Hunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse, #2)

by H.D. Carlton

Just as my eyes were beginning to focus, my vision blurs once more, and my eyelids grow heavy. I can’t fight the deep pull to just close my eyes. I don’t want to fight it. Not when it’ll take me away from the pain.

I need to get out of this situation in order to find Addie. Only then, will I be more than happy to show this cunt exactly what I’m capable of. This world will fucking smolder, and I will hold her face in the fire and watch her melt in my wrath.

They still have Addie, and the rage is steadily churning beneath the surface. I’m going to burn the entire fucking world down until I find her, and I don’t care who gets burnt.

am no longer a man—only a beast succumbing to primal instinct. I am annihilation.

And then Zade. The fucking wrecking ball of a man who has brought out such a burning fire within me that I crumble like ash beneath him. Yet, he made me feel so strong. So brave. He made me feel so damn loved and treasured. Just like a diamond.

At one point in our lives, we’re all afraid to die. For some, it happens the first moment we fully understand what death means—before depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues arise. For others, it’s before they’ve found something to believe in—whether it’s God or something else that’s spiritual. And there are those who flounder through life, terrified of the day they take their last breath. I think for some, they aren’t so much scared of death itself, but rather, how they’re going to die. So, how am I going to die?

The last thing I see right before he disappears is the girl’s head lifting. Dark brown eyes meet mine through tangled tresses of blonde hair, filled with both fire and ice. The look on her face stops my heart cold, but the creepy smile on her face is what sends it sinking down to the pits of my stomach. Christ, the look on her face is straight out of a nightmare.

Rage. It’s not appreciated enough. Not studied enough. The capabilities of the human body are no longer limited to the laws of physics. The absolute destruction that resides in my fingertips could burn down entire cities—reduce them to ashes and embers. A simple stroke of a match, or a flick of my wrist, and as far as my eyes can see would be consumed in the same black fire that rages inside me.

“Do you know how many men laid in this very chair before you?” I ask casually, glancing at his shredded face. “N-no,” he cries, dragging the note out in a sorrowful wail. “Me neither,” I shrug. “Lost count. But what I do remember is that I broke every single one of them.” Max squeezes his eyes shut when I lean forward, not brave enough to face his tormentor. “But you’re the first one to have broken me first, Max. I can admit that. You broke me into tiny little pieces when you took Addie from me. Because of you, I’m no longer a man.”

“Don’t lose your humanity yet, Zade. Addie is strong, and she will survive this.” I stare at her, and I wonder if she can see something inside me that I can’t. “It’s already gone.”

“Please,” he whispers, his voice hoarse. It needs to be depleted. Even then, I won’t be satisfied. “You know, I've been saying the same thing to you for a week,” Daya says, her voice breaking. Her eyes fill with tears, and it only stokes the flames in my chest. She and Addie love each other fiercely. And because Addie is my family, that makes Daya my family, too.

My stomach rolls, and my throat thickens with disgust as I take in the words of a broken girl. She was full of life in a world that was determined to take it from her, and through each entry, I fall more in love with her. I feel her in every stroke of the pen, so I brush my trembling fingers across them and mold myself into her harsh lines. She’s everything I want to be.

Eventually, I’m going to fucking explode, and I promise I will burn this entire goddamn house down with me.

“Come on, there’s time. You could still find your one and only.” She rolls her eyes. “I’m too old for that shit. I have my boys, and that’s enough. Just next time, would ya knock? You almost gave me a goddamn heart attack.” “I’m sorry, Teresa,” I say genuinely, my hand over my heart. It only earns me another eye roll. “Call me Mama T.” I grin, pleased that I’ve been accepted. I told Jay—the ladies love me.

“I’ll be early,” I say. “Bye, Mama T.” “Good luck,” she calls. I wave a hand in acknowledgment before opening and shutting the front door behind me. I don’t need luck, just the help of four men, who are probably going to be enough pains in my ass that I’ll need the hemorrhoid cream

These men may be skilled in hunting, but what they don't know is that I've been hunted by a far scarier man. I was a mouse caught in a trap before, scared, and helpless as I was taken between the teeth of an apex predator. But I'm not their little mouse, and they are not Zade. And I will never succumb to them.

never understood why the sickest of humanity go out of their way to appear the prettiest. You can throw glitter on a snake, but the bitch still bites.

Lately, I’ve been too tired—too weak—to fight back. I walked into this house with my fire lit, and within two months, the proverbial fingers have pinched the flame, leaving only a trail of smoke behind. All I need is a spark, and maybe… maybe it can be reignited.

Panting, I round the house towards the back. Rio is nowhere to be found, and I pray to god he got the hell away already. Because he may be the only one to get out of here alive.

“Z?” I look up. “What if she isn’t there anymore?” My eye twitches from the mere thought. The possibility is high, but at least I’ll have the people in my hands that can lead me straight to her. I meet his stare, and for just a moment, I unleash the darkness. “Then a lot of people are going to die.”

I head in the other direction, my bones rattling with anticipation. I’m coming home with my little mouse tonight. And then? We’re going to burn down the world together.

I may very well be climbing into my grave, but I’d much rather die here. Yeah, I think this is a good place to die.

“You’re safe now, honey,” she croons, rubbing my bicep to warm me up as she walks me along the abandoned train. I glance over my shoulder and spot Zade a few feet behind; his eyes laser-focused on me as if he’s convinced I’ll disappear if he looks away for even a second. I’m safe now. Yet it still feels like I’m in Hell.

