Prey Drive (Parallel Prey, #1)

by Jen Stevens

“She's in trouble,” Sienna rushes out, almost seeming out of breath. That's new. I didn't even know she has breath. “Who's in trouble?” I push, buying time. I already know who. But I'm confused about why Sienna would be here telling me. She hates Stardust.

“Jovie.” Her appearance flickers for a moment, then evens out. “You have to get to her. The ex is there.” “Ah, I imagine there's trouble in paradise,” the decrepit man before me says, a wicked smile spreading across his bloody lips. “Shut the fuck up,” I bark at him. “You'll be too late. She's already as good as dead.”

“You need to hurry, Bash,” she screeches.

fucking trying here. Tell me what's going on.” “He's at the house. He wants to kill her. I can't keep her safe, Bash. She needs you.”

“I did everything I could think to do, Bash,” she says, and her words sound more like an apology than an explanation. An apology for doing everything she could, but still not doing enough.

want a chance to make sure her attacker is truly dead, because there’s no way in hell I’m allowing another asshole with a god complex to hurt someone I love and get away with it. Someone I love.

“Jovie, baby,” I begin, leaning forward so my lips are right against her ear.

“Hold on for a few more minutes. I need you to stay strong until the ambulance comes and fixes you up. Can you do that for me?” Tears roll down my cheeks as her lungs make a horrible wheezing noise, desperate for oxygen that can’t seem to make its way through her windpipes. “I can’t lose you, Stardust,” I go on. “I refuse to let you go without me.”

Being in her life has gotten her attacked. Staying away made her an easy target. What do I do now?

“The report was filed about five weeks ago by a… Sienna Lancaster. So, the timeline checks out.

But when I hear her name, I’m whipping my head at him so fast, it nearly spins right off my neck. “Who filed the report?” I ask in disbelief, my brows pulled together in a scowl.

“Sienna Lancaster,”

“She’s listed here as your sister. Is that correct?” How the fuck did my dead sister file a missing persons report? “Yes, Sienna is my sister,” I find myself vaguely agreeing.

The last thing I need is them trying to get my head checked and thrown into a mental facility because I'm spewing bullshit about a parallel reality where my sister is dead, my dad tried to kill me, and I went on a murdering rampage.

“Who is she?” Sienna falls onto the bed beside me, her eyes softening. “No one, I suppose.” Not anymore. “The look on your face tells me she's someone.”

“Where is grandma's locket?” I ask her.

It's… gone? Disappeared into thin air, right around the time I seemed to have jumped into some sort of alternate reality and gave it to Stardust. That can't be a coincidence.

But all of those worries slowly drop away like petals of a dead flower when the medics roll the stretcher past us and I see the pale, lifeless face that’s lying on it, and my deadened heart begins to bloom back to life in my chest. In the blink of an eye, I’m standing from the bench, chasing them down the hall so I can get a better look. Not that I need one. I’d know that face anywhere. It’s her. My Stardust. My confirmation comes when the medic tries to push me away, but I continue toward her. “I just need to see her,” I’m telling them, over and over again. I just need to know what the fuck happened.

And almost as if the sound of my voice temporarily pulls her back to consciousness, those beautiful browns snap open and immediately find me. “Bash,” she whispers brokenly, then sputters out a cough. “It’s me, baby. I’m here,”

But at the very last second, just before the door slams closed and shuts her away for good, a glint of gold on her neck catches onto the fluorescent lights, drawing my eyes to the small locket lying against her chest. I know then with every fiber of my being that all of it was real. And just like any other predator who is presented with a new prey, I'm back on the hunt.

I've been having odd bouts of deja vu all evening and can't seem to shake the feeling that I've been here before. Like this place truly is my real home. There have already been quite a few times I was looking for something and instinctively knew exactly where to find it. The familiarity only further convinces me that this was all meant to be.

But my steps slow as I realize it's not garbage, but a piece of fruit. Not just any fruit, though. It's a fig.