Page 27 of Restitution

“No,” I croak, my face twisting. Is this really happening?

“Are you scared?” he whispers, amusement in his voice.

But I don’t reply. I can’t.

“You know the best part about accepting kill contracts? It’s the chase. The adrenaline that comes from knowing someone is terrified, running, hoping they see the next day. I’m going to makeyourun. And I don’t mean the way I did before you whored yourself for me at the party.” He inhales deeply, taking a drag of his smoke. “I’m giving you a day to run. Make it exciting for me. Because once I find you, I’m not going to bury my cock inside you – I’m not going to kiss you until we can’t breathe.”

I go pale as he deeply chuckles, inhaling smoke. “I’m going to fucking kill you, Freckles.”

I close my eyes, my heart sinking. Maybe all the drugs he’s consumed, the deaths he’s brought about and the abuse he’s endured have finally destroyed the Kade we all once knew.

“You don’t mean any of that,” I say quietly, standing and reaching for the door handle. I need to get to Barry or Tobias. “I want to help you, Kade. Please let me help you.”

“Don’t fucking move,” he snaps. “Stay exactly where you are.”

I go ramrod straight, my eyes wide as I turn around, looking down to see the red dot on my chest. “You won’t hurt me.”

“Even from a distance, I can still see how much of a bitch you are.” He laughs, amusing himself as he takes another draw of his smoke. “Play a little game with me. Keep your eyes open until they burn. Blink, and Barry dies.” The red dot vanishes from my chest. “Got a clean shot on him too. Ready, get set, go.”

“Kade…” I stop, my eyes flicking over the small hill to the side, the woods and the grass verge near the river. I still don’t blink. “I know it’s hard, but we just want to help you. We can get you away from them.”

“Yeah, you can. You just need to die in the process. That was the deal we settled on. I had to choose between you, my dad and Base to win my freedom. You were the obvious choice. Oh, did I see you blink?”

I shake my head. “You’re bluffing.”

The window smashes as he pulls the trigger, and a searing burn rips across my cheek as a bullet grazes me before I drop to the ground.

The blast of the gunshot echoes outside and in. He chuckles through the phone, loud enough that I can hear it lying beside my head. “Don’t underestimate me, Stacey. I’m not the stupid littleboy who fell in love with you. Run, and I’ll come find you. This is my final warning. Stay, and I’ll kill them all. That’s a promise.”

The call cuts out as the door bursts open, and someone picks me up off the floor. It’s Tobias. I can tell. His fingers touch my painful cheek as warm liquid trickles down my face to my neck. Someone yells to get Aria. Barry rushes to the window, his shoes crushing the shattered glass on the carpet.

“Jason ran out,” I hear Cassie say. “Is she okay?”

My lip trembles as Tobias lifts me from the ground and carries me to his room. Aria is trying to safely pull a small fragment of glass from my thigh before cleaning my cheek while I blankly stare at the ceiling.

I think I might be in shock.

I was in love with Kade Mitchell, and now he’s going to kill me.

9

KADE

My heavy boots and bursts of breath are drowned out by the harsh, erratic beating of my heart as I run through the woodland. Branches snap beneath me as I put as much distance between me and the lodge as humanly possible.

I abruptly stop, pull down the material covering my face and vomit all over the forest floor. It burns my insides. Makes my eyes sting and feel pressured, and I stagger sideways and bang into a tree.

I fucking deserve this.

Pulling that trigger and the way I spoke to her… she’s never going to forgive me.

All I want is her forgiveness.

After heaving until my eyes feel like they’regoing to pop out, I spit, breathe and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, gasping for air as I rest my head against a tree trunk.

There’s a crackling in my ear, and I tense my jaw when her voice comes.

“You missed,” she tuts at me, her voice fucking grating on my nerves. “I’m disappointed.”