Chapter Thirteen

SUZANNE brEAKS INTOa run like she"s out to escape, and I go after her while Rake orders his friends to block the exits. That the two have no idea about what"s going on is a given, and it"s why I"m doubly impressed when they do as told rather than waste time asking questions.

Dorks they may be, but you can"t ask for friends any truer than those two.

Party screams turn into screams of shock and terror when Suzanne pulls a lever to trigger the fire alarm, and guests start jumping out of the yacht in their panic. It"s complete pandemonium everywhere I look, but I"m still of the mind to take things easy with her...until Suzanne orders her bodyguards to start shooting at us.

Well, that does it.

The monster inside of me is out, and I"m once again in the zone as the smell of blood stains the air around us.

My gaze never wavers as I make my way to her, and I keep going even as bodies around me start dropping to the floor. I think it"s Rake watching my six like he tends to do. Sweet and misguided like always, and if I do make out of this alive, I think that"s how I"ll be with him as well.

If love means being ridiculously sweet, then so be it.

That"s how I"m going to love him back...given the chance.

But until then—-

I SEE YOU.

Yes, you.

You may be better at hiding the truth, but it takes one monster to know another.

And you are definitely just like me.

A monster that can kill endlessly.

A monster that feeds on the pain of others.

But also—-a monster with free will.

And that"s where our differences lie.

My monster still has a conscience it can listen to...and a heart that is now in the care of someone who knows and loves the real me.

My monster has hands that refuse to do evil for evil"s sake—-

But it"s also those same hands that can so very easily kill you...if that"s how justice asks to be served.

SSSSH.

Be quiet, you.

Have you forgotten I"m not normal?

Tears do not move me at all, and you may not be normal yourself, with how you"re able to abuse innocent creatures that have done you no harm.

Ssssh, sssh.

You hear that, don"t you?

The sirens wailing to let people know help is coming.

But for you, it means something else.

When those sirens cease, and they start to come, it"s to take you away and lock you behind bars.

And you don"t want that, do you?

So what now?

Shall I do you a favor by killing you?

It will be so very easy, you know.

I can just wrap my fingers around your neck and squeeze.

Gouge your eyes out until you bleed to death.

Or just shoot you in the head if we"d like to end it quick.

So tell me, you.

Can you give me one reason not to kill you?

"THAT"S ENOUGH, DARLING."

His voice snaps me out of whatever"s taken hold of me, and I find myself straddling a sobbing Suzanne on the floor. I can"t recall how I got here, or why her face is a bloody and viciously clawed mess...while I have my gun pointed at her head.

Rake carefully takes my gun out of my hand and gently pulls me to my feet.

I wait for him to show fear or disgust. To look at me like I"m more monstrous than he"s able to handle, but instead he puts his life at risk by pinching my cheeks—-

"Stop that!"

I slap his hands away, and I only realize we have company when I hear his friends chuckle.

Oh.

There"s Greg and Corey, with a cuffed Suzanne between them, and another man I can only assume as—-

"Are you Royce Jr., who majored in engineering and advertising?"

Major turns red, and I"m thinking that means a yes.

Rake pulls me to him as Major cusses at the other guys, and I can"t help but shake my head. "Do they really not care?"

"About what?"

"They saw me. The real me—-"

"And we"re glad you"re who and what you are, because you were the one who stopped Suzanne from fleeing."

"But what I did to her..." I show him my hands, where bits of the other woman"s flesh are still under my nails, but Rake only smiles coldly.

"Do you remember what she did to Yiorgos" dog?"

His words immediately put things in perspective, and I suddenly feel I haven"t made Suzanne pay enough for her crimes.

"You did what you had to. And most importantly—-you kept yourself alive for me."

The sudden roughness of his voice doesn"t escape me, and that"s when I realize this is finally it.

"I love you," I say simply.

The right moment for other couples usually come when they"ve shed tears. But for people like Rake and me, the right moment is when we"ve shed blood, and we see for ourselves that nothing has changed.

A smile cracks over Rake"s lips. "I love you, too, and...I have to say that I kinda saw this coming."

"This?"

"You told me you"d never be the type to scream "I love you" when having sex."

I do remember saying that, but...

"So that"s when I figured you"d likely be the type to say the words when one of us has either killed or is about to kill someone else—-"

Oh.

"And I love it," he says fiercely, "so don"t you ever fucking change."

I have no chance to tell him he"s being weird, with his mouth already covering mine and his tongue thrusting past my lips.

Oh, Rake.

The local police has finally arrived, and even though I can literally hear them reading Suzanne her rights, Rake and I go on kissing like a pair of horny teenagers out on their first date. I think this is Rake"s way of making me just as vulgar as he is...and while this is a secret I"ll carry to my grave, I won"t have him any other way as well.