not because I plan on ever letting her be taken, but because I’m a realistic and logical person and understand that I can’t control everything.

I’ve been in this business far too long to know better. Getting taken can happen in a single second, when you’re doing the most mundane thing that every single person does every day. Walking to their car. Walking in or out of a store. Putting gas in your car. Going on a walk in a park. And some even force bait to knock on your door and ask for help.

“Well, to get our fill before the main event, of co

urse. We have the perfect appetizer picked out just for you. One that resembles your own meals at home. It’s safe to say you’ll join me, yeah?”

My fists tighten until I hear the bones crack. The appetizer is a little girl. One that apparently looks similar to the girl who was in the picture I showed him at Savior's. He went out and handpicked a girl based on what he thinks I like.

I’m past the sickening feeling that stirs in the gut and makes you want to vomit—I’m seeing red now. The red of his blood, leaking from his throat as I slice into it. The red flowing from his mouth as he slowly suffocates. I see so much red.

“Of course,” I say breezily. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Make sure the men are watching over Addie while I’m gone,” I remind Jay, tightening the tie around my neck.

It feels like a goddamn noose, and playing nice with these men tonight is the proverbial bucket being kicked out from beneath my feet.

Socializing with some of the most depraved men to ever live certainly feels like hanging myself from the ceiling rafters. They deserve to die, and instead I’ll be drinking expensive whiskey with them and imagining all the ways I'm going to slaughter each and every one of them.

“Her house is being watched around the clock. Discreetly, of course,” Jay assures from behind me.

Doesn’t feel good enough. Something I learned from when she was just a girl getting undressed in her room, while I watched from afar through her window. I knew her skin was as soft as silk and that her pussy would feel like fucking paradise. But being so far away and only just watching—it wasn’t good enough.

And now, her safety feels precarious. I have the best men in the world watching out for her, but if the Society were to send someone after her—they wouldn’t hire some low-life off the streets.

They’d hire someone just as trained to hunt and kill as the men circling the perimeter of her house.

I spare a glance at Jay through the mirror, his shaggy black hair curled around his pale face as he fiddles with the plastic red rose on my nightstand. I don’t feel particularly comfortable having him in my personal space, but Jay decided he didn’t care and walked into my bedroom and sat on the bed anyway.

Addie hasn’t even gotten the chance to come here yet. I’ll have to rectify that soon.

I walk over to him and snatch the rose from his hand, his fingernails painted black today. Every time I see them, they’re a different color.

Never one to shy away, Jay prods. “Is that personal? Where did you get it?”

I cock a brow at him, but he just stares up at me with faux innocence in his hazel eyes, patiently waiting.

Whatever.

“My mother gave it to me a long time ago. She loved roses and had them all over the house. She gave this to me to always remember her by.” My tone suggests that Jay keep his mouth shut.

So, he does.