Hunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse, #2)

by H.D. Carlton

I tried so hard to run from him, and now all I want to do is run to him.

There’s always a way out, little mouse. You just have to find it.

Breathe, little mouse…

“We know you’re a bad bitch, Zade. That’s not the point.”

I 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.

I had smiled back because they’re idiots, and because they were going to die.

“Don’t underestimate me, Addie. I’ll become a poor man for you.”

“Meadows, baby. Our last name is Meadows.” “Yours. Don’t get ahead of yourself. You’ll be expected to beg.”

Bastard of a man. Just when I think I can’t fall in love with him any more than I already have, he goes and does this shit.

“You will always be the little mouse, and I will always hunt you. I’ll patiently wait until you’re ready for me to touch you, but make no mistake, Adeline, it’ll still hurt when I do.”

Hot breath fans across my ear as he whispers, “Not only am I scary, baby, but I’m really, really angry. And when I’m angry, I’ll make them pray for Hell.”

“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?”

He has positively burnt down the world to find me, and he hasn’t stopped since.

"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?” His hand slides into my hair and fists the strands tightly. "Without you, I will shatter. But with you, I am indestructible."

“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 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.”

“I’ve followed you through lifetimes, Adeline. My soul needs you so badly that I’ve become a shadow, destined to hunt you for eternity.”

“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.”

She holds on to me like she’s falling, but I have no interest in catching her. I will always fall with her, chasing after her even in death.

Jesus, his smile is fucking dangerous. It easily stops my heart.

“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.”

Every day, we come a little closer to death—our bodies deteriorating just a little more. And if this is what dying feels like, then I never want to feel anything else.

Doesn’t she know? Zade is a God. And the only one who will conquer this world is him.

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