“Don’t tempt me,” I growled. “Just be a good girl, give me the book, and go.”
She had tucked the grimoire into her bag, which was slung over her shoulder and pressed between her back and the pulpit. She’d stopped resisting, so I slowly released my hold on her, and for a moment she didn’t move, other than her eyes. Her gaze moved over me slowly, assessing me, contemplating the risk.
Then she dodged away.
It would have been too easy to catch her. I faced her as she began to back toward the exit, her knuckles white as she gripped her phone. If she wanted a game, how could I deny her?
“Raelynn.” I smiled, approaching slowly, nonchalantly. “Give me the book. It’s for the best, truly it is.”
She shook her head. “No. The book is mine.”
“The book should not exist!” There was a petulant, possessive tone that had come into her voice in her desperation to cling to that wretched grimoire, and it stoked my anger again.
“Get away!” She was backing away hurriedly as I advanced. Little fool would rather run than cooperate. She wanted a chase, did she? She wanted a hunt?
Then she’d get a hunt.
I stopped advancing. I watched her retreat with the smile spreading wider over my face.
“Give me the book.” My voice was soft in warning. “Otherwise, you’re going to be a very sorry girl.”
Her jaw tightened. “What are you going to do?” She sneered, bolder now that she had distance between us. “Threaten me more?”
“I don’t make idle threats. If you run out of here” — and I knew she would — “then I’m going to hunt you. I’m going to catch you. And when I do —” A thousand possibilities flashed through my head. A thousand sweet tortures. A thousand ways to stoke that arousal inside her until she burst. “— when I do, I’ll make you scream.”
The little shit smirked at me. “Right. More threats.” She tugged her bag closer. She was almost out the door. “Don’t follow me. Just…just stay away.”
She turned and ran, and I didn’t even bother to give chase. I sauntered after her, pausing when I reached the doorway. The wind howled and rain pattered down, the sun obscured by the thick clouds above.
The smell of blood and magic was in the air; an intoxicating concoction, a sure lure for the Eld. I wasn’t the only one that would be on her scent. I watched her figure disappear deeper and deeper into the trees — fleeing blindly, stubbornly, naivety egging her on.
I’d meant what I said. I didn’t make idle threats. But I wouldn’t even need to hunt this one.
She’d come to me. She wouldn’t be able to resist. For now, my only concern was ensuring she made it out of these woods without being eaten alive.
I sprinted through the pouring rain, stumbling over roots, twigs snapping under my feet. The leaves above rustled in the wind, their boughs groaning like the voices of the damned. Despite my raincoat, my hair and pants were swiftly soaked and I was shivering with the cold.
With every step, I expected to feel Leon grab a hold of me from behind. That absolute asshole. How had he done it? How had he managed to sneak into the church and hide without me knowing? How had he known I would be there? How had he made blood congeal, smoke gather, and my chalk circle disappear?
Only when I feared my legs would go out did I slow down and dare to glance back. The trees were thick and the shadows even thicker, the world made blurry by the pouring rain. I had to keep going. I was lucky I hadn’t lost the trail in my frantic sprint. I checked my phone, hoping I could text someone, anyone, but there was still no service — why hadn’t I done that in the first place? Why did I have to be so damn stubborn that I didn’t even tell anyone where I was going?
I hadn’t told anyone, so how the hell had Leon known?
At least I’d gotten him on video, at least I had proof — not only of his prank, but of his threats. I still wasn’t sure if he’d been threatening to hurt me, or…or do something else. Something that made my brain go hazy and my thighs clench with desire. The moment he’d pinned me against the pulpit and lowered his voice to that dangerous tone, I knew I was done for. Done for mentally and morally, if not physically.
Snap.
I whirled around. That twig hadn’t snapped under my own feet, it had come from somewhere else, somewhere behind me. I pushed up my rain-spattered glasses, straining my ears for the sound of footsteps, expecting to see Leon standing there beneath the trees.
But the woods were empty. Utterly empty.