Page 64 of Haunting the Hunter

“Hey! I wanted to talk to—um, Cade? Where is your shirt?”

“I didn’t want to get any blood on it,” I grumble. That sounds believable enough, my voice rough with pent-up desire.

“Okay…” she says slowly, her voice tinged with suspicion. “Well, I need to talk to you when you get the chance, cool?”

“Yep. I’ll meet you in the library after I’m done here,” I answer quickly, trying to rush her off.

She walks away and shuts the door as I lazily grab my shirt off floor and pull it over my head, narrowing my eyes at the empty room.

“I can feel you smiling. Don’t laugh at me, you fucking started it.”

After I finish, I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and head into the living room to find Jack on the couch. I sit down next to him.

“I need you to do some research for me,” I start, looking straight ahead.

He looks at me curiously. He is already aware of Rosa White, I updated him on everything except… I attempt to summon the words to say to him but stop myself. He won’t believe me, so I settle with—

“I need to find out if there is any information on how to kill a God.” I keep my voice bland, but my fingers curl around the water bottle, making it creak.

He bursts out laughing until he sees my very serious face, his jaw dropping.

“You’re fucking joking, right?”

“No.” I’m serious. “Our next targets are going to be more dangerous, and we need more information. We need to play their game, make them think I believe, and then we can use that knowledge against them. If there is a way to kill their ‘God,’ maybe I can convince them to give up chasing Calli.”

“That’s fucking stupid, Cade… but I guess I get what you’re going for. Fine.” He groans. “I’ll do some research, but you’re better off asking Calli—this is more her territory and we both know it.”

“That’s what I’m going to talk to her about now. How is she?”

“I don’t know. I’ve been sick, and she has been a total hermit, either holing up in the library or her room. Honestly it seems like she’s avoiding me after—” He cuts himself off abruptly, looking away.

“After what, Jack?” I say his name as a warning.

“I—um, it’s hard to explain,” he stutters, avoiding my eyes. I stand, staring down at him, my eyes narrowed.

“Try anyway,” I hiss.

“She’s been off, and weird shit has been happening, which you would know if you were fucking here,” Jack says with a snap in his tone, finally looking up at me.

I raise an eyebrow and nod slowly, still looming over him.

“You’re right, I’m not here. I’m trying to fucking save her.”

“Tell yourself whatever you want to sleep at night. This is about what you saw, this is about revenge. You could have taken her anywhere and hid from them.” His voice is rough with displaced anger.

I lift him from the couch and shove him against the wall, getting in his face.

“I don’t know where the fuck this is coming from,” I growl, shaking him. “They are searching for her, and if you think for a fucking second that if I thought there was another way I wouldn’t have taken it… You know as well as I do how lucky we’ve been to have not been found this far, mostly because of you, and we’re grateful for that, but I’m doing a fucking service getting rid of these evil bastards. So check your fucking tone when you speak to me.”

He shoves my hands away and looks to the side, resentment all over his face, arms crossed over his chest defensively.

“I’m sorry,” he finally grumbles, shoulders drooping. “I didn’t mean that. I’m just worried about her. And you. You’re my best friend, Cade, and I love you both like family, but shit is getting weird. Maybe we should pick up and leave. It’s not too late.”

“Jack.” I sigh, running a hand over my face. “We know who isleading them, we have a target, and now we just need a plan. No one knows where we are. We are all safe here. For now.”

“It’s only a matter of time, Cade,” Jack argues, stubborn as always. “There’s a detective that’s been snooping around the disappearances. Requesting files from years ago, even going as far as pulling your parents’ file.”

“I covered my tracks. They won’t find anything,” I reassure him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “How do you even know that?”