Chapter 19
Xavier
Twenty minutes ago
The man I lured into the rose maze looks up at me with shock in his eyes as I raise my knife in the moonlight.
“What the fuck? You’re that killer we’re looking for,” he growls.
He pulls out a gun and aims, but before he can shoot, I’ve already rammed the knife into his gut. Blood splutters out of his mouth and onto my shoulder as I pull the knife out of his abdomen and glance at the badge on his chest.
Officer Bob Eizenheimer.
Kissed by the fucking sun.
His filthy skin does not deserve to have touched her perfect lips.
“You fucking asshole,” I growl, stealing his gun. “You thought a kiss from her would come without a price?”
I kick him in the balls and shove him into the prickly rose bushes, staining his shirt when he coughs up blood.
“I don’t know what you mean,” he mutters.
“Of course, you do!” I grip his hair and make him look at me. “You don’t deserve to be scorched by her fucking flames.”
I thrust the knife into his side and watch him squint and yelp in pain.
“Please …” he begs, panic filling his eyes. “It wasn’t my choice. That woman came to me.”
“Why?” I bark through gritted teeth.
“Phone number…”
She asked for his phone number?
No, she would never do that. A killer like her can’t be interested in a fucker like him.
“She came onto me and asked for a date,” he groans.
“Don’t lie to me!” I yell, and I grab him by the throat.
He holds his hands up. “No lies, I swear.”
Fuck that. I will fucking end him.
“You came here to search for her.”
His eyes widen. “What?”
“She is not yours to take.”
I spin him around and push my bloodied knife underneath his chin.
“That kiss was the last you’ll ever feel,” I whisper into his ear. “Enjoy the afterlife.”
I slice his throat right there and then, and blood squirts out onto the roses like paint.
After his body goes limp, I let go and watch the onslaught of my undying rage with bated breath.
Still, I can’t quench the thirst for more blood.
“What the hell, Xavier?”
I throw a glance over my shoulder to wherever the sound came from. The passageway leading to the Tartarus House, where a party is still ongoing.
Orion Navarro stares at me from the corner of the bushes, clutching his long robe like it’s going to protect him from my wrath.
“What are you doing here?” I growl.
“I could ask you the same thing!” he hisses back.
“Are you fucking spying on me?”
“Shhh!” He puts a finger against his lips. “Keep your voice down. Someone might hear.”
“You shouldn’t have come here,” I say.
“I saw you sneaking around. I knew you were up to no good.” He glances at the body beneath my feet and rubs his lips. “What the hell have you done?”
“What I had to do.”
He approaches me, still clutching his robe like he’s afraid it’s going to fall open and expose him. “He’s an officer of the law.”
“So?”
“So? The entire station will come looking for him. You cannot just go around murdering anyone you wish.”
He looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have. But this fucker is never getting near her again.
We both look at the body, but adrenaline floods my brain, and I can’t fucking focus.
“What are you going to do?” he asks.
“I don’t know,” I say. “I didn’t think about what happens after.”
“You didn’t think? You didn’t think? Gee, you don’t say.”
I slam my hand in front of his mouth. “You tell me to shush. You keep your fucking voice down too.”
He grabs my wrist and lowers my hand but doesn’t release me. “You just killed someone, and you didn’t think about the consequences. You have a body on your hands you need to get rid of.”
“If you wanna lecture me, leave,” I spit.
“Let me help you.”
I frown. “Why? Why would you help me?”
“Because … if I let you—Sunny’s shiny new toy—go to jail, how happy would that make her?”
My eyes narrow. “That’s your reasoning?”
He nods a few times. “And we should be friends.”
My face droops. “Seriously?”
He throws me an awkward look. “Well, we’re both engaged with that killer lady. It would make perfect sense.”
“It makes zero sense.” I close the gap between us. “There is only one of her and two of us. That makes us rivals. Not friends.”
“We can share.” He tilts his head. “I’m not opposed to sharing her.”
“She won’t allow it,” I reply. “Besides, you and I have nothing in common.”
After a stare down, I turn around and grab Bob’s arms, attempting to lift him, but he’s too goddamn heavy to carry all by myself.
“Our undying love for a serial killer is one thing,” Orion muses as he suddenly bends over to grab the guy’s legs.
I pause. “What are you doing?”
“Like I said … helping you.” He lifts the body like it’s no big deal and smiles.
I don’t fucking understand why he’d do this for me. He owes me nothing.
“Go on. Grab his arms,” he says.
I clear my throat and pick up the man’s wrists, and he helps me move the body back toward the entrance to the Tartarus House.
“Where do you want to take him?” he asks.
“My trunk,” I answer.
He nods, and we carry the body to my car in silence, which is parked right beside the building.
