Snare (Delirious book 1)

by Wild, Clarissa

  Fuck.

  Fuck!

  Just from the look on his face, I know I’m screwed.

  Arthur squints as he sits in his king-like chair, watching me enter the meeting room. Hubert and Lewis don’t look at me, averting their eyes when they hear me step inside. Only Patrick shortly glances at me. They don’t need to look at me or say a word to let me know how they feel; the air is thick with rage.

  I will away the fear creeping under my skin as I walk to my own chair and sit down. His fingers are splayed against each other, his gaze perpetually on me as I try not to feel intimidated by him. In here, it is survival of the fittest. The weak are killed by the strong. I must not be weak.

  It would take them three seconds to finish me off.

  I know, because I’ve seen them do it with my own eyes.

  The calmness that his body and eyes exhume are a lie. I know why he summoned me here. He knows.

  “Sebastian …” he begins. “I heard some troubling news from the doctor today.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “Don’t pretend you don’t know,” Hubert barks.

  I shut my mouth and stop breathing. The way Hubert looks at me is almost as if he’s just killed me with his eyes.

  “She’s escaped,” Arthur says.

  “Yes, so I’ve heard.”

  “And someone spotted her near your house,” Hubert mocks, chuckling.

  His eyes widen when I gulp. I feel trapped. I know that whatever I say or do will decide whether I live or die. They don’t take well to traitors, but they might excuse a mistake.

  “That someone was me,” Lewis muses. “And you were with her. You were in such a hurry to get inside the building, and the car was obscuring my sight, but I couldn’t help notice the bright red hair disappearing through the door. It can only mean one thing.”

  Oh, fuck no.

  “Care to explain?”

  I take a deep breath and think of a clever response. “Yes, she escaped. She came to me a couple of days ago and I have been trying to take her back to the hospital but to no avail. She is rather … persuasive.”

  “This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Arthur snaps. “You know the rules.”

  “I know, and rest assured, I am going to solve it immediately. I have no idea how she escaped and found her way back to me, but I’m going to make sure she gets back to where she belongs.”

  “If she escaped, it means she now questions authority there. Not to mention that she came to you. And like I said … I don’t fucking trust you,” Hubert says.

  “Gentlemen …” I laugh, trying to ease the mood. “I said I’d take care of it, let me handle it then. She knows nothing.” I look at them with the most genuine, honest face I can put up during a lie. “I was just about to take her back when you called.”

  “Right,” Hubert scoffs.

  Arthur raises his hand and then clears his throat. “We will let you take her back to the hospital. However, we will be joining you in that effort.”

  “No,” I say.

  They all make a face and squint. Shit.

  “She would run off the moment she sees you.”

  “What, you can’t control her or something?” Hubert jokes.

  “I don’t need to control her,” I growl. It isn’t the truth, but he doesn’t need to know. “She needs to come willingly, or this won’t work. You know the problems it creates if they feel threatened.” I set my gaze on Hubert and raise an eyebrow.

  “He has a point,” Lewis says.

  “Shut up,” Hubert growls.

  “In any case, she should be back there as soon as possible,” Arthur continues. “You’re right, we would make it harder. Besides, she trusts you.”

  “Thank you,” I say, sighing to release the tension.

  “But I don’t,” Hubert sneers. “I say we tail them.”

  “What?”

  “That is a great solution,” Lewis chimes in. “What transportation are you taking, Sebastian? Your car?”

  “The train, but wait―”

  “Perfect. We’ll be following the train then. She won’t notice, and if she manages to escape your grasp, we’ll track her down. Simple,” Arthur says.

  I frown, my blood boiling from rage.

  “Great.” Hubert’s eyes glint with fierceness. I want to gouge them out.

  “Then it’s settled. Sebastian, you go on ahead, we’ll see to it that everything goes according to plan.”

  “I don’t think this is going to be easy. She’s keen to escape.” Lewis sniggers.

  “Yes, I’m actually hoping she will. I can’t wait to test out this new shotgun I bought!” Hubert says.

  “You can’t do that!” I say. “She’s part of my assignment!”

  “And she was part of mine too, until you stole her,” Hubert growls.

  “Enough of this. You can share,” Arthur says while getting up from his chair. “The choice she makes will decide her fate.”

  Hubert laughs. “May the best man win.”

  Accompanying song: “The Hunted” by Snowghosts

  Big River Management Area. Greenwich, Rhode Island – June 2nd, 2013, night

  Death has come for me.

  I stare it in the eyes as the barrel of his shotgun is pointed right at me.

  It all happens in a flash.

