ChapterOne
LEANDRA
My heart is racing so fast, I’m sure it’ll tear out of my chest any moment. Adrenaline floods my system, and my rapid breaths are spurts of vaporized moisture as hot air collides with the winter chill. My bottom lip trembles from the cold, and I clutch my coat tighter against my chest, trying to run through inches of snow, icy tentacles slashing my naked legs. There was no time to pull on pants when I woke up to the sound of my bedroom door being unlocked. I slipped on a pair of boots and grabbed the first coat I could get my hands on when I realized someone had opened the door for me.
Mirabella. I know it was her. She promised she’d find a way to get me out of here.
It’s pitch black around me. I choose not to run down the driveway or any cobbled walkway. Too many lights would make it easier for me to be seen, so I dart through the trees, branches hidden beneath the snow crunching under my boots.
A chill licks the back of my neck, and I stop, holding my breath while glancing around, listening for even the faintest sound.
Footsteps. I can hear footsteps in the distance, and it’s closing in on me fast.
“Shit.” I change direction, running as fast as my feet can carry me, dodging tree branches as I look over my shoulder.
I catch a glimpse of movement behind me, and I know it’s him. I can feel it—the energy that has my heart racing even faster, the vein in my neck pulsing in a panicked rhythm.
“I know you’re out here, Leandra.”
It is him.
I slip in behind a tree and press my back flush against it, holding my breath and pulling my shoulders in, trying to make myself invisible. It’s dark, and the moon isn’t full tonight. Hopefully, the shadows will hide me well.
“You can run all you want. You know I’ll eventually catch you.”
I inhale quietly, listening, trying to calculate what my next move should be. Do I stay put? Do I run?
“Tell me, stray. How did you get out?”
I press my lips together.
“Did someone unlock the door for you?”
His footsteps crunch across the snow.
“Did that someone manage to distract Maximo so he would leave his post and give you the perfect opportunity to slip out?”
How did Mirabella do that? How did she get her brother out of the hall? Maximo knows how Mirabella feels about me being locked up. He knows she wants to help me get out; she’s tried many times but failed. So how did she do it this time?
“I can practically hear your thoughts going in overdrive, Leandra.” There’s amusement in his voice, and a shiver runs down my spine as I listen to him getting closer. “Did you really think it would be so easy for you to get out? That every security detail I had in place around you would all fail at the same damn time and give you the opportunity to run from me?”
Oh, God.
Hetsks. “Surely you know me better than that. Look at the lengths I went to to make sure you can’t leave me.”
I flatten my palm on my belly, my breathing coming out in short, fiery bursts.
“Are you connecting the dots yet?”
It was him. He unlocked my bedroom door. Hewantedme to run. Why? So he could hunt me down like I’m prey?
“You are, aren’t you?”
This is all a game. He started this because he craves the thrill of the chase, a predator who needs to sink his teeth into something he hasn’t tasted for a while.
Me.
There’s a sudden rush of excitement in my chest—heated desire rising inside me like the tide. I can’t help it. I can’t control it. No matter what he’s done, what I feel for him can’t be switched off. It’s still there, and it’s fucking with my head because now I no longer know if I want to escape…or if I want him to catch me.