Prologue

Greyson

Five years ago

AS SOON AS I dropped the letter off, I left.

Brogan Tapp was the only woman I had ever loved. Even though she was my stepsister, we had been through so much together. I honestly thought at one point that we would drive off into the sunset and never look back. Then she met him. Coby Porter. The large fucker who I refused to go toe—to—toe with. So, like the pussy I was, I left. On her wedding day.

Walking her down the aisle and giving her to someone else was the hardest thing I had ever done. After all of the shit I had been through, I would go through all of it a million times over before giving Brogan away again.

"She's going to kick your ass," Catch told me as I slipped onto my Harley.

"Yup," I grunted in response.

"Grey." His cold blue eyes narrowed. "This is it?"

I paused before turning on my bike. Catch Hunter waited. The guy had been with me since the beginning, only just becoming my vice—president a year ago. He preferred to hide on the sidelines but, after I pretty much gave him no choice, he agreed to be my VP.

"Stop staring at my gorgeous face and answer my question," he teased, giving me a wink.

I chuckled, shaking my head, and started up my bike. "Yeah. This is it."

"Good." He put on his helmet and revved the engine on his own machine. "I'm ready to go home."

So was I. I had meant every word in the letter I left for Brogan. I wouldn't be back. Not for a long time. Maybe not ever. I would be there if she needed me but, other than that, I would be moving on.

********

Eve

WIND WHIPPED AROUND me, slapping me in the face and cutting into my skin like broken shards of glass. Sticks dug into my feet, the pain slicing through me, but no matter how much agony it caused, I ran faster and faster. I didn't know where I was going. I didn't know what I was running toward. All I knew was that I was running from something. Whatever it had been, it was evil. Worse than the Devil himself. I didn't know how I knew that. I couldn't remember. But I could just feel it.

I was exhausted. My muscles were trying to weigh me down after running for a while. Something happened. Something dark. Something depraved.

Tree branches snapped back at me as I ran through them. My dress became tattered, ripping as the debris sliced through the fabric. The sounds of the woods around me were eerily calm for it being well into the night.

My mind was blank while I tried forming thoughts on what I was doing out so late. The moon was high in the sky so it had to be sometime during the early morning hours.

Although it was warm out, ice—cold fear tugged at my spine. Terror gripped my soul in a vice—like grip. But no matter how hard or how fast I ran, I sensed that something was chasing me. Or worse. Someone was watching. Waiting. For that right moment to strike. They were probably laughing.

Look at the stupid woman running for her life.

Finally, after what felt like hours, I saw a light. Was that a street? No sounds of cars graced my ears, but I could see an opening in the dark woods.

Suddenly, pain shot through the back of my neck. I stumbled, almost tripping over my feet, but I held on and kept moving.

My bones became heavy. My muscles tight. My breathing labored. Another pain shot through my arm that time, forcing me to fall to my knees. I winced, the onslaught of agony tearing through my body. As cliché as it was, I crawled toward the light. Knowing it was my only saving grace at that moment, I forced myself to keep moving.

A third tremor of pain sliced through the back of my neck again. Reaching to touch the spot, my fingers ran over a small item sticking out of my skin. I pulled it loose, not sure what it was but the heaviness of my body told me that it was doing more to me than just giving me pain.

I had to push on. I had to make it to the end of the forest for fear that I would never see the light of day again. But I was tired. So damn tired. I just wanted to crawl into a bed, curl beneath the sheets, and stay there for the next eternity.

After what felt like hours later, I made it to an opening in the trees and fell to my knees. My palms landed against a gravel road. Everything around me shifted. The world spun, my vision fading in and out.

Pushing to my feet, I winced at the pain slicing through my body. I tried willing myself to go faster, but I couldn't. Everything seemed to slow down the harder I tried.

My body was heavy the more I forced myself to move. It was like swimming through quicksand.

I crawled across the road. A large house came into view. Booming music pierced into my ears the closer I got to it. Or maybe it had been there all along and I only just noticed it. I couldn't focus. Everything in me was just telling me to give up and call it quits.

So tired.

Laughter sounded, followed by the rev of an engine.

"Hel …" My throat was parched. I couldn't get the word out. Another slice of pain erupted through the back of my neck. I cried out, falling to my knees once again.

"What the hell?"