Page 73 of Mara

But this time, when he came for me, I would be fucking ready.

Back at the asylum, I stood watching.

They didn’t even let me say goodbye, not that we ever got hellos.

Jinx was shackled like a true beast. His arms were pinned behind his back in thick metal cuffs, with a spit shield across his mouth.

Apparently, he’d bitten one of the guards during sedation.

Typical.

The sedatives never held in his blood for long. He was too volatile, too goddamn stubborn to stay still for even a minute.

The cops thought moving him was the safest for me after Gigi’s…body was found. They still believed it was Jinx that killed her, and despite my best efforts, I was still ignored.

I stood behind the gates, my hands tucked into the pockets of my scrubs, my heart pounding and high in my throat as they loaded him into the back of the armored van.

Two unfamiliar guards were walking around, then three. I watched him seem to sway, his boots dragging in the gravel, his head lolled low like he was sleeping, but I knew that twitch in his fingers.

He wasn’t out.

He was waiting.

But for what?

What are you thinking, Jinx…

They didn’t know him like I did. Maybe no one did. Here, he was just another monster who needed to be healed and jailed.

The light cut like a blade across the cracked sky of the parking lot, the sun just starting to rise over the thick trees that surrounded Wellard like a moat, complete with the alligator guards. It was supposed to be peaceful out here. Safe and isolated.

That’s why they put us here, isn’t it?Out of sight. Out of mind. Concealed to do whatever Dr. Hyde hid in the basement.

Maybe they were doing this because Jinx made them visible. Too open. Too exposed.

He wasn’t someone you could forget.

God knows I have tried.

My breath hitched when he suddenly looked up…a sharp motion, a snap like he smelled something sweet and fucking deadly.

His eyes found mine through the haze of his blond hair. His eyes looked dark and glassy with something that wasn’t drugs. Something deeper, and more feral. His mouth moved under the mesh.

Run.

I furrowed my brow, walking closer to him, trying to see his mouth clearly from the jostling guards on his arms.

The air smelled…sweet.

It tasted like a warning.

And then…

A sound. It was deep and guttural, like an animal awakened beneath the soil of the asylum.

Something is wrong.

I turned my head, searching Jinx’s glazed eyes.