Page 12 of Guarded by the Hellhound (Accidental Monsters #3)

JOE

S omething is up with my Kat. She is acting out. I had her just where I wanted her: a scared little mouse, afraid of her own shadow, too frightened to leave the house. But then she had to go and get that damned dog. Since she has the dog, things are different.

I tried to get into her house the other night because I couldn't resist it anymore. I just had to see her; I had to know what she looked like when she was sleeping. If she were mine, I would always look at her. She’s already mine, of course. She just doesn’t know it yet.

My mind races, and I have to actively calm myself to stay still. I’m watching; I’m always watching. She thinks she’s so clever to close all the curtains, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know what’s happening inside. And something is happening.

It’s almost as if there’s another person in the house.

But that can’t be, now can it? She hasn’t had a visitor outside of the police in months.

I squint my eyes and refocus my binoculars.

There’s movement in the bedroom. The curtain isn't fully closed, and I can see people through the small gap. The movement is gone before I can register it, but I am sure I saw somebody there who isn’t my Kat.

Rage is building. I was planning on taking her tomorrow to make her mine. I thought Halloween would be fitting since it’s when we first met. She was dressed like an angel, just as I was. That’s when I knew we were meant to be together.

But here she is, with someone else? I thought I made it very, very clear that nobody can have her. She is mine!

I take deep breaths to keep from pacing: my Kat, MINE. Betrayal is cutting through my black heart. I had her room ready, as well as our room, in our house—a house where I would take her to tomorrow. I have been working on the present all year.

I can’t contain a furious growl. If I can’t have her, no one can. Plans are made to be adjusted. She knows what happens next. I will take her tomorrow, but I won’t take her to our house, no I won’t.

Tomorrow, she dies.