Chapter Thirty Five
Isat bolt upright, as the sound of my phone cut through the quiet darkness of the hotel room. We’d checked in a few hours ago, to shower, shave and catch a couple of hours sleep while my contact checked some details about that van and the name Susanne had given us, and got us an address. Nate had managed an hour of sleep before the nightmares had arrived, leaving him sweating and in need of another shower, but I’d forced myself to sleep, knowing I’d need every faculty I could in the next few hours.
I reached for the phone, and just as I answered, Nate came through the door, wearing his combats, but shirtless. He’d clearly heard the phone.
“Blake. Good, good. Great. Money will be in your account within the hour, detective. I appreciate the help.” I hung up and swung my legs out of bed.
“Well?” Nate demanded.
“David Warner, Hyacinth Cottage, Waldrow Gardens. Just outside of Blackvellyn, five minutes walk from the university campus. Works as an art assistant. Didn’t show up to work today.”
“Nice to finally know the name that will be going on the gravestone,” said Nate. I reached over for my shirt and pulled it on.
“If he’s hurt our girl in any way, when I’m done with him, there won’t be enough of him left to bury,” I said darkly.
“Amen,” growled Nate. I glanced over at him, wondering about his state of mind and whether he could keep it together with Paige in danger. The shadows cast by the dim lights danced over his muscular, tattooed body, the skulls grinning back at me, and my eyes settled on the Reaper tattoo on his forearm.
“He had a Reaper mask, Nate. How many times did he get into the club to watch her? How did we not figure it out?”
“We”ll ask him,” Nate said, giving me a cold smile, and I nodded.
We finished dressing quickly, and made our way downstairs and out to my car. I sped out of the centre of town, heading towards the university as Nate entered the address on the GPS. We were nearly at the campus, not far from Paige’s old dorm room, when we turned off, following smaller roads into Blackvellyn Forest. The closer we came to our destination, the tighter my grip grew on the steering wheel and Nate”s fists clenched in his lap.
The GPS announced our arrival, but there was nothing to be seen, and I cursed, following the road further down. The road became a track, but another mile along and Nate pointed ahead.
“Van,” he said.
I nodded, and pulled up next to it. About twenty feet away stood what the address had kindly called a cottage, but was basically a small 1960’s house with brown pebbledash. A large garden surrounded it, looking like it had once been well tended, but now was completely overgrown. No one was tending it now, although in one far corner, there was a long patch over recently turned earth.
We got out of the car, closing the doors quietly. I left the key in the centre in case we needed to get away fast. The place was quiet, birds singing. At any other time it would have felt peaceful. Right now it felt fucking ominous.
The screaming shattered the eerie serenity.
We were at the front door faster than my thoughts could process the fact that it was Paige we had heard scream. I grabbed the handle and twisted it, but it was locked.
“Move,” snarled Nate, and I stepped aside as he ran at the door, hitting it hard with his shoulder. It didn’t stand a chance against his brute strength and collapsed under him. We shoved through the doorway into the hallway.
“Don’t fucking move, or she’s dead.”
I froze, my stomach sickened by the sight in front of me. Paige was on her hands and knees facing the door. She was naked, and her body was covered in blood, both dried and fresh. Droplets of blood peppered the floor beneath her, and her body was covered in vicious cuts and slashes. Behind her, kneeled David. He held a knife to her throat with one hand, and with the other, he gripped her hip, pulling her back onto his cock as he fucked her.
I fucking knew this guy. I’d seen him talking to Paige that time in town. He’d been fucking dancing with her when I’d taken her from the ball. I’d wanted to kill him then, for just fucking looking at her, and now I really fucking wished I had.
“Bastard,” hissed Nate beside me, taking a step forward. I grabbed his arm quickly, and David’s eyes narrowed. He released her hip, grabbing her hair and yanking her up against his body, pressing the knife harder against her throat. Blood welled and ran down her skin.
“We’re not quite finished yet,” sneered David, letting her hair go. Wrapping his arm around her waist so he could drive into her harder, a vile grin on his face as he continued to violate her. His eyes were wild, glinting with an almost psychotic satisfaction at seeing us stand there helpless. But beneath that satisfaction, I could see fear. He knew he was cornered.
