Page 110 of A Thousand Cuts

This wasn’t love. This was obsession. Sickness.

It was a sticky film over his skin, making him want to rub himself raw to remove it, but he was locked inside a trap of his own making.

He’d locked himself in with a predator.

“How did you find out where I live?” Liam demanded, eyes flicking to the spots where he’d placed the cameras. How much time had passed? How long did he have to keep this going?

“I’ll admit you’re tricky to find.” The man took a few steps closer. Liam forced himself to stand still even though they were now so close he could smell the scent of him, realizing that he had smelled it many times before in passing. In his hallway. On the street. It made him want to gag. “Smart and beautiful. It took me ages to figure it out. I just loved you from afar, until I could.”

“How did you do it?” Liam asked again, because he was getting as much out of this asshole on camera as he could before it all went to shit.

“You didn’t cover your window in one of your streams. You can see the balcony of the building next to yours. I spent months trying to find that balcony.”

Liam gasped, trying to wrap his head around it and not lose it. His flight reflex was screaming at him to run, to get away, but it wasn’t time yet.

“That’s a lot of attention and effort,” Liam said, trying to stay calm.

“All of my attention and effort has gone to you,” the man said, seeking approval like an eager puppy. “How do you think I knew where you’d be today? Your message was meant for me. I know everything about you, Liam. Every little detail you’ve ever accidentally slipped in one of your streams, I know. I’ve built up the image of you piece by tiny piece. Like a puzzle.”

“You’re crazy,” Liam said, because he couldn’t hold it in any longer. It was insanity.

“About you?” the man asked. “Yes. I am. I’m not sorry for any of it.”

“You should be,” Liam said, temper sparking and making him hot. “You did horrible things to me. You made me terrified!”

Liam watched as the man clenched his fists and the twitches in his neck got more prominent at his anger.

“It wasn’t my intention,” he bit through his teeth. “They were all tokens of my appreciation. I wanted you to think of me. I wanted to stay on your mind like you constantly stayed on mine. And it worked.”

“Did it?” Liam asked. “Is this what you wanted? For me to fear you?”

“It’s just temporary.” He said it like he was sure of it. “You just have to get to know me better. You already came to me. That’s the most important thing.”

“I’m not staying,” Liam blurted out foolishly. “I have someone waiting for me.”

Like he had flipped a switch, the man’s demeanor changed from obsessively loving to murderous in a split second. His chest began to heave like a bull’s, his neck twitching even more.

Liam stepped back.

The man followed, faster now, reactive.

“The cursebreaker.” He spat it like the word was filthy.

He’d fucked up and overplayed his hand. He should have never mentioned Fix and antagonized him. He could feel the danger in the air and he scrabbled for a foothold as his survival instincts took over.

“He knows I came to meet with you. He knows where I am. He’ll be here soon,” he said quickly, hoping the threat might make the stalker pause or retreat.

All it did was incense him further.

“He’ll stay away if he knows what’s good for him!” the man growled, dark eyes flashing. “And you.”

“Are you threatening me?” Liam asked, and before he could even finish the sentence, the man had closed the distance between them to an uncomfortable small gap, and Liam could hear him breathing.

“I’m promising you, baby,” the man said, leaning in over him. “You shouldn’t have let him touch you. You don’t belong to him.”

“I don’t belong to you,” Liam said, his heart filled with so much fear, but steadfast.

Teeth glinted at him in a snarl. “YOU DO!”