That just left me…and Ivy.
Such a wonderful surprise, to have her searching for him in the dark.
And she’d fought. He’d liked that. He never wanted his victims to just submit. Where was the fun there? He couldn’t prove his dominance if they just waited for his knife.
I gave Ivy a choice. Because he always gave his ladies a choice. That was his rule. He could be good or he could be bad.
Ivy would determine her own fate.
So for now, he’d watch. He’d wait. And when the time was right…
Ivy, you will be mine. This time, he would get to keep the woman he wanted.
She would be his perfect prey.
Until death.
***
The ambulance’s siren screeched in the night as it flew away from the scene. Ivy stood on the steps of the convention center, her gaze on that fleeing vehicle. Laxton had still been alive when he was loaded into the back of the ambulance. Would he survive until he reached the nearest hospital? She didn’t know.
“What in the hell…” Bennett murmured beside her, “happened in that corridor?”
She shivered. Her arms were bare, the only covering they had was blood. Laxton’s blood. Her dress was sleeveless and made for a ballroom, not the night. Wind blew against her, an icy touch that made her chill bumps all the worse.
“He was there,” Ivy said. Her voice sounded hollow to her own ears. She wasn’t supposed to sound that way. She wasn’t supposed to be so afraid. Her grandfather wouldn’t have been afraid.
He never would have let the killer get away.
“I ran into the killer in that hallway.” Literally. “He’d…he’d already stabbed the councilman by then.”
His hands closed around her shoulders and Bennett turned her to face him. “Describe him. Every detail.”
“He still had on his mask and his tux. It was dark in there, and when he grabbed me, I dropped my phone so I couldn’t even use that light.” She’d have to go back for her phone. Later. When the area wasn’t a crime scene.
“He…grabbed you?” There was a barely banked fury in his voice.
Ivy swallowed the lump in her throat. “He was wearing gloves,” she recalled. Probably those fancy white gloves that so many guys wore to the balls. “I can remember what those gloves felt like when he wrapped his hands around my throat.”
“He is a fucking dead man.”
No, he wasn’t. He was a man who’d gotten away. She struggled to recall more from that terrible scene and said, “His hair was dark. I saw it, before my phone broke. So dark it was almost black.” Her chill was getting worse.
I’m going to learn your secrets. Your desires. I’m going to give you everything that you ever wanted.
“Ivy!”
Her head snapped up at the call and she saw her brother. Hugh was rushing toward her, pulling Shelly in his wake. Cameron was right at his side. Cameron had lost his mask and she could read the worry on his face.
Bennett backed away.
“He should’ve had blood on him,” Ivy whispered. Her hand lifted and she rubbed her temple. “When he stabbed the councilman…he should have gotten blood on his tux.” She stared at Bennett. “Why didn’t anyone notice the blood?”
“Because it was damn chaos,” Bennett gritted out. “Ivy—”
Hugh pulled her into his arms before Bennett could finish. She could feel the tremble that shook her brother. “Ivy, I was scared as hell.” He squeezed her tighter. “I couldn’t find you. I couldn’t get to you.” His tremble turned into a hard shudder. “What would I have done without you?”
“It’s all right,” she whispered. “I’m okay.” Hugh always held his feelings so close to the vest, but when it came to her, she knew all bets were off. After their father had died, Hugh had clung even tighter to her. Become even more protective.
Cameron pushed Hugh back and started to give her a big hug—“Uh, Ivy.” Cameron stopped his hugging attempt. “Is that blood?” His voice dropped. “A whole lot of blood?”
Bennett positioned himself between her and the others as he wrapped his arm around Ivy’s shoulders. “She’s coming with me. I’ll make sure she’s checked out and then I’ll get her statement.”
Her statement. Right. Only she didn’t have a whole lot to state.
I can be good to you. Or, Ivy, my dear…I can be very, very bad…
“She’s my sister,” Hugh snapped. “I can take care of her, I can—”
“Hugh.” Ivy’s voice was soft. She knew how to handle her brother. Always had.
He blinked at her. She could see the worry and fear in his gaze. “I couldn’t get to you,” he said again.
Her head inclined toward him. “I’m okay.” She kept her voice soft. “I-I saw the killer again.”
Cameron swore.
Shelly backed up a step.