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Blood. Slashed throats. Slashed bodies. Blood on the floor. On the beds. On the walls.

Hunter guided Shelby down the hallway, toward the stairs, and they were halfway down it when he suddenly swore. He turned and pinned her there, his hands slapping on the wall on either side of her body. “I need you to breathe, baby. And I need you to do it now. Breathe. In and out. Deep breaths.”

She was breathing, wasn’t she? But her head seemed to be spinning. Her heart racing too fast. She⁠—

“Baby, breathe. In with me. Out with me. In with me…”

She pulled in a deep breath. Tried to.

“Out with me.”

She released her breath. Shuddered.

“Look at me. Stare into my eyes. Sweetheart, right here.” He leaned even closer to her. “You look at me. You see me. Me, understand? You see me. You don’t go back there…”

But she was. She’d gone back to the house. Gone through the hallways. Seen her friends. Over and over. Dead. Dead. Dead.

Margot in the doorway. As if she’d tried to run…

Kim, Aisha, Tonya…bloody bedrooms.

Kali on the couch. The stupid TV still playing.

Jenna in the kitchen.

The kitchen…

The phone…the phone in the drawer. She’d put the phone in the drawer to hide it, and she’d kept the knife. The knife.

“I see you…” His voice, in her head. But seeming to be so real in that moment.

“Fuck it,” Hunter growled. His head surged down and his mouth pressed to hers.

The voice in her head stopped. Her painful memories—stopped. The chaos and the fear hurtling through her all stopped.

Her hands rose and pressed to his chest. She could feel his strength beneath the t-shirt. His warmth and power. Hunter.

“I have you,” he swore against her mouth. “I won’t let go.” His lips took hers. Demanded a response. Demanded that she focus on him, and she did.

Because Hunter was life and strength. She was tired of death and pain.

Her lips parted for him. His tongue thrust into her mouth, and he kissed her with feverish intensity. She met him eagerly, wildly, so very desperate to⁠—

“Ah, excuse me? Excuse me!” Kimber’s grating voice. “Are you seriously stopping to make out right now?”

Shelby stiffened.

So did Hunter.

His mouth pulled from hers as he bit out a savage curse.

Shelby’s eyes opened. She peered up at Hunter and read the savage need clearly in his gaze.

“Of course, Kimber’s still freaking here,” he rumbled.

“Hello!” Kimber shouted.

Yes. She was still there.