Page 23 of Dance of Defiance

“I gotta run. Something came up.”

Something as in straight-up murdering the dead motherfucker you’ve been insane enough to be talking to on the internet, who you were going to fucking MEET in the goddamn woods.

Like I said, Evelina is maybe a littletooinnocent for this world. Too trusting. Toogood. That’s why I’ve always been such an overprotective brother: to make sure creeps likethisasshole stay the fuck away from her.

Seems I’ve let myself slip a little bit. Tonight, I’ll be fixing that.

“Aww, c’mon! Just one sec!”

But I can’t. Not just because I have to go bury someone in a shallow grave after I hack off their dick. After what I just read, I’m not sure I can even look my sister in the eye again.

What the actualfuckwere you doing on that site, Evelina?

“Sorry!” I call through the door. “I really have to go. We’ll catch up soon.”

Evie groans. “Fiiiine. You owe me, though.”

At some point, she and I are going to have averyserious chat about all this.

But for now…

It’s murder time.

5

ROMAN

The Mercedes SUVrumbles to a stop, crunching over the gravel. I shift into park, glancing through the windows at the deserted parking lot of the state park.

This fucking creep may have managed to convince my sister to meet himhereso he could do whatever he wanted to her without witnesses or anyone coming to her rescue.

But his insidious plan is going to be his fucking downfall. Because it’s not sweet Evie's screams that will go unheard tonight.

It’shis.

And Iwillbe making this fucking lowlife predator scream.

…And scream, and scream, andscream.

I switch the car off and step out into the slightly foggy chill of the night air. Summer is gone, and I can taste fall in the air as I pull a mask out of the pocket of my leather jacket.

It’s not to hide my identity. Before I kill this fucker, he will know who I am. It's for maximum terror factor in the moment he realizes he didn’t lure a poor, innocent girl into the woods.

He invited a fucking monster. And I’m going to destroy him.

The headlights darken behind me, and the whole scenes dims to the thin, silvery glow of the moon filtering through the mist and the trees. The first fallen leaves of the season are brittle underfoot as I put the mask on and slowly head down the trail that leads from the parking lot.

My eyes shift side to side and my muscles tighten up as I try to sense anything that might give away this asshole’s location.

I’m going to find you, motherfucker. And then I’m going to make you scream, beg, and bleed for trying to lure my poor sister out here to?—

The guy comes out of nowhere.

He slams into me from behind and grunts as he knocks me to my knees. I snarl when he wraps a sinewy arm around my throat and forces me face-down onto the ground, making me choke on dust and leaves.

The breath rushes out of me in a whoosh as his firm, powerful body lands on top of mine, pinning me to the earth as he grabs my wrists and shoves my hands over my head.

No.