Page 30 of Hunt Me (The Skulls #1)

??

Ruaridh

A slight chill causes me to stir. Usually, it wouldn ’ t bother me. I wouldn ’ t even give it a second's worth of my attention, but I don ’ t want Fauna to be cold.

A yawn breaks from my lips as I shuffle myself around, careful not to move too quickly in case I knock into her. I had fallen asleep with her in my arms, but she must have rolled away in the night.

Grey light streams through the window into the open-plan room, and my muscles tense as something instantly feels off.

When we came into it, the room was relatively empty, with a couple of sofas still wrapped in plastic sheeting, a bunch of cardboard boxes ready to be unpacked, and furniture to be set up.

That was it, but now it somehow feels even emptier.

I reach out and my stomach sinks. My fingers should find soft skin and flowing hair, but instead, they find a cold, empty spot beside me and there is no Fauna to be seen.

She ’ d whispered about ‘ sorting herself out ’ and that she ’ d ‘ come straight back ’ , but how her side of where we were sleeping has gone cold tells me otherwise. Surely she hasn ’ t left, she wouldn ’ t do that would she?

The heavy fabric of the blanket on top of me begins to feel suffocating, and I rip it off with a roar. Objects fall to the floor from where I have knocked them, but I couldn ’ t give a shit.

My molars grind together so tightly that I hear my jaw clicking. I focus on the tension and the pain of it, ignoring the cracking feeling in my chest. How it feels like a hole has appeared, one that is sucking everything into its darkness.

Two figures run through the entrance, through the door that leads to the stairwell.

‘ What happened? ’ Vish asks as his eyes scan the room.

Liam is beside him but doesn ’ t look around the room; he just stares at me. And from the way he looks at me, I must look bad.

I don ’ t need him to say it. I know it without needing confirmation. Tension rackets my body, fighting against any form of sobs that might take over instead, and I use my fisted hands to push back against the growing pressure behind my eyes.

Why the fuck would she do this.

No, my little deer wouldn ’ t do this.

My attention snaps to them, to Vish. ‘ Where the fuck is she? ’

‘ Wha—’

I don ’ t let him answer. ‘ This is all you! I told you not to talk to her, not to fucking look at her. ’

‘ What are you on about? ’ Vish holds his hands out wide beside him.

‘ I ’ m on about you fucking scaring her! ’ I charge towards him, hands fisted and ready.

Before I can reach him, just out of reach enough that my fist does not collide with his face but instead skims the tip of his nose, a massive body so hard it could be made out of bricks barrels into me, taking me to the floor.

‘ Calm the fuck down, Ru. Take a god damned fucking minute. ’ Liam yells, pinning me to the floor.

‘ Don ’ t tell me to calm down, you fu—’

‘ Stop moving, man. I do not enjoy feeling your fucking dick up against me. ’

That has me stopping, deathly still. A bark of a laugh comes from Vish ’ s direction, but Liam's look over his shoulder has him shutting up.

It registers to me what Liam ’ s talking about all too quickly. The cold concrete flooring against my back, the rough, cracked palms of my best friend ’ s hands on my shoulders and the harsh fabric of his jeans on my crotch. My Johnson fully out for these two fuckers to see.

‘ Fuck, ’ I roar.

‘ Fuck indeed, ’ Liam sighs, still on top of me.

‘ All these years, we ’ ve managed not to run around in the skud, and you ’ re picking now to show us what yer packing. The crazy finally got to you? ’ Vish, the fucking bastard, taunts from his corner of safety, where he is conveniently close to the exit.

‘ She ’ s gone, ’ I admit defeatedly.

Liam loosens his grip on me, leaning back and getting up.

‘ What do you mean she ’ s just gone? ’ Vish asks, the earlier humour in his voice absent.

‘ I woke up, and she wasn ’ t here, and the clothes I ’ d given her are gone. ’

‘ Did she say anything? I thought…’ Vish doesn ’ t finish his sentence, instead changing his line of questioning. ‘ Was it me? I ’ m sorry, Ru, I didn ’ t mean to spook her. I should have never walked in on you both. I should have just left. ’

‘ You asshole, ’ I grunt as I take Liam ’ s outstretched hand.

‘ Do I even want to know? ’ he asks, pointing at Vish, who throws me my new green cargos.

‘ No, ’ I answer, continuing my scowling.

‘ What you want to do then, Ru? ’ Liam asks.

‘ I want to find her. I ’ m going to find her. ’

After the first time I chased her, I warned her that I would never stop hunting her. That she had become my prey, my little deer that I will never let go. And I will do precisely that. Hunt her to the ends of this earth.

Vish claps his hands together, ‘ I ’ ll pack up, won ’ t take long. ’

Confusion must show on my face because Liam claps me on the shoulder, ‘ We ’ re helping you, dumb ass. ’

‘ He, ’ I jerk my chin in the prick ’ s direction, ‘ has helped enough. ’

Hands held in the air, Vish backs out of the room, ‘ let me help, man. It ’ s the least I can do since my sexy face made your girl question who she chose to be with so much she decided to—’

He squeals out the door as I begin charging towards him. Rage thundering in my ears.

‘ Guy has a death wish, but I don ’ t blame him. He ’ s been waiting years for this opportunity. ’ Liam laughs.

