I couldn’t even curl up into a ball the way my body wanted to. All I could do was lie there and cough as my lungs burned. Through my teary eyes, I saw Walker return, a second bucket in his hands. I turned my head, clamping my mouth shut and not breathing, to avoid a repeat of last time as the icy water flooded over my face and upper body.
The bucket dropped to the floor with a clatter. I gasped for air, immediately coughing again at the sensation that still hadn’t left after inhaling the water.
“Now, as I was saying,” Walker said as he leaned back over me, pulling the wet strands of my hair away from my face. “You look exactly like her.”
“Wh-who?” I managed to rasp out through chattering teeth. I let out another round of coughs.
“Mariposa Parker.”
Every cell in my body froze as my heart clenched painfully. “N-no.” Tears filled my eyes and spilled over. “No.”
Walker nodded. “Yes. She was my greatest achievement. So beautiful.” He stared down at me, not seeing me, just seeing my eyes. “So unique. Until I saw you. But you were too young then. I had to wait until the time was right. I had to keep you close, so I didn’t lose you, Cherish.”
I shook my head, Unable to believe the words I was hearing. The man who’d done those things to my sister nine years ago, the one who’d disappeared after he’d taken her from me, had been right in front of me for six whole months. A sob left my chest.
“No!” I screamed. “No!”
I began to thrash on the table I was tied to. I yanked on my bindings like a wild beast out of control as I screeched. Agony filled my chest. He was right there. The killer. The monster. “No!”
The Angel Killer let out a humorless chuckle as he watched me fighting the truth. “She was the best. But I bet you’ll be even better than she was. That’s what you’ve always wanted, isn’t it, Cherish? To finally be recognized as being better at something than your perfect sister?”
“Fuck you!” I screamed, my hands curved like claws, scratching at the wooden table underneath me.
“We’ll get to that,” he promised. He walked around the table to my other side, a filthy rag in his hand that smelled like motor oil. He began wiping at the spot I had thrown up, cleaning away any residue of my sickness left behind. I glared at him with all the hate I possessed.
“Your parents abandoned you. They treated you like nothing after your sister… left. Didn’t they?”
I hissed in response as I twisted my wrists, trying desperately to free myself so I could claw his eyes out.
“Do you know who was always there for you, Cherish Parker? Me. With my influence, you got into the FBI. You weren’t even going to apply. Isn’t that right?”
I remembered how I had planned to join the local police force, but found a flyer for the FBI. Then I received an email inviting me to apply to the academy. It had never crossed my mind until it had practically been shoved into my face. My chest ached at the reminder. I had been led to this moment.
“You made it onto my team so easily.”
Led. Like a lamb to slaughter.
“I watched you so closely. I knew you hadn’t let anyone between these pretty, broken thighs.”
My stomach roiled with nausea again as I felt his fingers drift over the scars.
“Such a pretty present you’ve given me. Except…”
The punch came out of nowhere, completely unexpected, and I had no way to prepare. My stomach hurt so bad that it felt like something tore inside me. I gasped but was unable to take in a breath as my vision darkened around the edges. I was so consumed with the pain from the punch to my stomach that I could barely hear Walker as he yelled into my face. Spit hit my cheek as his words penetrated the cloud of agony I was in.
“—fucking whore! You let those men take what was mine! You’re going to pay for that! When I’m done with you, I will make sure those men never see the light of day again!”
“Touch her again, and you’ll be eating that hand.”
Walker’s head whipped around and looked at the door. I couldn’t see who was there, but I would have recognized that cold, furious voice anywhere. Tears of relief filled my eyes.
I began laughing. It started slowly, bubbling up from my aching belly. Every shake of my body hurt, but the laughter kept coming.
Walker turned to me, his eyes blazing with madness. “Shut up! Whore! I was going to kill you first, but now you get to watch me kill your lover instead.” I kept laughing even after he grabbed his gun and pointed it toward the door, toward Gage. “Why are you laughing?” he demanded, swinging the gun in my direction instead.
“Because,” I wheezed out. “There’s a bigger and better monster than you. And he’s going to send you to hell where you belong.”
Walker looked ready to explode, his once passably handsome face twisted in an ugly expression and red with fury. Before his finger could even twitch on the trigger, Gage had his hand yanked up. The bullet exploded from the gun, shooting harmlessly into the wooden planks of the ceiling. I turned my head and closed my eyes as fragments of splintered wood fell over me.