  I’m shaking, my lungs expanding rapidly as I attempt to get a grip on what’s about to happen. A part of me wants to make a run for it, but I know I would never make it. Pleading isn’t an option either; we’ve moved past the point of talking. I made the choice to flee, and this is the price I pay. If I had stayed on the train, would he not have killed me? I wonder, and yet I realize there’s no point. What’s done is done. I’m about to lose my life to a man who hunted me like prey is not easy to swallow. Especially since he seduced me into trusting him, believing he was a man that could love me. Instead, he proved to be the cause of all that had haunted me over the past few months.

  Sebastian Brand … the man who helped my mother’s boyfriend murder her and my bunny. Kidnapping my best friend, Ashley, and I, and using her like a sex doll while they made me watch.

  Despicable. To die at the feet of such a monster … it is a disgrace.

  Leaves crackle underneath his feet as he steps closer, his finger still on the trigger, his piercing blue eyes focused on me. For a moment, I stop breathing. Holding my hands in front of my face, I close my eyes.

  Seconds tick by. Nothing happens. If this is the end, it’s surprisingly quiet. Too easy.

  Something grips my hand. Startled, I open my eyes and see Sebastian dragging me up from the ground. Crippling terror has taken over my mind and I find myself unable to adjust to this sudden change in his objective.

  He twists me in his arms and grabs both my wrists, forcing them behind my back, holding me close to him.

  “I told you to stop running and stay still…”

  “What’s happening?” I say. “I thought this was …”

  “What? The end?” he scoffs. “Did you think I would kill you?”

  “Yes.” The word slips from my mouth like a fleeting thought, but it impacts me in ways I can’t imagine. I’ve been at the brink of death, and climbing back up from something like that is a tough pill to swallow. How in the hell should I take this?

  He rough-handles me, placing the barrel of the shotgun against my belly. His mouth is close to my ear while he keeps me close. The raspy breaths coming from his lips make me shudder.

  “You’re right. I would’ve killed you if you’d ran a few feet further.”

  I take in a sharp breath, holding it.

  “Don’t be so shocked, I told you that you weren’t allowed to leave me. Not anymore. When I say you’re mine, I fucking mean it,” he growls. “I’m not letting you get away.”

  “Why? What is this to you? You hurt me and my friend, how could you want me after what you did?”

  “Need, Miss Carrigan. Pure need. I need you now. I knew when you came looking for me this woul
d end badly. I tried to make you leave, but you wouldn’t listen. When I chose to hide you instead, I couldn’t resist the temptation anymore. You’ve seduced me …” The way he pushes up against my body gives me unwelcome goose bumps.

  “Now, as much as I would like to taste your blood …” He licks his lips. “I would rather get out of this place so I can take you somewhere safe, but if you keep struggling I might have to shoot you anyway. I’ll drag you out of here and get a taste of your blood. Regardless, I’ll get my way. So, what’s it going to be?”

  “Safe? You’re the one who’s trying to fucking shoot me! The only one I need to get away from is you!”

  His grip grows tighter and he yanks me closer, intimidating me. “I told you these forests are dangerous. You have no clue what’s out there.”

  “You. You’re what’s out there,” I spit.

  “No. I have been trying to keep you safe. All this time, I’ve kept you away. Hidden. Tried to keep you out of harm’s way, but you keep stumbling into it yourself, no matter what. You just won’t give up, will you?”

  Sebastian pushes the shot gun harder into my belly. “No. I won’t stop until I find all of the bastards who did this to us,” I say in a moment of blinded courage.

  He presses his teeth against my skin … a clear warning not to overstep it. “Keep running and you will find them.”

  “What?” I gasp.

  “I tried to keep you away from them,” he whispers, “The ones out there, looking for you, right now.”

  “No …” I bite my lip, a sudden dread washing over me.

  “Yes, they’re out there, in this very forest, at this very fucking moment, looking for you,” he growls. “Do you know what that means?”

  I shake my head, but in reality I just don’t want to face it.

  “They’re hunting for you.” His words disappear into the wind, but I can still feel them burn into my soul.

  Sucking in a breath, I shake my head in disbelief. My eyes drift over his shoulders, searching for a way out. What they find instead makes me scream out loud.

  A man I recognize as one of them is perched on top of a hill behind Sebastian, in his hands a rifle aimed straight at me. His lips move, mouthing something while he stares me in the eyes.

  “Game over.”

  End of SNARE

  Sebastian and Lillith’s story continues in SEIZE (#2 Delirious)!

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  Dark Romance

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  Snare

  New Adult

  Fierce Series

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  Erotic Romance

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  Clarissa Wild is the USA Today Bestselling author of FIERCE, a college romance series, but she's best known for the dark Romance novel Mr. X. She is also a writer of erotic romance such as the Blissful Series, The Billionaire's Bet series, and the Enflamed Series. She is an avid reader and writer of sexy stories about hot men and feisty women. Her other loves include her furry cat friend and learning about different cultures. In her free time she enjoys watching all sorts of movies, reading tons of books and cooking her favorite meals.