Page 229 of The Devil We Crave
EPILOGUE
ACHILLES
One month later:
Snow crunches under my boots.My exhaled breath hangs in front of my face for a moment before it disappears, and I turn up the collar of my black peacoat against the cold as my eyes pierce the darkness in front of me.
I really should have worn snow camo.
Fuck, and a snow camo mask to go along with it. That would have been awesome. I also know with complete certainty that it would get my current prey—my only and forever prey—very,verywet.
Sadly, though, I’m without the proper camouflage tonight. Not because I’ve magically stopped being a meticulous, psychotic-level planner, but because tonight’s hunt is a bit more impromptu than usual.
It’ll be Christmas soon. But while most of our friends, including the ones who’vefinallycome out as being a lotmorethan friends—more than enemies, in some cases—are snuggled or cuddled orwhatever normal people who love and desire each other do when it’s cold outside, I’m chasing Yelena through the campus woods with a knife in my hand and araginghard-on in my pants.
Again, this wasn’t planned. At least, not by me. I mean,thiscoat? Black against fucking white snow?
Amateur hour.
But Yelena texted me a little over an hour ago, saying she was “going for a walk in the woods” and “hoped no predators would find her” because “God only know what they’d do to her, even if she begged them to stop”.
Then she said if no predatorsdidfind her, she might just have to make a certain one wait until after the New Year to get into her panties again.
Yelena seems to have developed a bit of a brat kink.
And I’mreallyfucking into it.
I pause to scan the ground. A devious smile creeps over my lips.
I’m going to find you, little prey.
So good of her to leave fresh footsteps in the snow, leading me to wherever she’s trying to hide.
I reach into my jacket and pull out my knife out as I follow Yelena’s footsteps.
It’s been an interesting month.
Beyond the recent changes in relationship status and whose beds some of our friends are sleeping in now, there's two big pieces of news around Knightsblood: one, Angelo Santoro ishaving to liquidate almost his entire empire to repay his son’s debts to some of the most notorious crime families in the world.
It’s one thing to borrow money from the mafia. It’s another toembezzle it.
Honestly, I did Kyle a fucking favor by cutting his throat, thereby saving him from being tortured by some mafia don or bratvapakhanfor the next year of his life. And I did everyoneelsea favor by making it abundantly easy to find Kyle’s body, thereby saving those same people from having to comb every non-extradition country in the world looking for him.
You’re welcome, everyone.
The other big news is that thereis nonews regarding the two unsolved homicides in Hawthorne Hollow. Plus, our little town now has athirdone.
That’s literally what the police called it when it was announced: “assumed homicide”.
I mean, I’ll give the new Chief of Police her due, but when you find a body with the hands and head cut off…I think we can probably all agree that he didn’ttrip.
The fact that there are now three unsolved murders just down the road arguably makes the fact that Yelena and I are running around the goddamn woods at night an even more psycho thing to do.
But it also arguably makes the girl I love so turned on that I’m amazed I can’t smell her sweet pussy from here. To me, at least, that negates any danger.
Besides, if there is a potential killer on the loose and running around the woods right now, he’s going to have to contend withme.
I step around a half-fallen tree, and then I go still.
