“I love you too…”
CHAPTER 13
The Princess
I think I know why Seven Grey was the best friend I didn’t think I’d ever have…orneed. I remember the first time I ever saw a dead body. It fascinated me. What fascinated me more was watching him die. Some slug that owed Daddy money. He didn’t know I was in his office that night. I was in there, playing with a calculator. You know, the old ones that print the number on a roll of paper every time you hit the enter button? I heard them coming and I hid behind his mini-bar. Daddy was quick about it, but there was so much blood. I watched it pour from the guy’s neck, staining his clean blue shirt while one of the henchmen gave Pops a towel to clean his hands.
The minute that man hit the floor…my six-year-old brain was fucked. His eyes stared right at me until the soul left them completely. They left him there in the office, stepping over him like he wasn’t worth shit. I dunno what the guy did to deserve a death like that, and honestly…I didn’t care. Shouldn’t a six-year-old feelsomethingother than morbid curiosity? I remember staring at him until I was sure they weren’t coming back, and then instead of getting the fuck out, like a normal child about to get caught…I started examining the poor dead guy on the floor.
Years later, I found out what it felt like to fuck for the first time. How good it felt to manipulate every aspect of my life for my own gain…and everybody in it. I had Malek do whatever I needed him to…and I kicked my feet, finding more pleasure in the brutal deaths of the men I seduced, than finding pleasure in the sex. I was playing with guns and money when I should have been playing withdolls. I was raised by heathens. No self respect. No rules. No regard for anything human…
…Because we’ve neverbeenhuman…
Then here comes Seven. Raised by parents who cherish her. In an actualhomewhere people sit down to dinners that don’t end in somebody’s brains splattered on the table. Sure, she grew up weird. But her fascination with death isn’t the same as mine. It isn’t executed in her life the way it is with me. Sev isn’t a monster…she justunderstandsthem. Death did that to her. My brother did that to her.
I did that to her.
And now I’m laying in a coffin, hiding from the mistakes I’ve made while she waits downstairs with her dying mother, her hero sister-in-law, two literal children, and the most cookie-cutter example of a doting father that anyone’s ever seen. I can’t let them down like this. There’s gonna be blood tonight. Mine, or the bastards waiting outside this house…but it won’t be theirs. I can’t let that happen. I refuse.
The lights are dim in the suite. I have the lid to the coffin cracked, barely able to see anything through it, and it feels like I’ve been in here a lifetime. My palms are sweaty, holding a Michael Myers’ special in one hand, and butcher’s best friend in the other. I’ve stashed more in my boots and strapped one to my thigh with one of Em’s headbands. I’m just waiting for my first opportunity to strike.
What if they don’t even come in here?
My mind is reeling and I feel like my body is going to burst with adrenaline. My veins feel like they’re on fire, my ears are roaring, and my heart keeps flipping like an animal trying to escape its cage. I heard the faint sounds of shouting, and I clamped my mouth shut, heart pounding at the thought of it being Declan or my brother. There were a few seconds of stunned silence and then several more voices raised from outside the house.
“They’re not in here,” I whispered, confused. I don’t recognize the language they’re speaking either. Gotta be Russian. My breath hitched when I heard breaking glass and heavy footsteps—a shit ton of them…and then the chaos erupted. Gunshots rang out. I heard the kids downstairs screaming. Bodies hit walls, and I swore I heard Malek’s laugh. The longer I lay in this godforsaken casket, the more worthless I feel. This isn’t fucking right. I can’t stay—
“Tick…tickkk…”My eyes narrowed and my pulse raced, seeing a set of legs and black boots trudge lazily down the aisle towards the casket. “Anyone home?” They’re definitely Russian. His English is fine, but the accent is a dead giveaway. I turned my knife in my hand and fixed the point to slip right between the crack as soon as the fucker gets close enough. He paused at pews, looking between and underneath them. I stayed still, although it felt like my bones would claw their way out of my skin.
Controlling your breathing is hard…especially when you can’t figure out if it’s because of a rush of fear or excitement. Add boiling rage, and it’s like sitting a box of fireworks just close enough to a bonfire to feel the heat.
He’s got a gun, but it’s not a big one. Just a pretty pistol he’s probably about as good at using as his pecker, which I’m sure is crawling with the herps.Come on fucker…come and get me.When he turned away, I almost whined. I guess I get it. Anything in this casket would have already punched the card. He was almost out the door when I knocked a knee against the side of the coffin. He spun around, peering at it like he was caught between running for his life…or satisfying his curiosity. Can’t imagine what he’s thinking right now. I smiled to myself.
Oooo…scary. Come on back, Olaf. Lemme make all your nightmares come true.
Dipshit looked around for a second and then warily made his way back down the aisle towards me. I waited until all the light was nearly gone and the waist of his dark jeans was my only focus…then I stabbed.
“Aaaaggghhhh!” I threw the lid of the casket up as hard as I could, bashing him in the face as he bent over, and then I grabbed the hand holding the pistol, and plunged the blade through his wrist. The gun hit the ground, and I smiled as I leapt like an alley cat out of the coffin, tackling him to the floor. I felt every give and take of my knife while my face warmed with every drop of blood in his chest cavity.
This is almost better than sex…almost.
My chest heaved and I could taste the blood on my teeth as I smiled viciously, straddling him while I got off on the high. SweetLord, it’s good. “I think the words you were looking for were‘knock, knock’…asshole.” I stood, stretching my arms and popping my neck while all hell broke loose around the house. A sputtering noise came from the body at my feet. “Dude, there’s no way.”
Leaning in closer, I realized it wasn’t Olaf. It’s a walkie. I grabbed it and felt around for the button.
“Hello?”
Nothing.
“This is Bridget Byrne. If you can hear this, tell your boss it’smehe wants. Call off the assault and let him know I’ll be waiting for him in suite three.”
I give Declan two seconds before he slaughters his way through this house to stop me. I pulled my phone out, smearing blood across the screen as I dialed him.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“Are you safe?” I asked, wiping my face on my sleeve as I cat-walked slowly towards the open casket.
“Answer the question, Bridget. Or these two fools meet their maker, and I blow this whole fucking hair-brained idea you think you’ve got to come get you. I told you to stay in the casket! This is the part where you keep your fucking promise and not make me work for the truth, remember?”
