"You have to give me a chance," she pleaded. "I'll be fast. There's a snowmobile in the garage. Me and Juniper will go down in the morning and be back in the evening, right in time for the ritual."
I shook my head and grinned. "See, you're lying. You know how I know?"
"I'm not!"
I stepped up to her and pressed my chest to her soft, shaking frame. She whimpered as I whispered to her.
"How are you going to get the sacrifice back, if there's only two seats?"
Annie stopped breathing. There was a long moment, and then she ducked and flew out of the room. I spun around and looked for something to take with me on my chase.Where was my axe when I needed it?I stormed after her, empty-handed.
"Juniper! Gloriana!"
I followed Annie's shrill, panicked screams.She was giving herself away. I stalked her through the hotel. She was taking corridors that were uncommon and dark, but I recognized where she was going.
I’d built this place.
She was trying to leave. I caught up with her in the garage, as she was frantically pulling out drawers in a cabinet. I slammed the door at the exact moment she squealed with glee and raised a key up into the air.
"Nice try, Annie. You're not leaving the Vincent."
She spun around and dropped the key onto the concrete. She dropped to the ground to look for it. "Please. Just let me go. I'll find someone. I can get the walls painted. You just need to let me go down the hill."
"That's not happening. You know that. I know that. I don't know why we're playing this game."
"This isn't a game, Priest! I don't know who you are, or how you're tied to this place, but you've got everything wrong. I'm trying to save everyone!"
"By killing my stepsister?" My own words came through. My anger rose to the surface. The spirit of Mr. Vincent receded and let me have my body and mind back. "You invited her here, knowing nothing about her, just to brutally murder her for your own gain?"
"It's not about me. Between our families, her life would save a hundred. Now my family is screwed."
"Sounds like a you problem. Actually, it sounds like you've all had this coming. How many people have you killed to keep this going? A hundred for a hundred? Seems fair."
"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Her eyes lowered to slits. "There's something wrong with you. Moth tried to warn us, but we were all too blinded by your hotness to pay attention. Where is he? Did you kill him?"
"Why do you think he's dead?" I laughed.
"I'm not stupid. I know who's alive and who isn't here. I've already seen Moth's ghost. Tristan's will come around before long to see me. But I'll be damned if you make me one." She lunged her arm forward and I gasped as something pierced my stomach. I looked down to see her holding an icepick.
"You little bitch." I shoved her back. She fell against a tarp and cried out as her back hit whatever was under it. I steeled myself and reached for the icepick still in my gut. Clenching my teeth, I pulled it out and dropped it to the ground. Bloodpoured from the wound, and I stumbled. I should have just left it in.
I'll take care of that. You just take care of her.
The pain began to tighten and recede as the wound healed up. I lifted my shirt to see, and Annie and I both stared in wonder at my unblemished skin.
"What the hell are you?" she gasped and scurried out of the garage. She was going straight back to the hotel when suddenly she made a sharp right turn and disappeared.What the hell?
I paused right where she'd turned and saw the wall she'd hidden behind. It was so covered in snow I couldn't see it from a distance. I reached out and grabbed her, squeezing the breath she had out of her.
"Stop, Priest! I'll do anything. Do you want me? My body? You can have me!" She tugged on my hands, trying to bring them to her breasts. When I didn't budge, she tried the other direction, urging me to touch between her legs. "I've been wet for you since I saw you at the airport. Just let me go and I'll let you have any hole you want. I bet I'm better than that little virgin you've been rooming with."
Laney. She'd wanted to kill Laney.
I snapped. I was tired of the games. I let her go and pushed her to the ground. Annie grinned and lifted her shirt, exposing her bra. "I knew you wanted me. Come on, I bet we can melt the snow with all this heat we're putting off."
I crouched over her and smiled. Her eyes reflected amusement. Did she really think I was that fucking stupid? A man controlled solely by his sexual urges? She thought she had me, that I'd forget all she'd done just to wet my cock. I didn't forget anything.
I smiled and reached for her head, petting her hair. She relaxed, and then my hand went down, circling her throat, and squeezed. Annie's eyes shifted to panic in an instant when Ibrought my other hand down, cutting off her airway completely. She tried to roll and swat me as her face turned red and then purple, but I held firm, watching the life slowly leave her eyes until she fell limp.