Seeing her like this breaks my fucking heart, and all I want is to hand her the pieces and give her something to hold on to. But she won’t hold on to anything. Won’t even let me come near. If I get within a foot of her, she flips out. She absolutely refuses to let me touch her, and it’s fucking killing me because that’s all I want to do.

“You’re supposed to say I smell like flowers.” “Baby, there are flowers out there that smell like straight ass. So sure, you smell like those flowers.” She stares at me for a beat, and then her face cracks, and a full-blown grin stretches her lips. Fuck. I’m so in love with her.

“At least you’ll end up marrying a rich man,” I comment. She pins me with a dry look. “Now I can never marry you. It’s my life’s purpose to disappoint her in every decision I make.” I arch a brow. “Don’t underestimate me, Addie. I’ll become a poor man for you.”

“My birthday is September 7th,” I tell her. “Doesn’t surprise me that you’re a Virgo. Next,”

“Meadows, baby. Our last name is Meadows.” “Yours. Don’t get ahead of yourself. You’ll be expected to beg.” There’s no stopping the savage grin from gracing my lips. “I love to beg.”

I glance around, trying to locate where my heart fell out of my ass. Surely that’s the only explanation of why I feel so empty now that he’s gone. Or the asshole took it with him. I sigh. That’s definitely what happened.

Zade got a mint chocolate chip cone for himself, and he smiled wider than the damn Cheshire Cat when I just stared at him. “My entire world revolves around you. If you want mint chocolate chip, then that’s what I want, too,” he had said. “Do you even like it?”

I’m ready to set this entire car on fire, content with watching it burn around us if it means I can stare at her beneath the blazing glow. The flame goes out, casting us back in darkness, only the glimmer of moonlight allowing me to see her shadowed curves. The cherry flares as she sucks in and then softly exhales, smoke whirling between us. My eyes are riveted on her mouth, desperate to see those lips wrapped around me instead.

“Our mouths are touching the same spot,” she says shakily. “Does that count as kissing?” “You tell me, little mouse. When I make you cry out for God, does that count as praying?”

"We're not going to act like you're so tough that you don't need me anymore. Because you want to know something, baby? There are very few men in this world capable of killing me. And I fucking need you. Do you understand me?" I grit my teeth, refusing to answer. "Do you think needing me somehow makes you weak?"

"I may own every breath in your body, but make no mistake, Adeline, you own mine, too. I am yours to command. To bend and break. To mold and manipulate. Do you think that makes me weak? Or do you think I'm strong enough to admit that even though my body can physically live on without you, I would never get my fucking soul back?”

"Without you, I will shatter. But with you, I am indestructible."

“Stop… stop fucking touching me.” I hear him swallow. “That’s like asking me to cut out my own fucking heart.” “If I can live without one, so can you,” I snap. He’s solid stone as he processes my words. And all I want to do is fucking break it. Make him crumble beneath my fists. Slowly, he pulls away, his mismatched eyes catching hold of mine.

“What you’ve forgotten is that the heart beating inside your chest isn’t fucking yours,” he snarls. “It’s mine. And if my heart has stopped working, then pull that trigger, little mouse. Kill the rest of me. I’m nothing if I’m not the reason you breathe.” I break, and screw my eyes shut against the flood of tears, but it’s like putting a piece of paper over a bursting pipe.

“I don’t care if I need to set this world on fire until there’s no one left but you and me. The world will burn around us, and I’ll gladly live in chaos with you as long as the only person that is a danger to you is me.”

“You and I will never end, little mouse. Even when we’re six feet under, and our bones are dust, I will haunt your soul until it aches to be free of me. And then, I will hold you tighter.”

The urge to hurt. To damage and cause pain, to bend, and break—it’s always going to be there. I will always want to rip Addie to shreds for my own sick enjoyment, but that doesn’t negate my need to protect her. To treasure and hold on to her like she’s the plastic rose my mother gave me.

I’m so fucking in love with her, and while my love is brutal and ruthless, it’s also nurturing. Choosing when to be kind and when to let go will always be an uphill fucking battle.

“I love you, Zade. Sometimes I can’t fucking stand it,” I say, my voice raspy and uneven. “But it was the only thing that kept me alive. You saved me. Even when we were apart, you saved me. And I hope to God you never stop hunting me.” His head rolls back, eyes to the ceiling, and he stills beneath me, as solid as the stone walls in Parsons Manor. “Let me go, Adeline,” he says tightly. I hardly recognize his voice.

“You do that, then there will be no diamond at all.” My gaze snaps to Addie, my heart coming to a screeching halt when I see her holding her knife to her own throat. Oh, hell no.

“Please, baby, run free then. Show me how far you get before you realize you’re only running from yourself. How long will you last when I possess everything that gives you life?” My chest tightens, but I laugh, mocking him as he mocks me. “You possess nothing but a demon in your body.” He ignores me. “Your heart, your soul, and your very breath. Run, little mouse. This time, no one will be chasing you.”

“I dare you, Adeline. Deny that my name isn’t carved into every star you see when I make you come, and I will show you that a God can create them just as easily as he can destroy them.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” she snaps. Goddammit. I knew there was something off about him. Brows hiked, I turn to Mom’s caretaker, finding him just as surprised as Sibby. “I could ask you the same thing, Sibel.”

Heaven isn’t a place you go to when you die, it’s inside the person that’s worth dying for.