Corrupt (Devil's Night 1)

And he pinned me with a warning look, letting me know it wasn’t a request.

I stopped breathing and watched as he walked away, through the dining room, followed by his friends. And without a single backward glance from any of them.

Thunder Bay? Alone with them?

I shook my head. No. I couldn’t. I needed to get help. I needed to reach someone.

But I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting away the tears as I ran my hand through my hair.

There was no one. I had no one to turn to.

Who was going to stop them?

Present

CLIMBING OUT OF THE CAR, I grabbed the baseball bat from the passenger’s seat and shut the door. My pulse pumped violently, heat washing over my entire body and sweat breaking out on my forehead. I could barely breathe.

I’ll be safe. Michael and Kai would go far, but they wouldn’t hurt me. I’ll be safe.

My mother was out there somewhere, God knows where, and she was the only reason I was here.

I walked for the house, noticing that none of the lights were on, inside or out. The windows were black, and I approached the door, stepping into the shadows of the tree overhead as it blocked out the moonlight.

My hands shook. Everything was so dark.

My mother. Don’t back down, and don’t leave until you get answers.

If I called the police, it would take weeks to sort through the mess as they looked for her. She was on the yacht. She wasn’t on the yacht. She was abroad, so of course it was difficult to reach her. Give it some time, go back to school, and leave it in our capable hands.

No.

Turning the handle on the door, I tightened all of my muscles, hearing the crackling of the packing tape stuck to the inside of my forearm.

The baseball bat was a decoy. If they thought they got one weapon away from me, they might not suspect I had another. Hence, the Damascus blade I’d taped to the inside of my arm, under my sleeve, when I went back to my apartment to get my car earlier.

I forced in a deep breath and inched open the door, putting a foot inside the dark house.

A cold hand snatched my wrist and yanked me inside. I cried out, the door slamming behind me as the baseball bat was torn out of my hand.

“You came.”

Will. I sucked in a breath as his arm came down in front of me and wrapped around my neck, putting me in

a lock.

“That was really fucking stupid,” he whispered in my ear.

He released me and shoved me forward, and I whipped around, gasping for breath.

Oh, my God. I immediately shot back, away from him.

He wore a black hoodie with the hood drawn, as well as a mask. But the mask wasn’t like the ones they usually wore. This one was plain white, and I’d never seen it before.

I hunched down just an inch or so and kept my hands out, preparing for him to come at me again.

Holding up the bat, he took slow steps toward me. “What are you going to do with this, huh?” He held it to his groin and began stroking it as if it were his cock. “Yeah, that’s what you like, isn’t it?”

And then he shot out his arm, launching the bat off to the side of the foyer, the wood clanking against the marble floor.