Especially since I’d finally have access to the fucking trust fund the other three were too stuck up to use. I had seen Killian’s little apartment, and I couldn’t fathom visiting let alone staying there when there was an entire luxurious basement bedroom calling my name.
“Killian?” Her voice was full of concern as she slowly approached, crouching in front of me. Her gaze dipped to my bloody fingers, her shoulders falling in defeat. “Oh, you cut yourself again. Let’s get that bandaged up and get you out of here.” I held back a snort, wondering how she couldn’t see through the pitiful rouse I was putting up.
Four days ago when my loveable cannibal tried to apologize for stuffing me in here, every last person in here should have known that something was off. After all, my fucking eye color changed. Killian always adored that god-awful innocent look with the mismatched eyes, playing into a persona that completely wrecked my image. Dr. Lewis had believed my pitiful explanation, that I had been traumatized and was just acting out in a way only I could understand.
Nurse Gwen wasn’t as stupid and I hated that I couldn’t bullshit my way through all of this like I usually did.
The worst infraction was that Killian had ripped out all my facial piercings. He would pay for that. “You know what?” I muttered to myself, mentally putting another strike by Killian’s name. Fuck that guy. We looked good shrouded in metal. That would be one of the first things on the agenda—to replace everylast piercing Killian messed with and maybe add a few more for good measure just to piss the alter off.
“Killian, sweetheart,” the nurse mused, placing a gentle hand on my knee. I jerked forward and then hissed at her like everynormalperson does when someone touches them. She immediately retracted her hand and stood up, letting out a heavy sigh. “Killian, I just came to let you know that you’re being released into your father’s care. We’ve prescribed a few medications that should help combat symptoms of your current diagnosis. Should that not work, when you attend your next session, you can let the doctor know.”
I hated those pills. They made me feel like I wasn’t in charge of my body. The other alters faded away until I was just there—in total darkness, unable to breathe or climb out of the void that the medication thrust at me. That pitiful existence would not be mine. However, now that I knew what they felt like, the absence of them made me anxious. Like a little motor constantly running beneath my skin, reminding me of the peace I could have.
Nurse Gwen’s smile widened slightly. “While I was working through your discharge papers, I noticed that there weren’t any filed documents from your first stay. I watched the security tapes and the men who dropped you off aren’t ones I recognize. Do you know who brought you in a few days ago?”
She meant well but she didn’t belong in my business. “No idea what you’re talking about.”
“That’s okay. I copied the tapes for your father. Regardless,” she waved her hand. “It’s time to go. Let’s clean that cut and get you home, alright?” Going home had never sounded sweeter but there was just one problem.
My father told me he knew that Samael—or Merchant as he was known to everyone else—had brought me in here to save me from myself. What he didn’t know was that Aeron and Slash had been present too, three men who should not have been in contact with each other. If my father watched those tapes, he would start making connections that I needed him not to make.
Which meant the tapes had to be destroyed.
And Nurse Gwen had to be punished for not minding her own business.
This would be fun.
Right after I plastered on a fake smile and fell into my father’s arm with the correct emotional response to fool everyone around us. After all, I was the prodigal son returning to my rightful place. Killian had had his moment in the sun and he fucking ruined it, creating a life of boredom and safety.
I didn’t want safe.
I wanted to play.
I wanted to ruin the world.
For no other reason than… I could.
SAMAEL
My hand tightened around my phone, a growl threatening to rip from my throat. Finn was out of fucking control. Killing his nurse hours after he left the mental facility wasn’t just dangerous, it was downright chaotic. Even Slash when he had an itch disguised his kills well enough not to leave a mess.
Finn worked in the same vein and somehow was the exact opposite. His kills ranged from pristine to bloody and messy, the nurse being the third body he had left for us. I stared at the male beside Gwen, grimacing as I recognized his face. This shit was messy. Killing people that were so closely related to us drew eyes that we didn’t need.
I glared at my phone as it vibrated again.
You know I had to, right? Gwen was going to ruin everything. Dr. Lewis was an accident.
That doesn’t make it any better.
Sure it does. They’re the only ones who knew about the security tapes.
This wasn’t the first time Finn had mentioned the tapes but where I had been worried about Killian’s mental health and safety nearly a week ago, now I was worried about Chief Matthews. Finn was adamant about keeping our secrets in the most unhinged ways. Finding out that he had moved home rather than in with one of us told me that his plans didn’t align with ours.
And his idea of right and wrong were just a little more warped than I had previously thought.
Add in the fact that the letters scratched into his arm were most likely self-inflicted and I had no idea how Finn had fooled the mental institutiontwice.“This is all kinds of fucked up,” I muttered to myself, kicking Gwen’s foot as I stared at her sorry state. Her once white uniform looked more like a Halloween costume at this point. I bent down and lifted her shirt slightly, groaning when the precise cuts became clear.
None of this made any sense.
