Free Hyde, an Urban Fantasy by Lauren Stewart Page B

wake up. The flashbacks are just random sights, but nothing about actually murdering anyone. Maybe you’re right. Maybe you’re sleepwalking.”
     
    Then why did she end up at his house so often? Why was she finding notes saying he could help if he couldn’t?
     
    She was on her own again. “Thanks for trying.” She unfolded her legs and stood. “Just—”
     
    “What?” The impatience was back in his voice and his expression.
     
    Feeling the heat of her cheeks intensify, she said, “If she comes to see you again, please don’t sleep with her.”
     
    He saluted. “Request granted.”
     
    Eden had her hand on the doorknob when he called out, “Oh. You can be anything you want to be! And you’re strong enough to do anything!” And then he laughed.
     
    “You’re a jerk.”
     
    “Absolutely.”
     
    “Just when I thought you were human,” she said, sighing.
     
    “Who is Carter?” he asked.
     
    Eden stopped the door from opening and looked back at him. “Carter? How do you know about Carter?”
     
    “You mentioned him while you were under.”
     
    “Carter’s my . . .” My what, Eden? My best friend who wishes I felt for him more than I ever could? My roommate who needs to move on and find someone else to love because I never will, at least not in the way he deserves? She swallowed. “Carter’s my boyfriend. What did I say about him?”
     
    “You kept repeating ‘He’s good’.”
     
    “Oh. Well, he is . . . good.”
     
    “Then make sure he keeps you in at night.”
     
    Eden looked at him one last time before she left. The wall he hid behind was even thicker than hers. But she’d seen through it, catching a glimpse of the man who was trapped on the other side. Had she let Mitch into her in the same way? No. If Carter couldn’t get through, no one could.
     

CHAPTER IX
     
    Mitch sat on his desk after she’d gone, wondering why his heart had clenched when she’d said the word “boyfriend”. Damn it, I better not be getting soft. He’d been soft once. For him, it had ended badly.
     
    For his father, it had simply ended . 
     
    Mitch still felt the blood on his hands. He always would. Even though the world was better off without his father in it, no longer able to terrorize his family or anyone else he came in contact with. And the lesson Mitch had learned was two-fold. First, he’d learned that dear ole Dad had passed down his tainted gene for evil, and, second, that the only way to control that evil was to let it out early and often. Before it had time to build up. Lash out at people verbally, so Hyde wouldn’t hurt anyone physically.
     
    Mitch had spent the last fifteen years of his life making a conscious effort to keep people away. The more human he let himself be, the harder it was to keep Hyde quiet. It was all about control.
     
    Every waking moment. Every glare, put-down, and sarcastic comment he put out into the world kept Hyde under control. Vent it out slowly, everyday, so Hyde would only be able to break loose once a month. Never be kind. Never be empathetic. It was the only way people would be safe. Well, that and the cage.
     
    He thought of Shelly—how she’d understood what he was, why he acted the way he did. Despite all of it, she’d loved him. And he’d repaid her by layering her blood on top of their father’s. He covered his face with his hands, smothering himself in her memory and his guilt.
     
    Jolie poked her head into his office. “Mitchell?”
     
    He jerked up straight. “What?”
     
    “Geez, take it easy. I just wanted to ask what that was all about.”
     
    He’d have thought she’d know better than to ask. But no, her pert, little nose seemed to have an abundance of initiative lately. “She’s a kid. Needs help. I tried. Unsuccessfully. The end.”
     
    “Be careful with the good-guy act, Mitchell. We both know what a bad idea that would be.”
     
    “Indeed we do. But, seeing as you’re the only person here for me to lay into,