Page 39 of Rule the Night

I picked up the shoulder holster from the dresser where I’d left it the night before and strapped it on, then tucked the gun inside. I immediately felt better. A hoodie did the job of covering it for now. It wasn’t a long-term solution since I probably couldn’t wear a sweatshirt 24/7 for the next three months, but that was a problem for another time.

The hall was just as quiet as my room, and I wondered if the men were gone or still sleeping. I didn’t know the rules. Would they leave me alone? Or was someone going to watch me to make sure I didn’t escape?

What about my parents? They’d send out a search party if they didn’t hear from me for three months, especially after what had happened to June. And what about my job at Lushberry? I had a shift the next day and I’d been so determined to win the Hunt that I hadn’t even thought to have someone cover me.

Ugh. What a mess.

I made my way down the hall to the spiral staircase and descended to the second floor.

I passed the gym and the library, but there were no signs of life, so I continued into the main living area, which was also empty.

Early morning sunlight streamed in through the big windows, casting a glow over the rugs on the concrete floors. It was hard to imagine the Butchers lounging on the sectional, watching a movie or playing video games on the giant TV. They seemed almost otherworldly, like gods who’d landed here from another dimension.

My stomach grumbled and I considered going to the kitchen for something to eat, but a second later I realized the door to the balcony was open.

I walked toward it, hesitating on the threshold, then stepped outside.

It took me a few seconds to notice Poe, sitting not in one of the chairs but on a cushion on the ground, his feet crossed in a meditative pose.

It took me a few seconds longer to realize he was ass-naked.

I’d thought he was beautiful fully clothed, but naked? He was something to behold.

His dick was hidden between his folded legs, but there was something about the smooth expanse of his tan skin, unbroken by clothing, that set my heart pounding. He looked like a different person from the one who’d emerged with me from the tunnels and definitely a different person than the one who’d loomed over me during the Hunt.

I took in the sculpted peaks of his chest, the ink that covered his arms and bled onto his pecs and back. In the bright sunlight, I realized the tattoos were different than any I’d seen before, a montage of black and red shapes intertwined with lightning bolts and blocky images of bears, giant birds, and skulls like the one the Butchers had worn in the tunnels.

His skin glowed in the light of the sun, his expression serene in profile.

Shit.

I backed away, feeling like I’d stumbled on something I wasn’t supposed to see.

“Stay,” he said without opening his eyes.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t…”

He opened his eyes. “Grab a cushion. Come sit.”

“Um… that’s okay.”

“I can put clothes on if it makes you more comfortable.”

“It’s fine.” I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of thinking I was rattled by the sight of a naked man. I was twenty-one. I’d seen a naked man before.

I moved carefully onto the balcony, like I was moving closer to a coiled snake, but instead of grabbing a cushion, I sat in one of the chairs. “Are you meditating?”

“Every morning,” he said.

A meditating beast who hunted women in the tunnels under Blackwell Falls?

Another thing that wasn’t on my bingo card.

I tried to ignore the fact that he was naked. “You must be disciplined.”

I didn’t know much about meditating, but the word made me think of health food and yoga poses.

“Hardly,” he said. “Just desperate.”