Skylar's POV

"What--" I nearly jumped, placing a hand over my racing heart as I stared at him. "--are you doing here?"

He walked slowly past the mud and a bunch of wild grass, eyes curiously darting from one gravestone to another. "I saw you. So I followed you."

"Blake," I snapped and stepped near him. "What the hell? You--You escaped. What are you..." I trailed off as I looked at him--really looked at him. He seemed as put together as one could look right after escaping from a freaking dungeon. "How did you escape?"

He gave me that grin so typical of him, halfway a smile and halfway a threat--as I had learned. Raising his hands, he pulled up his trench coat sleeves and I stared at the red, bleeding lines around his wrists.

"Jesus," I whispered.

"Hey, I'm pretty sure you would've rather torn your wrists too than stay roped on that measly little chair."

A rustle came from somewhere around us and I flinched.

"So," Blake said, apparently not hearing what I was hearing. "What do we have here?"

Inhaling deeply and slowly, I took out my phone and switched it on, trying to thumb through my contacts, but failing.

"Ah, I see." He answered himself, and I hadn't noticed him stepping beside me. I flinched again and stumbled away, eyes wide. "Sad, isn't it?"

My gaze darted back to the gravestone that had frozen me in my tracks not even a handful of minutes ago. The one with that name on it. Caden's mother's name. Aletta.

"How did you know you'd find me here?" I asked him, my voice coming out much firmer than how I felt from the inside.

"I've been hearing things." He murmured almost thoughtfully this time. His blue eyes snapped up to mine and I tried not to grow stiff in alarm once again. This place and these graves and Blake being here wasn't helping at all. "You'd be surprised how much one can hear when trapped in an underground cellar."

I looked away from him and placed my phone away, letting myself look around. Still no signs of anyone else.

"I heard someone's been stalking you. I thought that was just Lexi, but then you received a gift at your doorstep." He continued, and I could still feel his stare on me. "Didn't you?"

I didn't say anything, just slid my hands into my back pockets and tried not to let the thoughts in my head overwhelm me. Caden's mother is dead, I thought. She's been dead and Caden doesn't know.

"Leaving such heartfelt gifts at the enemy's doorstep isn't really her thing." He shrugged and finally trained his gaze back on the grave in front of us. "I would know."

"Lexi?" I asked anxiously.

I saw him raise a brow and that was that. With a slight tilt of his head, Blake examined the grave. "Think you can bury someone alive out here without anyone noticing?"

My heart skipped a beat. "Don't."

"What?" He looked up at the sky. "How else do you think she died? Must be a tad bit gruesome if even my dear old brother isn't aware of it."

I blinked and blinked and the tears in my eyes stung. "He thinks she's alive." My voice was just a whisper. A tiny, stunned whisper.

Blake was silent as he continued staring up at the sky, occasionally squinting as if looking for something up there.

"How...Why..." I trailed off, furrowing my brows as I shook my head. The name engraved on the gravestone was clear. Perfect. Taunting me. She was dead. Caden's mother--the only other person he'd ever truly loved--was dead and he had no idea.

"So, who's been stalking you?" He asked me in a way that shouldn't have made him seem so unconcerned--not at this moment. But it did. Everything about Blake was just too nonchalant.

"Blake." I gave him a look. "Someone killed Caden's mother."

He nodded slowly. "Yes. I see that."

"Then why the fuck don't you seem surprised?"

"Because." He said. "Obviously, this isn't the first time I've been here."

I could only stare.

"What?"

"Obviously," I repeated, trying to swallow past the lump in my throat. "You've been...You knew about this. You knew for how long? Did you--"

"--kill her?" He finished off my question and turned towards me. I tried not to show how unnerved and scared I was right then. "No, Sky. Why in the world would you even think of such a thing?"

My phone buzzed and I took it back out abruptly.

"I didn't even know the woman. And yeah, sure, she was a touchy subject in the Miller household, but I didn't really know her." He added. "Wouldn't have made much sense if I killed her. I do, however, have an idea who could've."

I was only just listening to him and not comprehending what exactly was it that he was saying. Not when my entire attention was on the text on my phone screen.

A new text. By that same unknown ID.

Unknown: liked it? I know I would once your boyfriend finds out. But remember, Skylar, you can't tell anyone just yet.

"I would like a bit of confirmation first." Blake continued rambling.

