Slash snorted, leaning against the doorframe, his eyes glinting with mischief. “You kind of already did, which is why you’re a little bit out of commission. Has your dad been home yet?”
I searched the bed, my hands fumbling through the sheets, and grabbed my phone from under a pillow, grimacing at the dirt still caked under my fingernails. Checking the security app, I shook my head. “The system wasn’t undone, so I don’t think so. He’ll probably swing by tonight or something whenever I say I’m moving out.” I need to plan it perfectly so that they would have already thought Samael was dead.
However, I couldn’t exactly control when Dad would return to his own house.
Aeron, still beside me, frowned at Harley’s body on the floor. “What’s the plan for the doctor?”
A wild grin split across my lips as I glanced over at Slash. “The sexy one in the doorway? So many things. The dead doctor, we’re dressing up like Samael.”
Aeron’s eyes narrowed at me. “What’s the point?”
I sat up a little more. “This is where the plan goes from reality to far-fetched, but bear with me. My dad had it out for Samael for a little bit but otherwise loves him. However, if Samael has been digging into these murders and then ends up dead…”
Slash cut in, his arms crossed over those abs that are currently distracting me from my mission. “I still don’t know how any of this is going to prove that Samael is dead.”
“Yeah, I was hoping you could help with that. We need some of his blood.”
Slash just shook his head as he stepped into the room, closing the distance between us. “Are you telling me to slice up my lover?”
I chuckled, a dark twisted sound falling from my lips. “I mean, if that’s what you’d like to do, I would like to watch, but I only need a little blood. You’re just better with the sharp stuff, and if I do it, Samael might see it as an attack.”
Slash burst out laughing but he agreed, as did Aeron. I just waved my hand and pointed to Dr. Harley slumped over on thefloor. “Once everyone starts focusing on Dad, we just have to play the sad part and then slowly all leave. Maybe a few weeks? I can leave first and use what little I have left in my trust fund to get us a place to stay in the interim, but yeah.”
“You’re a crazy motherfucker,” Slash mused. “And I’m about to die if Samael thinks I’m about to kill him for his blood.”
That wouldn’t happen. Not on my watch. Well… I slid my phone out and ran through my texts, my smile faltering slightly. “I texted him but…” Fuck. That wasn’t a good look.
Hey, Slash needs to skin you when you get home.
I mentally ran through my alters to see who the fuck had sent the text but none of us remembered it. Slash just sighed, dragging a hand down his face. “He really is going to have my ass. And not in the kinky way. I’d kill you first if I thought it would help.”
“Sorry, I’ll clear it up when he gets home.”
Aeron cut in. “No, I’ll do it because you’ll probably just make it worse.”
I nodded and leaned back on my hands, nudging Dr. Harley’s head a little. He flopped over, nearly in half, the stench of dirt and death strengthening in the room. “We’ll place him somewhere in the city so he gets found but I do have one more favor to ask.” I clasped my hands together and batted my eyes while looking up at Slash. “I was hoping you’d do a special skinning for me? Pretty please? He won’t scream but he’s still a good specimen.”
Slash laughed, the man leaning down to press a kiss to my forehead. “How can I say no to those eyes? Just one question before we dress up this dummy. Whatever happened to Brent? I know Samael didn’t want to know, but I’m curious.”
The memory flashed through my head, a terrifying ordeal to say the least and not one I would ever recommend doing again. The three showers I had taken afterwards hadn’t been enough tofeelclean. “I fed him into a meat grinder. You know the big factory one in the heart of the city? I kept a finger though and stuffed it in Dad’s fridge.”
Aeron snorted, his eyes widening. “You realize that that means everyone is going to beeatingBrent for the next several… Runo, that’s a meat packing plant!”
I just shrugged. “So? It got rid of him, didn’t it? Let’s focus on the fun stuff. I know just the clothes to put Dr. Harley in and then, how about another date? I already told Dad I wasn’t leaving the house soon and I might have messaged Tyrone that Dad was acting weird.” All it would take is the right moment for them both to meet and then everything else would fall in place. “Oh, and Slash? I need you to do your magic at Dad’s house. One last piece of the puzzle.”
CHIEF MATTHEWS
Samael was dead.
I stared ahead at the home I had brought my family into years ago, hoping that this would be a fresh start from all the shit before. How had it come to this? How had I lost absolutely everything? I had worked so hard to thwart Runo at every move, to clean up his mess, to keep his darkness quiet.
And now I had lost a man who had been a son to me, a confidant, someone I could lean on. For years, he had been Merchant to me—until I caught Runo slipping up and calling him Samael. Was that his real name? Was that the man I had loved liked a son? It still felt strange to call him that.
The worst part was that I was pretty sure Runo had killed him out of spite. Had Runo even loved Samael? Had all of this been a ruse?
It had been a week since Dr. Harley had been found just outside Sip N Dip, a cute little eatery I had visited a few times while my wife was still alive. He had been dressed in Samael’sclothing, blood smeared everywhere, but he hadn’t been killed in that spot.
We worked overtime, trying to connect the dots, even as Tyrone pointed the finger at me. Every step we took, Tyrone would somehow circle it back to my involvement. To him, I was either involved or I was the killer headlining the newspapers.The Unknown.
