Page 114 of The Monster and the Masochist

“Care to share with us what you were doing before you founded ‘The Restoration House?’” I said it in a tone that implied I already knew, hoping to bait him into outing himself.

It almost worked. I could see the surprise on his face, but he quickly got it under control. Turning away from me again, he addressed Nolan instead.

“I want these allegations dealt with. They’re foul lies conjured up by bored little girls who have strayed from the path of God.”

“Mrs. Walker asked you a question,” Nolan deadpanned, leaning back in his chair, casually adjusting the cuffs of his sleeves.

The reverend glared at him, and I watched the wheels turn in what I was sure was a very tiny brain as he tried to worm his way out of dealing with me.

His beady little eyes darted back to me, and I gave him a bright smile.

“I spent several years before founding The Restoration House on a mission to find my purpose. I met God there.”

“A mission,” I repeated skeptically. “There is a twenty-year gap in your file, Reverend. You don’t expect Mr. Cross and me to believe that you went on an off-grid mission trip for twenty years.”

“You cannot rush the Lord’s work. His plan is his own.”

Jesus Christ, this guy was the worst.

Nolan leaned forward, crossing his arms on the table and pinning the reverend with a stern look.

“Hiding things from us will only hurt your case, Reverend. We can’t defend you against things we don’t know about. If there’s something in your past that might come up later in court, it could seriously jeopardize the success of your case.”

The reverend narrowed his eyes on Nolan, his lips forming a firm, stubborn line.

“How about you focus on the things you can defend against, considering that is what I’m paying you for? And what I need you to focus on is these incessant lies from little attention whores.”

‘Can we kill this one soon?’ my demon rumbled, and from the way Nolan’s fists were clenching on the desk in front of him, my monster wasn’t the only one that wanted to kill this man.

‘Maybe,’ I replied softly, and my demon’s ears pricked up in excitement.

‘I am looking forward to listening to him beg his god to save him while I feast on his bones.”

I almost laughed out loud, but managed to fix my face at the last second.

‘And you called him medieval.’ I chuckled softly in my head, and my demon grinned.

‘We would have done well in the Dark Ages. Torture was in fashion.’

Shaking my head to myself, I glanced at Nolan, giving him a knowing look before turning back to the reverend.

“Very well, Mr. Sterling. Allow Mr. Cross and me some time to investigate these new allegations, and we’ll come back to you with a defense strategy,” I conceded, and the reverend just nodded before standing up abruptly to leave.

Neither Nolan nor I stood to shake his hand, which seemed to suit him just fine.

As we watched him go, Nolan let out an angry huff next to me.

“I hate that guy,” he said, and I glanced at him, surprised to find that he hadn’t pissed me off once during the entire meeting.

“Me too,” I agreed, moving to stand up.

I was on my way out when he called my name, and I glanced back to find him staring at me with a cautious look on his face.

“Cassandra?”

“Yeah? What?”

“I saw your post on Instagram. With your… wife.”