There are only a few parking spaces available that are under the cover of several trees and bushes, making it the ideal hideout, and I’m fucking lucky I was able to park there today.
Normally, those are the hardest spots to obtain, but I guess everybody was too busy getting ready for the party currently happening in the house.
When we’re there, I swiftly open the car’s trunk and hoist the body inside, then lock him in. I look over my shoulder at the trail of blood, and I open my car door and pull out a bottle of water, then throw the water all over the bloodied ground.
“What are you doing?” Orion asks.
“Can’t leave tracks,” I say.
I grab a broom standing next to the house to sweep away some leaves and dust over the remaining sludge to make it less visible.
“It’s not much, but it’ll have to do.”
“What are we going to do with the body?” he asks as we both head back to my car.
“What do you mean we?” I look him up and down. “You’re wearing a bathrobe.”
He scowls at me. “And? I’ll have you know, this isn’t just any robe, it’s a Ralph Lauren.”
“It’s a robe,” I retort. “End of story.”
I hop into my car and close the door, but within seconds, he’s opened the passenger’s side and hopped in too.
“What are you doing?”
“How many times are you going to ask me that question, Xavier? The answer doesn’t change.” He throws me a smug-ass smile. “Aren’t you going to drive?”
“I have a body to get rid of.”
“Yes, but you’re not going to be able to lift it out of the trunk by yourself,” he says, chuckling as he grabs my arm and squeezes my biceps. “You need more than just these.”
“Wow…” I jerk free of his grip.
“Oh, it wasn’t an insult, I think you’re quite strong. You just don’t tend to use your brain and muscles simultaneously.”
I narrow my eyes. “Thanks.”
He shakes his head. “That came out wrong.”
“You think?”
“The point is, I can’t leave you with that body still fresh in your car.”
Rolling my eyes, I start the car, but then he suddenly opens the door again. “Wait.”
He runs toward the Tartarus House in his bathrobe, looking ridiculous as fuck, and returns within mere seconds, out of breath … and with a damn saw in his hand.
“What the—”
He grins. “So we can cut up the limbs.”
I grimace. “Are you out of your mind?”
“You’re the one who killed a cop.”
He sways that damn thing around like it’s a weapon, so I snatch it out of his hands and chuck it in the back seat. “Are you trying to kill me too?”
“I don’t know. Depends if you keep doing dumb things that could get us into big trouble.”
“You inserted yourself into my business,” I grit.
“I made it my business because her happiness is my business,” he retorts.
“Why do you care so much what she thinks?”
“Because I’m infatuated. Duh.”
He rolls his eyes like it’s not a big deal, but my blood pressure is already through the roof.
“I just killed a guy because she kissed him. Do you think it’s a smart idea to admit that to me?” I crack my knuckles.
If I didn’t already have one body lying in the back of my trunk, I’d strangle him with my bare hands for even insinuating he likes her.
He leans his temple against his fist. “Yes. Maybe you’ll kill me too, and then it’s a win-win for me.” The smile that follows creeps me the fuck out. “So are you going to kill me or not? There’s a saw in the back. I’m waiting.”
This guy is absolutely out of his mind. “No.” I start the car. “I’m not gonna give you more pleasure.”
“Pity … I was looking forward to getting pleasured by you.”
What the—
He grabs my gear handle right when I do too, and when our hands touch, I immediately retract my hand while a blush spreads on my cheeks.
“Watch it.”
“Just helping out,” he muses, shrugging. “After you.”
“I know how to drive,” I say, grinding my teeth.
This fucker is pissing me off, but I don’t fucking understand why. Besides the fact that he’s always getting in my way.
He smiles. “Of course. I’m just here for the ride. Don’t mind me.”
I look him up and down, as his bathrobe seems awfully loose. “Are you even wearing anything under that?”
“Wanna see?” He peels away the left part, leaving nothing to the imagination as his pristine abs, along with his thin sweatpants underneath, are revealed, and I immediately look away.
“You can look if you want. I don’t mind.”
“I’m fine, thanks,” I retort as I try to focus on the road while we head toward the overgrown Spine Ridge U gates.
“You sure? You seem flustered.”
“I’m not,” I say, trying not to look while also glancing at him to let him know I don’t give a shit. “Dress how you want. I don’t care.”
“But you do. Clearly.”
While we drive through the gates, I throw a haphazard smile at one of the officers stationed outside and swiftly drive off. “It’s cold out there.”
“Aw … you care if I’m cold now? How sweet,” he muses.
“I don’t. You’re not dressed for what we’re about to do.”
“Then how do you want me to dress?”
As we drive down the mountain, I take another glance. “It would help if you didn’t go out to bury a body in a pair of sweatpants and a robe.”
“Fine. I’ll take it off.”