"Confirmation." I looked up at him, and the fear of that text alone made it seem like my heart would leap out of my chest. "Of...of what?"

Blake went silent again and it took me a while to notice it. Notice that he'd gone quiet, I mean.

"There's someone here." He murmured, gaze fixated behind my shoulder.

I turned around in an instant but there was no one there.

"Do you think you were followed?"

"No." I looked back at him and Blake was still looking at something over my shoulder. "I...maybe. Yes."

His eyes found mine. "That was fast. So I suppose you came here because your stalker asked you to?"

"Blake--"

"Is your stalker somehow connected with where Rena is?" He cut me off, and finally, finally, at least he wasn't looking so nonchalant anymore.

I merely nodded, gripping my phone so tightly that I could've felt it digging into the flesh of my palm.

"And you've known about this for how long exactly?" There was an edge in his voice now, something sharp and equally as dangerous as that man in that back alley.

"I...I saw him. In the back alley behind some bar." I said and took a cautious step back. Blake thankfully stayed where he was. "I don't know who he was but he threatened me not to..." And I trailed off because that was exactly what he'd punched me for. I wasn't supposed to take any pictures or tell anyone anything about this. I was supposed to play along with him in his stupid, sick game.

Blake seemed to be contemplating now. "And was it him who meant to sock you in the eye but somewhat missed?" He asked, dragging his gaze to the bruise on my jaw (which I had tried concealing with some makeup the first thing after heading to my apartment). "Does he know?"

"He?"

"Caden?"

"About what?" I snapped. "The fact that someone is after me right at this moment? No. The fact that someone was after me the night I got punched in the face? Yeah. Be a bit more specific, Blake."

He huffed out a smug laugh and leaned down to pick something from the ground. I grew even more alarmed and tried taking another step back when he fixed me with a look. A pointed look.

"There's someone behind you. Don't." He hissed when I started turning my head. "Don't look. Act normal."

"What?" I stared at him wide-eyed. I could feel a piercing stare at the back of my head and I wasn't even sure if that was real or just my mind playing tricks on me.

Blake muttered something under his breath before taking out a tiny square object from his pocket. Two tiny wires protruded from its corners. It seemed like a tracker. I'd seen it once in Alex's car.

He straightened up and winced in pain, and I furrowed my brows. "All right. So if we get attacked," he murmured, and I could see his gaze darting behind me every other second. "Think you can throw a punch or two?"

"Blake." I think I was starting to hyperventilate a little now. There was someone behind me and I wasn't even allowed to see who it was or how close he was.

"Look, I can't really rely on my wrists right now. I've basically used all of them to rip those nasty ropes apart. So you either agree to be my hands or I leave you here and you die." He widened his eyes at me. "I know the second option is nicer, but the love of your life might just kill me for good and no one wants that, Sky. Really."

I didn't get a say. Not when I was suddenly hearing footsteps behind me--heavy footsteps. Perhaps it was the little pep talk Blake had given me just now that made me act so quick, or maybe it was just the situation I was in paired with the sudden adrenaline rush. The moment I felt someone behind me, near me and close enough to touch me, and the moment I saw Blake's gaze darting behind me once again, I whipped around and punched. The man. In the face.

He wasn't expecting it and neither was he bulked with muscle (like the usual men clad in black who I'd encountered in my life) so he took it rather nicely, swearing out loud as he stumbled back.

And fucking hell, it hurt.

I groaned at the pain in my knuckles and I felt--more than saw--Blake acting rather quickly. He darted past me, near the man, and before I could've gathered myself or got anywhere past the pain cascading down my wrist, he'd already managed to make the man fall down on his back.

"I knew you had it in you," Blake said, and I watched him pick up the fallen gun--a black pistol--from the ground before he grinned up at me. "You just need a bit...ah, polishing here and there."

"Blake!"

The man started lifting his face from the mud, but Blake was quick once again and he butted him hard with the back of the gun. The man groaned and fell back with another soft thud.

Blake got up then and came towards me, looking around. "Let's go. Take this, will you?" He made me hold the gun and I was far too gone already to even panic over it. "There will be more of them. Can't just be one."

I nodded in a daze, eyes wide and frantic.

We both heard the loud rustle from behind the trees at the same time, but Blake was the one who moved first, nudging me towards the muddied track that led to one of the old mausoleums.

A gunshot rang in the distance and then I was running, gripping the gun in my hand with a force so harsh that I knew I'd feel its surface engrained to my palm even after letting go of it.

