Page 31 of Deadly Obsession

TWENTY-FIVE

JAMES

I’d found my mask downstairs. Sitting on the kitchen counter still splattered with Lola’s blood.

I set the axes down and picked up the mask, my eyes locked on my trademark TikTok persona.

It was just an airsoft mask I’d heavily modified until it looked like the face I’d seen in my nightmares since coming home.

It wouldn’t stop a bullet, but something about it in my hands just felt right.

Unable to resist, I put it on, reaching up and cinching the straps tight.

I took one deep inhale and grabbed for my axes.

When I let out the breath, it was like my body came alive.

Someone was out there putting my harpy’s life at risk.

They were going to find out there was only room for one monster on this mountain.

Stepping out onto the front deck, I scanned the woods in front of me.

My glare settling on the road. A vehicle was coming back this way.

And fast. Judging from the sound of kicked-up gravel, I’d say it was my truck.

Which meant they’d found something that they didn’t like or couldn’t get past. They were headed here, likely to take up the defensive and await emergency services.

Not a bad idea. They were using their heads .

Every fiber of my being screamed at me to run into the woods.

It would only make sense for the killer to have a camp he used to observe the coming and goings of the group.

I took off in a dead sprint, not caring for stealth.

Whatever noise I was making would be hidden under the growing roar of my truck’s exhaust and the gravel it tore up on the road.

The terrain beneath my feet wasn’t too bad.

Steep and rocky in places. But apart from that, I merely needed to jump over the occasional fallen branch.

Off to the east, my beautiful blacked-out lifted Silverado flew backwards at a speed that made my gut twist. That sense of pain stabbed twice as hard when I noticed the windshield was missing and my headlight had been shattered.

Was Sera okay?

I caught myself turning to keep the truck in view, in hopes I’d see her beautiful face, but it was too far and moving too fast. Shaking my head, I brought myself back to the present. I couldn’t get distracted right now.

The silver lining was that I had no doubt my target was ahead, and it seemed whoever was at the wheel was very capable.

Turning my attention back to the woods, I sprinted up the next hill and dropped down between a cluster of jagged boulders and two pine trees.

Then I cleared a spot by my feet, proned out, and waited for my target to come to me.