Without meaning to, I slapped the resignation on the table and a weight lifted off my shoulders.
Niles stared at the envelope for a moment, his brows creasing with confusion before his expression turned to shock. “What? No, I wasn’t-”
“It’s been a while coming. Don’t stress. I just need…”
“Your sabbatical can be extended. I don’t-”
I had known for a while how important I was to the hospital, but it was finally dawning on me that I wasthehospital. I was its revenue, the face, the core. If I left, it would be a while but the attention would shift. It would have to. If only they knew what these handsreallydid… I shot Niles a small smile, not worthy of my status here at the hospital but I was tired. Too tired to keep pretending. “I’m retiring or whatever. Going to find another thing to fuck up for a while, alright? My heart’s not in it anymore.”
My heart had never been in it to save people. I just needed a place to hone my craft and what better way than a place where people paid me to slice them open? The parts I hated most were interacting with people and fixing them back up.
“Is this because of your boyfriend?” Boyfriend? Right. Niles had seen Aeron once upon a time. “That chef cart guy?” And… he knew the connection. It wouldn’t be long before the public started putting all three of us together. Niles pulled out his phone and slid it over the desk. “You’re already popular without the press but people are thinking that his cart’s closed because you broke up.”
I sifted through the pictures and the one article that the fucker had screenshotted to save for whatever the fuck for. Leverage? There were pictures of me kissing Aeron in public, me at his cart, Aeron walking into the hospital, and the theories that his disappearance from the food scene was because of a broken heart.
This wasn’t good but it was only a matter of time before the people of Primrose started piecing it together. It was a good thing Samael didn’t hang out in public like we did, nor did he garner the same kind of attention.
I handed the phone back to Niles and half-smiled, wondering why he was so damn interested in my love life or lack thereof. “Doesn’t matter. I’m resigning, quitting. Whatever you would like to put in my file. You’ve got access to this beautiful face for two more weeks before it doesn’t walk through your doors anymore. Capice?”
Niles didn’t answer but I didn’t need him to. The message had been loud and clear. Now, I just needed to find that motherfucker Finn before he decided to start another game.
SAMAEL
The day dragged on without much excitement, Chief Matthews channeling his fear and anger into berating me about why I hadn’t been able to find something on The Three Terrors. He promptly sent me home after our little meeting, telling me that I had a week to figure this shit out or hand in my resignation—as if it wasn’t his stupidity that we were running around so easily.
I didn’t deflect his accusations by spouting more lies and false promises like I usually did. Instead, I just let him yell through the speaker as I leaned back in my chair. Chief Matthews wasn’t just scared, though. He was terrified.
The Unknown had been named as a copycat killer of The Skinner. I had written up that report after inspecting that crime scene with the technicians. DNA would show that Killian hadbeen there that nightifI hadn’t been so thorough. The idea that Killian’s return home would save the kid was now no longer an option.
Because Finn had no plans to change anything about himself.
Chief Matthews’ next move would determine if I could trust him, even a little bit. The right thing would be to turn over his son to the station and step down from his position. However, a little more digging into Finn’s vehicular manslaughter case told me that Chief Matthews wasn’t as straight laced as I used to think.
They had left to start anew in Primrose, the man I answered to, a mere officer in their last city. I had an inkling that Chief Matthews had a hand in lowering Finn’s sentence and was in charge of changing the kid’s name as well.
The afternoon dragged on as I focused on other cases, trying to find a connection between Finn and crime scenes that hadn’t made sense before. Finn had to be behind some of them or the cause of them at the very least but there were no leads. Nothing concrete. Finn’s ability to clean up after himself was nearly as good as mine.
With my focus firmly on making sure that Aeron, Slash, and I were safe, I had lost sight of the business I had started. No one had seen or heard of The King over the past week, Brent all but running the operation at this point. The longer I thought about it, the more I realized that I didn’t need this comfort like I had growing up.
My younger self needed protection,cravedstability, and desired power. Now? The strength that came with being The King would also be my downfall. It became easier to sniff me out because only someone with wealth was able to do the things he had. I had to find a way out and fast. Selling the estate would be the first step. Finding someone to replace me would be the second and hardest step.
Brent interrupted my concentration as he stepped inside my office and closed the door behind him. By the tight expression on his face, I knew this conversation had to do with Finn. I blew out an annoyed breath. “I get it. We fucked up. Lay off it, Brent.” Everyone had their flaws. Killian had… well, Finn.
“You didn’t just fuck up. You pissed him off. He knowseverythingabout you and what do you really know about him? You don’t even know if he truly loves you. Have you guys even-”
My fists slammed down on my desk as I leaned over the dark wood and glared at my guard. I used to like him. I really did. He shriveled beneath my stare. “Brent, I’m pretty sure I mentioned before that if you had anything to say about my lovers,don’t.You’re toying a line you can’t come back from. Back it the fuck up.”
Brent sighed, defeated and slid back out of the office, my feet guiding me to the living room where a large pepperoni pizza sat open on the coffee table. Aeron was sprawled across one of my couches, dress pants hanging loosely on his hips, his eyes focused on whatever nonsense was playing on TV. The cannibalhad cleaned up a bit—courtesy of Slash no doubt—his hair a natural platinum again, the man looking some version of normal and innocent with those deep sea-green eyes. Slash offered me a small smile; his eyes glazed over with the after-effects of alcohol.
They weren’t dealing with this well and to be honest, neither was I but it was my job to make sure my resident psychos were taken care of. I gestured to Aeron, Slash shaking his head as I approached and crouched down by the cushions. In a parallel universe, the vast expanse of bare skin would have turned this scene into a very different situation. “Aeron, baby, youhaveto eat something.”
The cannibal startled at my words, sitting up as his gaze darted around the room. It took him a moment to settle before grabbing a piece of pizza and stuffing his face, sauce dripping down his lips.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Slash blurted out. Aeron tensed and then stared at the food in his hand, watching the pepperoni and cheese slowly slide off into a gloop on the floor. His whole face clenched as if he was thinking too hard and the pain that radiated through his face was too much for me to bear. “Aeron, what’s going on in that head of yours? You haven’t made any of your usual meals and even with Gwen’s lungs in your fridge, you haven’t touched them.”
Aeron shrugged, taking another hearty bite of the pizza. It had been a long fucking time since I had watched him eat realfood and it was a little unnerving. “Waiting for Finn to show up. He mentioned wanting to have dinner but I need him to tell me that to my face. I’m not wasting a good curry on him because he wants to play games.”
That didn’t even make any sense.
