Page 39 of Dyana (Love in the Apocalypse #3)

Chapter eighteen

Dyana

I watched Harris flee for a few seconds before stomping after him. One more hunt, this time his, and we’d be done with this forever.

“Absolutely not,” Jack huffed as he tried to block me. “You are not going after him alone.”

“He’s unarmed,” I replied, walking around him.

“That doesn’t mean he can’t fucking overpower you and kill you,” Evan growled as Bryce wrapped his arms around me from behind.

“We can’t let you go, Sweetheart.”

“Yes, you can, and you will. This is my fight. His life is mine. He doesn’t know this mountain like I do,” I replied, struggling in his arms.

“Let her go,” Cora said behind us.

“Cora!” Remi exclaimed.

“Dyana needs this,” Cora continued calmly. “She needs to slay her monster. Nothing short of watching the life drain from his eyes as his blood runs through her fingers will do. Trust that she can take care of herself and let her go.”

Jack shook his head at Bryce as his hold on me loosened. Bryce kissed my neck. “You better come back to us. We’d follow you into death, too.”

I turned and kissed him, then Jack and Evan in turn. “I’ll be back. I promise.” I grabbed Cora and hugged her before taking the camo jacket she offered and putting it on. “Thank you for understanding.”

I walked away from them and into the forest. I knew Harris would take the road as far as he could since he was unfamiliar with the forest. If he weren’t on the road, he’d be near it in the trees.

I hadn’t been much of a hunter before I moved into the tower, but thanks to Cora, I had become reasonably proficient in it.

Good enough to hunt a bumbling idiot through the trees.

As expected, I saw Harris running on the road below me, with a noticeable limp in his gait.

Instead of trying to intercept him, I let him exhaust himself a little more.

If he didn’t deal with his leg soon, he’d bleed out.

I’d get to him before that happened, but for now, I was content to watch him struggle.

Plus, I wanted him to get to his car and think he found an escape.

I shadowed him through the trees, keeping him in sight.

My steps were silent, and I was grateful we were still in summer.

Fall, with all the crunchy leaves, would have made this more difficult, but not impossible.

I saw the moment Harris spotted his car on the road because his steps quickened.

“Yes!” I heard him cheer. “Stupid bitch!” he yelled.

When he reached for the handle and the door didn’t open, I saw his confusion as he pulled on the handle a couple more times.

When we left the car, I made sure to take the keys and lock the doors.

That car wouldn’t save him. Harris checked each door pointlessly, growing more desperate at each one.

When he’d finally checked the front passenger door and found it locked as well, I decided it was time to get him moving again.

I let out a low whistle, letting the haunting note carry through the trees.

Harris looked around, his eyes skating right over me as he searched the trees for any sign of me.

Thanks to the jacket, I blended right in with the trees.

When he shrugged it off, convincing himself that he was imagining things, and turned back to the car to try to get in again, I repeated the whistle.

This time, he darted into the trees below without looking around first. I chuckled, letting the sound carry.

“Fucking cunt!” Harris screamed. “I know what you’re trying to do, and it won’t work. I’m not afraid of a whore.”

I remained silent as I stalked closer to him. Someone who isn’t afraid doesn’t feel the need to announce they aren’t scared.

“Fuck,” Harris hissed as he stumbled. He started to make a path back to the road for better terrain, so I grabbed a rock and tossed it below him.

His time on the road was over. I wanted to drive him deeper into the woods.

Harris scurried away from the sound just like I wanted him to.

The further he traveled, the more desperate and clumsy he became.

He once thought of himself as an untouchable God, and watching him reduced to a bumbling coward fed a part of my soul I didn’t often let eat anymore—the monster within.

I toyed with him, sending him up and down the hillside until the sun was high in the sky, before I finally got bored with it. Harris was slowing down and still bleeding, and I was ready to go home to my men. I made my move when he was resting against a tree.

I stepped in front of him and had my knife through the side of his neck and out the other side as he lifted his head in surprise. The blade sliced through his windpipe like butter, and he immediately began to choke. He scratched at my arms, but it was ineffective due to his weakened state.

“You don’t have much time, so I want you to listen carefully.

You were never a man, only a monster. I’m sure some people cared about you before the apocalypse, and if I had one wish, it would be that they could see you now.

See you in your true form, and see you pay for your crimes once and for all.

I win, Harris. You never broke me, and now you never will. ”

I pulled the knife forward, slicing through his throat and causing blood to splatter all over me.

As life faded from his eyes, I stabbed the knife through his eye socket and into his brain to keep him from turning.

I let his body fall to the forest floor and then fulfilled my earlier promise and gutted him from sternum to groin.

He may have been worthless in life, but in death, he’ll feed the forest.

I stood, feeling exhausted, but pushed myself to make it home again.

Home to my men.

My family.