Page 225 of Boys Who Hunt

Fuck.

I dig my heels into the gravel, but it’s no use against this fucker’s strength.

“Keep walking,” he growls.

“If you hurt Cora, I will kill you,” I say out loud, hoping Ivan hears too.

I can hear Ivan’s laughter from inside the house. “You think you’re the one we should fear?”

Shit. This is getting serious now.

If I step foot inside that house, my death is as good as certain.

So I make one last ditch effort by shoving both feet into the doorjamb and then knocking my head against my captor, butting him out of the way. Finally, he loses his grip, and I bolt off back across the path.

I have no choice. I have to run. If he finds me, he’ll kill me.

I’ll come back for Cora.

Suddenly, two hands wrap around my ankles, and I’m tipped over.

No, no, no!

“You think you can run from this?” Ivan yells from the house.

“Fuck you, you know he’ll kill us both!” I scream.

“No … I think he’ll just kill you, and I will happily watch as he drains the blood from your body.”

The guy who caught me drags me by my feet all the way back to where we started. When I kick and thrash, another one joins, each one hauling me by the ankles back into the house and across the threshold. The moment the door closes, panic takes hold of my heart.

“Hello, Ivy.”

My blood runs cold.

Stefano.

“Leave us.”

As the men drop me, I take a few breaths to pull out the residual courage from deep within. Then I grab the small table to my left and fling it toward Stefano, but he sidesteps to avoid it hitting him, and it crashes into the wall instead.

“Is that how you greet the man who welcomed you into his house?”

“You’re not a man. You’re a fucking monster!” I yell back.

He snorts. “The only monster here is you.”

“Where is Cora?!” I scream at him.

“Inside. Safe,” he says, going to his knees in front of me. The thick bristles of his mustache don’t hide the wicked smile on his face. “Away from you.”

My nostrils flare, and I spit in his face.

He wipes it off, then grasps me by the neck.

SLAP!

His flat hand hits me so hard my nose begins to bleed too.