Page 53 of Hellebore

Keep looking.

You’ll never find them all.

I keep my eyes locked on the road, three long hours still stretching between me and Hellebore. Briar is still tearing her apartment apart, searching for the cameras like a stubborn little prey animal who doesn’t understand she’s already caught.

Another feed pings. The camera outside her door.

My heart slams to a violent stop.

The blond ponytail fucker is there, crouched, listening at her door, scanning the hallway.

“Fuck!” The roar tears out of me. I yank the wheel hard, tires screaming as I take the exit at dangerous speed. The car behind me slams on its brakes. I don’t care. I shift gears violently and spin the car around, accelerating like the devil himself is chasing me.

The world blurs into streaks of black and red. Trees whip past. Horns blare. I weave between the cars.

“Stay inside, Briar,” I growl at the screen, voice raw. “Don’t you fucking open that door.”

I try to text her. Call her. Nothing goes through. The signal is jammed.

That piece of shit brought a jammer.

My vision tunnels red. My hands grip the steering wheel so hard the leather groans and cracks under my fingers. If anything happens to her, if he so much as lays one filthy finger on her, I will burn this entire fucking city to ash. I will rip my father’s throat out with my teeth and paint Hellebore’s walls with his blood before putting a bullet through my own skull just to follow her into whatever hell awaits beyond this one.

On the feed she finally stops searching. She stands there for a long moment, looking lost, then walks toward the bathroom. She takes a shower, gets dressed and I can see the decision forming in her eyes, she’s going out.

The blond fucker is no longer visible on any of the outside cameras I placed. He’s a ghost now, probably waiting. Hunting.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” I slam my fist into the steering wheel again and again, the pain barely registering over the feral roar in my chest.

She steps out of the building.

I push the BMW harder, the engine screaming, devouring the miles between us.

Hold on, my love.

I’m coming.

I wasn’t able to track her phone because of whatever jammer that piece of shit was using, but now the signal is back. Maybe the fucker’s battery died or he left it in the car. The red dot of her phone blinks at the local bar just one block from her apartment. I text her. No reply.

Fuck me.

Briar, you are going to pay for this stunt, putting yourself in danger like I’m the only monster lurking in the shadows after you.

Thirty more minutes and I’ll be there. Don’t you fucking leave that bar.

I watch the dot move and my heart sinks straight into hell.

“No, baby. Don’t leave. Stay there. Stay inside.”

I take the exit into town and drive, cars blurring into streaks of light and metal. Red lights flash past as I run them, horns screaming behind me. My knuckles are bone-white on the steering wheel, jaw clenched so tight it aches.

I need to get to her.

I screech to a stop at the back alley of the bar and kill the engine. A muffled crash followed by a low, pained moan cuts through the night air.

I rip the mask up and the hoodie down and run.

There he is, the blond bastard, all over her. My Briar. Pinning her against the cold brick wall, hands groping, body grinding into hers.