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She shook her head. “No. You can’t. I won’t let you do this for me.”
The fire in my chest surged. I gripped her hand harder. “You just fucking did it for me. Now it’s my turn. That’s how friendship works. Give me the knife, Bales. We’re in this together.”
Her hand trembled as I pried the blade from it. Raine squeezed her shoulders and drew her back to his chest. “Let her go, little fox.”
Chad hyperventilated as I stalked toward him. He grunted and screamed into the T-shirt they’d gagged him with. The veins in his neck bulged as he struggled to break free. But Saint and Poe held his body firm against the wall.
My fingers twitched around the hilt of the knife as I brought it to his chest. “This is for me and Bailey. And for all the girls who you forced to suck your tiny little cock.”
“Maureen,” Bailey cried. “Let me. Please. You don’t have to do this.”
She was afraid for my soul. Afraid of what this might do to me. But I was more afraid of what it would say about me if I didn’t do this. It was too late for redemption. The scars had already formed around my heart.
“Yes, I do.” I sucked in a sharp breath and plunged the knife into the side of Chad’s neck. Blood poured out of his mouth and his eyes rolled back into his head. A deep guttural cry exploded out of me as I twisted it, thrusting it in deeper.
Poe clasped my trembling hands. “He’s dead. You can let go.”
The knife clattered against the marble floor as I released it. “Bales,” I breathed. “We finished it. They can’t hurt us anymore.”
Bailey sobbed and threw her arms around me. “You’re gonna have a good life, Maur. A better one than I had. I promise.”
I wanted to cry but the tears wouldn’t come. Looking down at the blood on my hands, I knew this would leave a permanent stain on my soul.
But I would do it again. For her.
Bailey
I used to think my family was cursed. A part of me still did. But the real curse was on this town and the ignorant people in it. They saw me as a witch, a devil, and a whore. They labeled my mother as such too. And once word gets out that Billy and Chad are missing, I’ll be the first one they suspect. For once, they’d be right. But without bodies… they have no proof.
Still wearing our soiled Halloween costumes, Maureen and I clasped hands as Raine dumped Billy and Chad’s bodies into the cremator. As the machine roared to life, I wondered what my parents would think. Were they looking down at me from somewhere, disappointed that I was using their mortuary to clean up my crimes?
Raine studied my face. He leaned against the cremator as the flames engulfed the bodies. “You’re a Bishop, little vixen. Don’t think for one second that this is the first time your mortuary has been used to hide bodies.”
Maureen squeezed my hand. “It had to be done.”
I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat. “I’m a monster.”
Raine snickered. “We’re all monsters, love. No worse than the two that are roasting in the oven right now.”
“Jesus,” Maureen breathed.
“Really, Raine? It’s a little soon for jokes,” I barked.
He shrugged and peered into the flames. “You shouldn’t care so much. They didn’t.”
“Caring is what makes us human,” I murmured.
“But that’s not what you are anymore, Bailey,” Raine breathed. “Thanks to that motherfucker in there.”
Maureen shivered as she let go of my hand. “He’s right, Bales. All we can do now is never think or talk about this night ever again.”
When I broke into Wickford Mansion last Halloween Eve, I didn’t really know what I was going to find. Ghosts, monsters, squatters maybe. But I felt something the minute I walked in. A presence. An energy pulling me up those stairs. My body wanted to keep going. My mind and my adrenaline willed me to keep going.
And when I reached the door, when Raine pushed me into it, I felt something strong and powerful pulsing in my veins. It was the darkness inside of me. But it was up to me now to not let it consume me. My best friend was safe. And I would get to spend eternity with Poe, Grim, Saint, and Raine. The loves of my life.
I sucked in a sharp breath. “You’re both right. We leave the past here tonight.” I turned toward Maureen. “Come on, let’s get you home.”
As the three of us walked out of Bishop Mortuary, another little piece of me died. My old life was truly over. It was time to finally start embracing this new one.
