Chapter 15

I sent Allister to the hardware store for lime while I moved Sam's body outside. I've never had to clean up a body because the Exodus has always taken care of it, but I've seen them dissolve the bodies until they were unrecognizable, so that's what I'm going to try. The lime doesn't dissolve anything, but it will keep the smell down and the scavengers away while Mother Nature does her thing.

I also tasked Allister with picking up a cat litter box and rabbit food for Petey because I can almost guarantee the Exodus members are waiting for me at my apartment. I told her not to go near that place again. Her little game of captivity put me on their radar. I'm now considered their enemy.

I bring the body as far into the woods behind their house as I can, then start digging a grave. Allister shows up a while later, with two bags of lime in each of her hands. I grab them from her and kick his body into the grave before covering him with lime and soil.

When I look back and see her staring at the hole, I feel a moment of guilt. She looks almost...sad. Unfortunately, he sealed his fate the moment I saw him hit her. His threat to my boy just brought swifter justice.

She keeps her eyes locked on the covered grave. "Do you think his spirit will find out I came on your dick before he even died?"

"He's dead, and you're worried about a little infidelity?"

"I don't know. I wish I felt worse about everything."

"Well, he treated you like shit." I step into her and rub my thumb along the bruises on her face. "He deserved death the first time he put one of these on you."

"High moral ground for a killer," she clips, and a smirk crosses her face.

"Oh, sweetheart, I showed you I had no values when I fucked and ate you in the same room as his dead body." I bring my lips close to hers. "And because you nearly drowned me with your come, I question your values."

She blows out a breath that carries some embarrassment.

Despite what she's done to me, and despite the hatred in her body, I can't deny my attraction to her. It's not just physical, even though she's perfect. It's her personality. She's so powerful, yet she's only just realizing how much power she can hold over a man.

The way she raises her chin when she speaks to me, as if I'm less than her. The way she uses my body for her pleasure. She drives me wild.

I lift her chin, the rare moment it's down. "You have beautifully fucked-up values, karma."

Her eyelids flutter as if she's fighting back tears. "I've lost so much in search of the truth. Trying to find my father's killer. I even lost myself in search of revenge."

"I think you've found yourself, Allister." I wipe her hair away from her sweaty face. "Did your father say anything when you found him?"

Her eyes race from left to right as she digs into her memory. There's no way her father's killer said his real name, but maybe he gave some kind of hint that will help me sniff out his identity.

"He said something about a golden giraffe."

Golden giraffe. There's an elder who wears a giraffe mask. It's the only one I've ever seen, and it stands out because it's such an odd choice of animal.

It has to be Mark.

"Let me think about this," I say.

"If you can't tell me a name yet, at least tell me why they do this."

"I wish I could tell you it was anything more than their rich boredom. An exercise of power."

Her lower lip trembles. "My father was killed because some rich assholes were bored?"

"I was almost killed because of it too."

"Is that why you joined them? Because it was that or be killed?"

"Sometimes monsters aren't born but made that way."

"Tell me what happened to you. I want to know everything."

So I do. I detail how Adam captured me and dragged me to the party before giving me an impossible ultimatum: kill or be killed. I even explain how they trained me for over a year, keeping me locked away until they were sure I'd been broken.

"Clearly, they didn't fully break you," she says. "You killed your handler."

I shrug my shoulders. "Even the most obedient dog will turn on you if you kick it hard enough."

Adam has been kicking me for years. I'm only surprised it took me this long to snap. Then I look at Allister, and I realize the actual catalyst. If her virtue hadn't been in danger, would I have attacked Adam?

Probably not.

"Well, now you have all the answers, so I guess it's time to tie off the last loose end," I say. "Can you at least promise you'll take care of Petey when I'm gone?"

She shakes her head. "I haven't decided your fate yet, and I definitely don't have all the answers. I want the guy with the giraffe mask."

"You fail to realize how difficult it'll be for me to help you further. By keeping me out past the party, I've been labeled as a deserter. They'll be looking for me now."

Her gaze falls to the grass as she realizes she's reached a dead end. "So all of this...was for nothing? I can't avenge my father's death. Is that what you're trying to tell me?"

When she looks at me again, my heart breaks. Tears fill her eyes, and her chin positioning lacks its usual height. I wish I could give her what she needs, but I can't. That would be like going into the lion's den with a meat suit for protection. If she plans to kill me, so be it, but I won't give the Exodus the satisfaction.