I chuck the knife at a nearby tree.
Straight through the middle of a branch.
It doesn’t surprise me anymore. Even though it should.
Because what fucking normal, everyday man could throw a knife and split a branch in half?
Not a fisherman.
Not a businessman.
Not any normal man …
Except a monster.
Weeks ago
* * *
I carve through the meat and splay it all out on the table in front of me. Another bunny should feed me for at least a day if not two. I’ll hunt more later.
When I’ve hanged it all to dry in the sun, I grab my axe and chop more wood.
CRACK!
The sound is minuscule, but I’m immediately on edge. With my axe at the ready, I turn and look around, broadening my shoulders to make myself look big.
These forests may be abandoned, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be the occasional human snooping around.
“Someone there?” I ask.
Birds fly overhead.
I stop breathing and listen.
Another crack makes me hyperaware of my surroundings.
However, the face that appears from behind a tree almost makes me lose my grip on the axe in my hand.
His sharp nose, dark, hooded eyes, half-long hair, and vicious smile make me do a double take. Because he looks so goddamn familiar … almost like … me.
“Liam,” the man says, his voice unsteady. Rough. Familiar.
Liam?
He knows … my name?
How?
My grip on my axe tightens, and I storm at him, ready to strike. “Who the fuck are you, and why do I feel like I know you?”
The man holds up his hand in defense. “Wait! I’m your brother.”
I frown and pause, the axe staying put midair. “My brother?”
I have a brother?
A sharp, stabbing pain makes me step back and almost drop the axe.