Blake practically pushed me back against one of the mausoleum walls and I wheezed at the impact. And then his hands were on me, on my pockets, and way too close as he searched for something. "What the--"

"Where is it?" He glared up at me. "Your phone!"

I breathed in sharply and would've probably given him my phone, but then I saw another man clad in black gear aiming right at us from behind Blake.

I shoved Blake aside with every bit of energy left within me and he grunted when I not so accidentally elbowed him in the ribs. The man lunged for me and I rolled away just in time--my shoulder bumping into Blake's--and exhaled out heavily before clocking the man in the face right as he turned. He grunted and gripped a handful of my sweater before slamming me back into the adjacent wall of the mausoleum.

I swore out loud and tried kicking him, struggling to get free. Heart racing and nearly in my throat, I somehow managed to free myself from his grasp and put some distance between us. Fingers tightening around the gun, I stumbled back and pointed it at him. "Don't...fucking move!"

Someone stepped beside me and I'd have probably lost my grip on the pistol if it had been anyone other than Blake. "And who the hell ever said you can't fight?" He questioned over my shoulder before swiftly plucking out my phone from my jeans pocket.

"Blake, what the fuck are you doing?" I nearly yelled, still pointing the gun at the man who stood before me, his face hidden but the intentions were pretty clear.

"You bitch!" The man grunted out, holding onto the side of his stomach. His voice resembled one of the men who'd attacked Alexis and me in that town library. "I'll kill you!"

"Blake!"

"What?" He asked and I saw him looking up from my phone from the corner of my eye. He looked at me, the gun, and the man in black. "What are we doing here? Oh. Yes. Just shoot him, Sky."

"What? No." I cried out. "Blake--"

The man stepped near me and there was just this one slow second before a loud gunshot erupted in the air, ringing so loudly in my ears. I breathed out a whimper, eyes probably as wide as saucers, as I saw the man falling down on the ground, dark blood seeping through his shirt right near his fucking heart.

A second ticked by. And another. And then I let my hand that held the gun fall limp by my side as I stared.

"There we go," Blake murmured, scrolling through my phone before switching it off, and passing me a grin as he held up my phone in front of my face. "You've been hiding a lot of these texts, Sky, haven't you?"

"Blake," I whispered in horror as my gaze darted back to the man on the ground. There was blood, a lot of it, pooling near his torso now. "He's...he's dead."

"As we all will be one day." He stepped near me and tsked down at the body. "What a shame that you didn't quite hit him in the heart itself."

"I killed him." I looked down at my hands and they were smudged with blood. My blood and someone else's blood. My sweater too was a mix of blood and dirt, and I nearly gagged at the smell.

Blake sighed and gestured at me to give him the gun. I didn't. I couldn't move.

"You killed him before he could've killed you." He told me.

I shook my head and my throat seemed to squeeze on itself.

"Sky." He faced me and grabbed my shoulders, making me look at him. "You saved your life and my life without any assistance which is usually a pain in the ass. I'm highly impressed here."

I sniffled, breathing in through my mouth, and something wet trickled down my chin. God, what have I done?

"Ah, fuck it." He muttered before pulling away. "Come on. We need to keep moving before the other men show up."

I nodded and I realized I was shaking as I stepped over the man's body, stumbling after Blake in a somewhat horrified daze. Maybe this was just a nightmare, I thought. Maybe I'd wake up any second now.

"Did you see whose...whose men they were?" I asked him, eyes darting around, wide and still alert.

"No." He answered. "But I did see your text conversation with the supposed stalker and I'm sure I know who that is."

"Who is it?" I wrapped my arms around myself and I think the blood on my sweater, the splotches that I tried wiping but were surely stained, was of the man I'd just killed.

"My old pal," Blake answered and I could see him trying to slide his hands into his pockets with a tiny grimace. "Your boyfriend--" He looked at me over his shoulder. "--used to have these casual hookups with his sister."

"His sister," I whispered and tried not to grimace at Blake's choice of words. "Ana was this man's...sister. The man who is after me?" And Caden.

"Well, they both had those freakishly similar faces, so they must be siblings. I'd like to tell you how nicely the sister--Ana--blew her brains out, but I'm kind of bleeding out here and there are a total of five men still after us." He stopped and turned towards me before raising a brow. "Run?"

I nodded once and then we both were sprinting the rest of the way towards the cemetery's exit.