Rage built inside me, only the danger to Paige’s life keeping me from charging at him and tearing his fucking head off. Paige’s eyes flicked up to Nate’s and then mine, locking on to my gaze. They wrenched at my heart, as her pain, fear and despair hit me hard. I’d sworn to protect her, to find her stalker, and now I stood here completely helpless as he violated her.
“It”s okay, princess,” I said softly, my voice shaking. “We”re here now.”
David laughed, a high unhinged sound. “She doesn”t need you anymore,” he said, his voice shaking with effort as he thrust harder into Paige. “She”s mine.”
“Paige, eyes on me, baby.”
She looked up at Nate, her eyes glassy as he gazed at her with such pain and anger on his face that I don’t know how she stood his intensity.
“Keep your eyes on me. I let my darkness break me,” he said softly. “I walked alone in that darkness for so many years. You put me back together. We won’t let him break you, baby. We would never let you walk alone in the dark.”
Tears fell from her eyes and she nodded slightly. She closed her eyes, and took a shaky breath.
“Don’t listen to them, Paige,” the bastard said. “I told you. You’re mine. All mine and I won’t fucking share. It’s my cock that’s fucking you this deep.”
Paige opened her eyes and looked at Nate and then at me. The despair was gone, and there was a flicker of defiance now, that had me tensing up.
“You”re right,” Paige responded, her voice barely above a whisper, but somehow still clear in the charged silence. “They couldn’t protect me from you, and now they’re here and they can’t even save me.”
The words clawed at my heart, as her eyes met mine again, ice-cold and with a steely determination that sent chills down my spine.
“I’m glad they’re here,” she continued. “I want them to see a real man fuck me. Because they couldn”t do it. They were all talk, but you...you take what you want.”
David’s eyes lit up, his grip on the knife loosening ever so slightly. The sick grin returned on his face.
“That’s right, I do,” he panted, his thrusts growing harder, rougher. “Who do you belong to, Paige? Tell them.”
“You,” she said, her hand running over his arms. “I belong to you.”
“That’s right,” he said. “Mine.”
“Fuck me harder, David,” she moaned.
His breath hitched at her words, his ego inflating as he pounded into her harder.
“That”s right...harder,” she gasped out, her nails digging into his arm. “Show them what a real man can do.”
With every word Paige uttered, every derisive syllable, David grew more frenzied, driving into her with renewed vigour. He had lost all control now at her provocation. Paige continued to stroke him gently, almost lovingly, tracing a tantalising path down his arm until she reached the hand that held the knife to her throat.
“Harder, David,” she taunted him, arching her back as painful sobs shook her body. She flinched under his touch, her skin raw and bloody under his fingers. But she didn’t stop, whispering encouragement and driving him on.
David”s eyes glinted with a wild mix of desire and triumph, his grip on the knife slackening even more as he lost himself in the pleasure she was baiting him towards. He roared, slamming himself inside her as he came.
Paige cried out, but her fingers wrapped around the hilt of the knife, yanking it from his slackened grip as his concentration slipped. She twisted around to face him and David blinked in surprise, his eyes going wide when he saw the knife in her hand.
“No,” he gasped, his hand reaching out to stop her. But it was too late. With a cry of pure fury and pain, she swung the knife up and across his throat. A look of startled shock passed over David”s face before it contorted into a grimace of pain. A hideous gurgling noise escaped David”s lips as blood gushed from his throat, spurting over Paige’s naked body, and he pushed her away from him, one hand trying to stop the bleeding as he tried to crawl away.
She got to her feet, and followed him, grabbing him by the hair and wrenching his head back. She gazed down at him, her eyes blazing with cold fury as she looked down at David choking on his own blood. “You”re just a pathetic little boy,” she spat out, every word laced with venom but never wavering. “Worthless and pathetic.”
Sheer pain flashed across her and she screamed, a hideous, twisted sound that chilled me to the bone. She dropped the knife down into his back and he made a wet, sloshing sound as he tried to cry out. She pushed him over onto his back, and stabbed him again and again, screaming the whole time. Her eyes were wide and wild, her blonde hair clinging to her face, streaked with his blood. She was a vision of raw, primal power, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
“You think this is what it means to be a man? That inflicting pain on others makes you powerful? You”re nothing!” she spat, her voice filled with rage as the blade plunged again into David”s chest. “Nothing!”
I made a move to stop her, but Nate held me back, his eyes never leaving Paige.
