Page 84 of Haunting the Hunter

“I’ll help you…” My voice turns razor-sharp as I remain stock-still, my hands curling at my sides. “But you need to let me leave.”

“Yeah… Not gonna happen.”

I twist, lunging for his wrist when pain explodes against my temple. I see stars as everything tilts and I fall to the ground. My ears ring as warm blood runs down my face.

Benjamin stands over me, revolver in hand.

And behind him… a woman holding a tire iron.

Straight red hair. Freckles. Pale as porcelain. The scowl on her face looking like a permanent feature.

Fuck. I can feel myself losing consciousness, the room going blurry around the edges.

Calli… she was right…

Benjamin crouches slightly, tilting his head as he watches me. I hold his gaze as I feel myself slowly blacking out.

“As I said… I need you as leverage,” he hums softly. “You’ll understand… soon enough.”

Something sharp pierces my neck—a cold fire racing down my spine before everything fades to black.

CHAPTER 26

CADE

I’m falling.

Another dream? It must be.

I’m alone and it’s quiet.

So quiet that my heartbeat fills my ears, pounding against my head.

I lay there surrounded by a void and it’s consuming me, eating everything that I am.

I slowly sink down, the surface below no longer supporting my weight.

Panic rises in my chest as I try to shift, attempting to grasp for something—anything.

My body slowly sinks into the unstable ground, like quicksand.

I reach out into the void in vain.

I feel my body submerged into a thick weight, pressing into me, pulling me under.

The sensation reaches my face, pulling my head down despite my desperate protest.

Suddenly a light appears, far above me, and it rushes down, fast as a bullet, into my chest.

The pressure fades, and I slowly rise.

Not flying—just floating. Like something is holding me, guiding me up. The light pulls from my chest and hangs in the air, pulsing like a heartbeat that’s not my own.

Relief washes over me as I feel it. That warmth, that calm…

My little ghost.

“Where am I?” my voice echoes dully.