Vish has always been a windup, constantly pushing everyone ’ s boundaries to see how far someone will go before they snap on him. Usually, he has nothing on me; I ’ ve never had anything for him to use as ammunition. And I don ’ t wind up easily.

Liam ’ s right. Vish has been waiting for this opportunity, so he acted the way he did, teasing Fauna like that earlier.

Only it all falls flat right now since she ’ s gone.

It ’ s not funny because she has chosen to leave me.

But her decision does not matter because she clearly isn ’ t in the right mind to make the correct one so I will do it for her.

And my mind is made up.

‘ We ’ ll find her, Ru. She can ’ t have gotten far. ’

I look to my best friend, the one I met after I lost my sister all those years ago. He ’ s just as much of a dafty as Vish, probably more so, but he ’ s been there for me through some of the hardest days of my life. And he is here now.

‘ She left, ’ I admit, only being about to show this small vulnerability to him.

‘ And she will come back, ’ he states before continuing with a chuckle.

‘ Plus, you ’ re one of the most persuasive bastards I know.

And judging by what we heard last night, there is no way that girl isn ’ t into you.

She ’ ll just be scared. Give her time. I almost guarantee it ’ s not you.

It ’ s what she ’ s seen. It ’ s the world we live in that is getting in the way. ’

His words have a deeper meaning, an unspoken one that he often tells himself. Liam has been looking for the woman he met on a scouting mission months ago — the one he fell in love with and has been obsessed with ever since — the one who got away and he has been searching for since.

‘ We will find your girl, brother, ’ he promises.

‘ Then we will find yours, ’ I answer, meaning it.

A sad smile quirks the side of his lip upwards.

It has been months and with each one that passes, his hope remains.

But I can see it taking a toll on him mentally, how his imagination runs wild, creating different scenarios about how the world has played him.

Shown him a glimpse at what he could have had but let go.

How he ’ d agreed to a one-off, no names affair.

He didn ’ t even take his mask off, but now it has left him with an infinite number of what-ifs.

‘ She ’ s the one man, ’ I admit to my best mate, repeating the words he had said to me when he ’ d returned months ago.

‘ Then we will stop at nothing to get her. Did she tell you anything about where she was staying? ’

I rack my memories of what we had spoken about, most of the information being from our drunken conversation.

My head shakes, ‘ we were drunk, so it ’ s hazy, but she ’ d mentioned a group of women. How they ’ d not been in the city long and were heading somewhere else, but something ’ s got in the way, changing their plans. Something about a school, one near a park. ’

‘ That maybe explains why she left. ’

‘ What do you mean? ’

Liam gives me a look as if to say isn ’ t it obvious dumb ass.

‘ She is part of a group of girls, who, if I put two and two together, from what Vish said when I got here, it was clear she puts their needs before her own. She bumps into one of Scotland ’ s most notoriously violent groups leader, known for all of the awful shit we have done to keep our community safe. ’

I nod, still questioning where he ’ s going with this. Fauna and I had spoken about The Skulls, about our reputation and where it came from.

‘ Jesus, Ru. For the one in charge of us assholes, you ’ re being dumb as fuck.

’ He begins to spell it out for me and my stomach sinks, ‘ a group of women in a lawless society and a group of men known for their brutality inviting them into a gated stadium that has walls higher than most would feel comfortable climbing. She ’ s probably terrified of what might happen to her group. ’

‘ But she knows I would never hurt her, never let anyone hurt her. ’

‘ You may be a scary mother fucker Ru, but you ’ re still one man.

Plus, she has no idea how well respected you are by any of us.

Not to mention how you could, if you wanted to, slaughter every last one of us.

For all she knows is you want her all to yourself, and her friends can be handed off to us. ’

I feel the blood drain from my face.

‘ See why she might have been spooked and ran off now? ’

‘ We need to get her, ’ I state quickly, lacing up my boots.

As we enter the floor below, Vish throws his rucksack onto his back.

I nod my head towards the entrance, signalling for us to go.

‘ Any clues as to which area of the city she was talking about? ’ Liam continues to ask me questions in an attempt to narrow down where to search.

‘ I was up at Maryhill when she…’ I try to find the right words for me falling through the floor and her flipping me off as our first encounter.

‘ We bumped into each other. But I ’ d come from across the river so Fauna could have followed me from there.

She did brag about how I hadn ’ t noticed her following me for a worryingly long time. ’

My stomach has been in knots since I woke to find her not in my arms. Some over the fact that she left me, but also a large part of it has been knowing that she is out there on her own.

But then, when I think about it and remember her fighting skills, how she had bashed that sewer rat ’ s balls in has a small part of me reassured that she might be okay until I get to her.

‘ Let ’ s start from the bridge, working back through the West End to see which one it may be. ’ Liam concludes, his months of plotting areas to search coming in particular use for this occasion.

Vish skips alongside us to the doorway, ‘ road trip. ’

I sheath my singular axe partially to keep it safe to offer it to Fauna when I find her and partially so I don ’ t kill this prick.

The heap of Fauna ’ s belongings give me pause as I see the worn-down weapon resting on top.

Sickness churns in my stomach at the thought of her being out there without her weapon, but I push it down as I remember that she is not defenceless.

My mischievous little deer is out there using my axe to protect herself.