I shrug, throwing my bag into the car he points out to me in the lot, “She seems to think that because we’ve had each other before, we see each other in a romantic sense.”
“Huh,” he laughs, “I mean that makes sense, and the sex isfirebut without Bel? Meh. You’re not as hot without her underneath you.”
“I wholeheartedly agree, but this was the only way we could do this without gaining her suspicion,” I tell him.
He slowly nods his head around in thought before answering in a grave tone, “We’ll have to tell her eventually. I won’t keep this from her, nor will I let her be under the impression I care for anyone but her.”
He’s right, of course. I don’t want to deceive Bel either. But my bloodthirst is blurring my vision, and I can make it up to her later. I’ll spend eternity doing so if I must.
This car ride is exponentially more boring than the ones I’ve had with Belissenda. Fritz wants to listen to an audiobook, and not one of the good ones like Bel narrates. He tells me that keeping up on current events is a full-time job, but that sounds terribly dull.
I allow myself to doze in and out of consciousness, but I’m suspicious that Fritz is doing something to me in my sleep. At one point, I wake up with a tiny piece of paper in my mouth that could not have gotten there on its own. And Fritz can never hide his amusement, no matter how he tries.
I flick him on the ear, and he just chuckles, waving me off. “So what’s the plan when we get there?” he asks, “We didn’t discuss much, but since you told her we’d be gone a few days I’m guessing this is not just an in-and-out kind of situation.”
I sigh, “It is not.” If I’m being honest, I want to watch long enough to prove that he deserves this. I already know that he does, but Bel will not see it that way. People like him do not change; they only get craftier and crueler. She will need to know for herself that relieving him of his body is the proper treatment. “I think we will need some reconnaissance for a day or so, ensure he is not the type of man to have a full team of guards.”
“And with the other days?” I grin and snap my teeth at him, making my intentions clear, “Got it,” he smiles. It will not be our first kill together. Not by a long shot. But never have we been so on the same page. Anyone who hurts our girl dies painfully and slowly.
We make a quick stop by the hotel to grab the keys to our room and drop off our things. I take the bed closer to the window so I can be awoken by the sun, and Fritz indelicately tosses his bag onto the other before stalking back to the open door, asking, “Shall we?”
Ten minutes later, his phone alerts us that we have almost reached the destination. Not a moment too soon, as the sun has just fully disappeared behind the mountains, fog descending across the ground.
Fritz turns his lights off and pulls his car to the side of the road before pointing, “That’s the one.”
I give the house a once over. A large home nestled between other large homes. No sign of personality, just two matching SUVs. Every inch of the home is covered in status symbols. They have warning signs for a security company, yet no cameras of any kind. I roll my eyes,Humans think their money makes them invincible.
We silently exit the vehicle, both dressed in all black to hide in the dark. As we creep around to the back of the house, I can sense five people inside. Three kids, two adults.Bel did mention he has kids.
It irks me that she’s spent time worrying about him and where his life has gone while not allowing hers to move forward. This filth deserves every ounce of pain coming to him for taking these years from her.
We watch silently as they put their three children to bed, two girls and a boy, spitting images of their mom. She seems kind enough, though a little timid. In fact, the entire household seems to be treading lightly, like they’re moments from disaster.
The pit in my stomach grows, knowing the man in their house is likely to blame for their frightened demeanor. As I thought, he’s only gotten better at hiding his monstrosity from the outside world. The background check Fritz ran brought everything back completely normal, nothing more dangerous than a speeding ticket.
“He seems like a fucking asshole,” Fritz comments, and I hum in agreement, watching him yell at his wife for not making the dinner hespecifically requested, though I’m sure he didn’t.
“Hundreds of years in Vankhala, and people are still just the same,” I mutter, turning to walk slightly away from the window we’re watching through. I can’t look at that fucker for another second.
“Many of them are, yeah. Some are worse than ever before. And the good ones? They get trampled before they ever get a chance.” Fritz sounds as dejected as I feel.
With his unique perspective on humans, I often found myself worrying about how jaded he had become, even before going under.
Seeing not only the worst of humans but the emotions driving their atrocities has turned my friend into someone I nearly don’t recognize over the years. His liveliness and joy have faded, leaving behind a man who constantly makes jokes rather than facing the world around him. He tries to keep the farce up, especially for Bel, but I’ve known him long enough to see right through it.
“Shit,” he says suddenly. “Once a fuckhead, always a fuckhead.”
With theno’s and thestop’s I’m hearing, I’m not sure I even want to look. But I have to. The sight makes me nauseous, and I have to put a stop to it right now before this piece of filth truly harms his wife. I warn Fritz seconds before transforming into my larger form.
Fuck reconnaissance. I’m putting an end to this right now.
He grabs my arm, and I look down at his human body, “Just wait,” he tells me, trying to quickly formulate a plan before I go insane and kill the man right now, “I’ll go knock on the front door. He’ll send her to answer it and you snatch him from here. I do not want to frighten that poor woman any more than necessary.”
I nod. His wife and kids have nothing to do with this and don’t need this kind of terror from us. They’ll be much better off without him, but seeing it happen might break all of their psyche’s beyond repair.
As Fritz stalks around the side of the house, I see more of his disgustingly rough treatment of her. It sickens me so much that I’m hit with a dizzy spell, a lightheadedness that I have to shake off. Clearing my head, I know I can’t take one more second of this, so I tap on the window, slinking into the shadows to ensure I’m not spotted.
“What the fuck was that?” my victim asks his wife as if she has the answer.Just a little longer. I can almost grab him and begin the fun.
