Page 78 of Half the Summer's Night

“Yeah,” she says. “We pick a target and we hunt them down. When you do it with another Hunter, you’ll feel it. It’s different. And you’ll understand what I’m telling you better, I think.”

“Right now?” I shake my head, panic rising in my throat. “No. I can’t just—I have aprocess, okay? It keeps me from getting caught. Or killed.”

And I really don’t want either to happen right now. Not after the night I spent with Abi.

But Charlotte just laughs. “Oh, you don’t have to worry about dying. You can’t. Or, I mean, youcan,technically. But you come back. It’s one of our many skillsets.”

“Bullshit,” I say.

“What?” She laughs. “Everything else I’ve told you is true. I’d give you a demonstration, but it takes a while to revive. But you’ll find out eventually.” She grins. “Come on, Rowan. You can live a little. I bet you never killed during the day, either.”

I scowl at her, even though she can’t see.

“What about without the mask?”

“It’s not a mask,” I say stiffly. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“I bet I would.” Charlotte smiles in a way that makes me nervous. “Or how about this. You know that woman at the funeral home? The one you’re always watching?”

My hackles go up immediately. Any wary interest I felt immediately vanishes. “Don’t fucking touch her,” I snarl, and I’m surprised by how vehement I am. How much I do sound like a monster.

But Charlotte is unfazed. She lifts her hands in a surrender. “I wouldn’tdreamof it,” she says. “But she’s human. It’s hardwhen one of us loves a human. Two of my friends are doing it, though. So maybe I can give you some advice.”

I wonder how Charlotte knows I love Abi.

“Come on.” Charlotte steps up to me. “Come with me. Let me be a big sister for a day.”

I ought to say no. But my curiosity is burning me up. A half-sister. Another killer.

Besides, Abi should be safe. The presence I thought was stalking her is standing in front of me now.

“Come onnnn,” Charlotte says. “I’ll be enlightening.” Her eyes glitter. “And fun.”

Although I ought to know better, excitement leaps up inside me.

“Fine,” I say, hoping I’m not making a mistake. “But I need to be back before dark.”

29

ABI

Ilock every door in my house and double-check them. Then I triple-check them. I check each window, making sure it’s sealed shut. Even the ones upstairs.

And when all of that is done, I go into the spare bedroom and pull open the closet door. Uncle Vic had a hunting rifle that he kept in a carrying case. He didn’t actually like hunting, he told me once, but a rifle like that was a standard gift for a Texas boy of his generation.

After he died, I put it in this closet.

I don’t know how to use a gun, but I take the case out anyway and set it on the bed.

I don’t know what to do next.

Or rather, what I want to do is the one thing Ican’tdo. I can’t call Nameless. I don’t know who he is. He slips in and out of my life like a demon. He comes to me. I don’t go to him.

So I’m alone, at least until nightfall.

I leave the gun on the bed and go back downstairs, my body tight with worry. I tell myself I just need to get through the day. Once night falls, Nameless will be here, and I can show him the pictures and the messages. He won’t let anything happen to me.

I don’t know why, but I’m sure of it.