“No, I’m not fucking happy. How does he have a list that long and still get out in a year?”
“I-I don’t know. His family must have some pull with the judges or something. Priest, he’s really not that bad. He?—”
“What, are you sucking his dick too?” She didn’t answer, which told me enough. I laughed. “Wow, can’t get enough crazy cock, huh? Do you like that? Bad boys?”
“Priest, you know you’re not supposed to say that word.”
I cocked my head to the side. “What? Crazy? Look around, sweetie, we’re in a fucking loony bin. And good news for you, in ten months, you and that stupid little bug can be together on the outside.”I went to the door and put my hand on the handle. It wouldn’t open for me, but it was my way of telling her to leave.
“Priest, I don’t want him. I want you. I love you.” She rushed into my chest. I didn’t touch her. She disgusted me.
“You’re stupider than I thought if you love me.” I jerked on the handle and it remained locked. “You’ll have to wait a whole lot longer for me to get out. I’m a lifer.”
“You never know,” she said, but couldn’t meet my gaze. She’d seen my file. We both knew I wasn’t going anywhere.
“Leave, please. I need to bealone.”
She left, tears falling silently down her face. I didn’t give a shit about her feelings. I was tempted to tell someone what she’d done for me. If it weren’t for the knowledge that I’d be put in isolation or given some more stupid therapy, I would have let her get fired.
That next morning at breakfast, a hard shoulder bumped into me. I turned quickly to see Moth glaring at me.
“I heard you had a visitor last night,” he said. I looked down at his tray. Oatmeal in a paper bowl and a carton of milk, just like mine.
“What about it?” Much to my displeasure, he sat across from me and dug into his food.
“Oh, nothing. She was a bit upset. That you just threw her aside so quickly. She was so inconsolable, I had to choke her while I fucked her ass just so she’d stop crying over you.” His eyes flickered with amusement, but mine were dull with boredom.
“Is that you bragging?” I snickered. “I don’t give two fucks about the nurses. Take her.”
“Oh, I will. Again and again. You see, Priest.” He reached over and snatched the milk from my tray. He popped the tab open and drank it like a shot of alcohol, slamming it back down on the table when he was done. “I don’t take kindly to people who can’t mind their fucking business. What exactly were you looking for in my files?”
“You lied about why you were here. I knew it and wanted to see what the truth was.”
“Oh, poor you.” He frowned dramatically. “You’re upset I lied in group? Must be weird, seeing a direct reflection of yourself, huh?”
His lips curled slowly upward, sending a chill through me. “You’re not the only one who has some pull around here. I know what landed you here. No one believes your story, you know that. They know you did it.”
“You’re funny.” I wiped my face with a napkin.
“No, you are the funny one, Priest Duvall.” He kicked outward, hitting me directly in the shin. I winced, but didn’t move anything but my eyes. They flickered to the guards and other medical staff walking around, watching us. If I reacted to Moth, I’d be sedated.“You know why you’re so funny?” He laughed. “Because we’re the same person, and yet I’m getting out, while you’ll be here for the rest of your life. What a place to rot.”
Rule 20 - Priest
Don’t rule anyone out.
Ihad tried to explain to Laney, but she wasn’t interested in hearing my words. She laughed off my concerns and fled the suite, running straight for Moth’s violent arms.With no other choice but to follow and watch over her, I grabbed my laptop and headed down to the brainstorming group. Moth knew I wouldn’t be able to participate, as I wasn’t a writer. I was an editor. I cleaned up after the party. I wasn’t actually invited.
When I walked into the Delambre room, I was confused to only find Moth inside, one leg crossed over the other, grinning smugly.
“What would an editor need to brainstorm?” he asked. I set my bag down on a side table and sat down in the chair across from him.
“Where is she?”
“Who? Oh, Delaney Duvall? Don’t think that was lost on me. I remember your file well.” He reached for a tumbler filled with amber liquid. “Why are you two lying to everyone?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Really? Not a clue?” He glared at me and reachedinto the cushion under him, pulling out a Michael Myers mask. “Just like you didn’t put this in my room last night?”
