Page 124 of On Edge

But my heart pounds so hard I can feel it in my throat, my wrists…between my thighs. And I can’t tear my eyes away. I can’t even move.

I shouldn’t want him to catch me.

He’s a killer, whose hands have wrapped in my hair, whose mouth knows every secret place on my body, who had me gasping for him on the stairs, in his office, and the kitchen counter, who could have me anywhere, and I would let him….

He killed Tobias Ragg, and because of that, surely, Nell too.

But my mind can’t reconcile the Troy who makes me burn with one look, and the Troy who slits throats and hides bodies in freezers.

They can’t be the same person.

Except they are.

“You should have run when you had the chance, little finch.”

“Where? We’re on an island. There’s nowhere to go.” Still, I take a step back.

He takes another step closer. “Or youwantme to catch you.”

My back hits the tower door.

“Last chance. Run, Sage. The tower’s open. Give me a reason to chase you.”

“I’m not running anymore.” In one hand, I clutch the swan key. In my pocket, the other grips the razor.

He cocks his head. “No? Your skin is flushed.” His gaze drops to my throat, then lower. “You’re breathing hard, and it’s not just from the climb.”

Heat floods my cheeks, spreading down the rest of my body like wildfire, as his eyes raze every part of my body. Then he’s on me so fast that I’m slammed into the wall. I thrust the razor at him, but the metal is hard to grasp in the rain, and he seizes my wrist, twisting until it hurts.

“There she is,” he murmurs. “My little blade.”

The weapon tumbles down, disappearing between the stones. Then he braces my hand on the wood beside my head, and the other wraps around my throat, caging me in.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” His stare could strip paint from the walls.

“I wasn’t looking for anything.”

“Don’t lie to me, Sage. The key. Now.” He squeezes my windpipe so that my fist loosens slightly, then he plucks it from my hand. “That’s my good girl.”

But he stays over me, his fingers digging in, my pulse racing as his hand gets tighter and tighter and the rain starts to fall like the sky is in mourning.

“You drugged me,” he says, voice dropping so low that it does things to me I don’t want to admit. “Went looking in places you shouldn’t.”

I gasp and claw at him, trying to breathe.

His mouth curves. “There are so many things Ishoulddo to you that you keep pushing me to. It’s like you want me to destroy you. It’s like…” He reaches up and brushes a stray curl of my hair away that’s managed to plaster itself to my wet face. “…you want me to hurt you.”

I shudder at his touch. I can’t help it, even as stars burst behind my eyelids. Even as my lungs burn and my throat convulses.

Everything sounds so far away.

Then he lets go.

I suck in the damp air, heaving.

“Please.” Rain lashes at my face. “I-I just wanted to see what was in the tower.”

“That’s all?”