“She needs this,” he whispered, his voice laced with fury and sorrow. “Trust me, she needs this.”
My feeling of being powerless hadn’t abated with Paige’s incredible actions, and it hurt to watch her plunging her knife into his body over and over again. I wasn’t sure when he’d actually died, but I could see now that he was gone. Finally, her screams quieted as the rage simmered down and exhaustion took over. She knelt over him for a moment longer, her chest heaving as she realized the monster was finally dead.
Nate released my arm. “Now,” he murmured, and in a heartbeat I was at her side. I reached for the knife still gripped in her hand and pried it away.
“He’s dead, Paige,” I said softly. “He can’t hurt you anymore.”
She blinked at me, my words not quite registering. She looked back down at David”s lifeless body, then back up at me again, the magnitude of what had just happened slowly starting to sink in.
“I... I killed him,” she said slowly, as though tasting each word on her tongue.
I nodded, squeezing her hand tightly. “Yes,” I replied simply.
“He killed my mother,” she whispered. “He… hurt me. And Tristan… he killed Tristan. Bast!” She cried out in pain, and I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close to me, her frail body shaking violently against mine. Nate knelt down behind her, wrapping his arms around the both of us.
“Shh, baby, shh. It’s ok,” he crooned in her ear. “Tristan’s alive. He’s ok.”
She opened her eyes, looking up at me.
“Alive...?” she whispered, and I nodded.
“But he...David...”
She didn”t need to finish the sentence. We knew what David had done to Tristan. The panic was clear in her eyes, and it killed me to see her in such a state. But at least now, the threat is gone.
“Look at me, Paige,” I said softly, tilting her chin up so she was looking into my eyes. “Tristan is alive. He’s in the hospital, and he’s awake, and he’s going to be fine.”
She blinked at me, tears streaming down her bloody cheeks. Her body was shaking violently now, the adrenaline leaving her system and shock setting in. Seeing her like this was breaking my heart into a million pieces. Her body collapsed against me, relief washing over her in visible waves. Her strength left her, and she sagged between us, relying on our arms to keep her up.
“We”ve got you,” I whispered into her hair, my arms tightening around her. Nate echoed my sentiment, his hands rubbing soothing circles on her arms, his breath a warm hush against the top of her head.
I glanced at Nate, our eyes locking in silent understanding. It was time to go.
“Paige,” I murmured, dipping my head to catch her gaze. Her eyes were glazing over, shock and exhaustion pulling at her consciousness. “We need to leave now.”
She nodded weakly. I released her into Nate’s arms, reaching down to grab the knife from the floor. I cleaned it off on David’s T-shirt. There would be evidence of Paige in the cottage, but my contact could deal with that. I just thought it might be easier for him without her prints on the murder weapon. I shrugged off my jacket, draping it over Paige as Nate carried her towards the door. Her eyes were closed and she snuggled against him. I smiled at the thought that one of the most feared enforcers in the country brought her comfort.
“Burn it,” suggested Nate.
Paige opened her eyes. “You can’t,” she pleaded.
“Nate’s right. It will destroy any evidence of you being here, or the police will want to know what happened.”
She shook her head. “But then they’ll never know about the others.”
“The others?”
She looked up at me. “The other girls. I wasn’t the only one, Bast. There’s been so many others. And Amy… her jacket’s hanging on the door upstairs. Bast, he’ll get away with it.”
I thought back to the bare patch of earth we’d passed on the way in and I closed my eyes. This was going to cost a fucking fortune.
“Bast?” Nate looked at me over her head, and I thought about the abuse he’d suffered in silence for so many years, and about the man who’d hurt him. The man who was next on our list after all of this was over.
I looked down at Paige.
“Please,” she whispered.
I sighed. “Anything for you, princess.”
For a moment, there was nearly a smile on her lips, and that was enough for me. I followed Nate out the door, heading back to my car. He set her in the back seat, then climbed in next to her, pulling her small body onto his lap, and holding her close. She cuddled into him. I shut the door, and pulled out my phone, taking a deep breath.
“Detective Channing, that tip you gave me this morning really paid off. How would you like one in return? Oh yes, it’s a good one. How about the identity of a serial killer and the location of the bodies of his victims? Good. I have a few stipulations before I tell you where he is. Congratulations, Detective. You’re about to become an extremely wealthy man.”