Marian
There was no hesitation as I surged towards Drayton’s phone. I didn’t trust Elec, but he was my only hope. He said he could prove I was innocent. There was no price too high to finally put this to rest.
“I’m going, and I hope you find the truth. Drayton has to know. Everyone must know.”
“And they will if what you say happened.”
“It did. How long do you think it’ll take? We can meet you when I finish. We can help watch the tapes. I’ll do anything. You have to set the record straight.”
“And he will,” Drayton cut in. “But it’ll mean nothing unless you get back out there and finish your job.”
Drayton’s lids were narrowed in an emotion I couldn’t read. It wasn’t anger, but it wasn’t caution either.
“I’m going out there now. Then, we’re going to put an end to the past once and for all.
You’re going to see I was telling the truth.
” I paused, looking at the phone. “And I am brave. I’ll show you.
Elec, if you can find proof and put an end to this within the circle—you said there was a cost. I’ll pay it. Whatever it is.”
I didn’t wait. I headed for the door, leaving Drayton to speak to Elec as I jogged down the long hall.
I felt renewed hope. Not just because Elec could find proof, but because of how he’d changed Drayton’s emotional state with the use of his full name and tone.
I hadn’t missed that, and now I had the hook.
I had the trigger word that would give me sway.
It wasn’t a magic wand, but it did have power.
“M-ar-ia-n.”
My footsteps turned faster as I headed for the weapons I’d placed on the cart. I picked up the knife and saw, turning right for Bastian. He could barely keep his head up and his eyes were slits as they tried to open. He was so pale. So ghostly. I wasn’t even sure how he was still alive.
I positioned the chair, stepping onto it as I buried my fingers in his dark hair and held his head up. My face moved in, and my lips hovered over his.
“It’s over, Bastian. Those girls will rest easy knowing you died in some accident, and so will I. You would have eventually hurt me and our children, and I would have killed you regardless. It’s better this way.”
“Pl—"
I leveled the blade at his throat, refusing to think over what I was doing.
I pushed my weight forward, slicing through his neck.
A gasp sounded, followed by a hollowed gurgling.
My heart was racing. I eased Bastian’s forehead to rest on mine as I closed my lids and focused on the blood splashing against the ground.
Everything spun around me. Rights. Wrongs.
Truths. Lies. Elec. Drayton. Lies. Lies. Lies.
The steady stream turned into a drip-drip until finally… nothing. Time passed. My fist flexed as I soaked in the texture of Bastian’s hair between my fingers.
“How touching. Am I interrupting your heartbroken goodbye?”
My head lifted, and I turned towards Drayton. The jealousy he had as he slowly prowled forward had my entire body softening. I licked my lips, lowering my hands to my sides.
“I was telling him how the world was going to be a better place without him in it.” Drayton continued to step closer as I kept talking.
“He called you a coward, but that isn’t true.
Bastian wasn’t raised with honor and loyalty like you.
I don’t think he would have known devotion or love if it was in front of him.
He wouldn’t have died for it. He wasn’t a Pennington. ”
Drayton stopped before me, not speaking as he took the bloody knife and saw from my hold.
He let them fall to the ground, pushing his hands under the hoodie to settle on my hips.
For a moment, I wasn’t sure what to think.
The grip was tight, locking on as he placed me on the ground, pulling my body into his.
“Elec’s headed to look through the tapes now.” His brows drew in. “You swear your mother did that to you?”
“On my life. Drayton, you’re all I’ve ever wanted. Why would I ruin that? And before you say anything, think. Did I not beg you to elope? Did I not plead to you not to ask my parents to marry?”
Silence.
His hand eased up to my waist, higher, coming to make a path up my ribs. The cold air bit into my skin and my breaths turned heavier as his thumb brushed my breast, moving to tease over my nipple. “Dray.”
“Hmm?” His eyes were closed as he lowered his face into my neck.
Had Elec told him something after I left?
He was different, wasn’t he? Or was a bomb about to go off?
Was he testing me? Trying to distract me so that I’d lose my focus?
I couldn’t look weak. Not with Elec so involved in what was happening. And he was definitely involved.
“I should finish. I—”
Suction latched to the side of my neck, and one of his hands gripped my breast as the other wrapped around, holding me close.
“I need. I should…” His lips traveled up, finding my mouth. The sensations as he rolled the sensitive nub between his fingers had me reaching out and wrapping my arms around his neck. “Drayton—”
More, he kissed me, deepening it until I lost myself. Our tongues massaged into each other’s, and I was gripping so tightly around him that I was sure there wasn’t a speck of distance between us. It had me breaking free. “Dray—” Again, he tried to kiss me. “Drayton Pennington.”
His body stiffened, and he growled, pulling me to straddle his waist. But he didn’t move. He looked just as confused as me. But also angry. It was still there under the surface. Elec. Yes… There was no questioning it now. Elec had him locked in good. Too good.
I softened my voice, brushing my lips to his.
“I owe you his brain and heart. Let me give this to you. Let me pay my debt. Then…” I moved in, pressing my lips into his harder.
“We marry. Marry me like you should have a long time ago. Elec will find the proof. It’s there, Dray.
My mother hurt us all, and I’m sorry for that.
I’m so sorry. I’m going to make it up to you and be the wife you always wanted.
But better. I’ll make you proud. I will. ”
I moved back, seeing that his green eyes were softer, rounder.
They stared into my very soul making time stop.
He kept doing this. Searching my eyes. Looking into my gaze.
My hand was cupping his face, and I wasn’t even sure when I’d moved in to hold him there.
Drayton lowered me and let go so fast, it was as if I’d burned him.
He stepped back and turned to walk away.
He continuously looked back as he headed for the door.
He was running and confused, but in ways, so was I by putting a stop to this.
We weren’t ready for this level of love.
It was so vast that it was going to drown us both.
We were strangers to fate now, but the depths remembered us.
We had planned a home their once, and it was almost time to return.
When we did, it wouldn’t be in the light.
Our future was deep and dark. It was deadlier for those who thought to try to come between us. And they would try, but I was ready.
Reaching down, I grabbed the knife and saw, shaking the dirt free.
When I got back on the chair, there was no anxiety.
No dread. All I found inside me was impatience.
I lifted the knife, using the tip to push into Bastian’s forehead.
With his hair, I feared the saw would just tangle in the thick curls.
I couldn’t risk that. I sliced my way across his face, moving into the hairline as the sharpness carved through the layers of skin.
The bone beneath was never missing from my senses.
I could feel the metal scrape against it.
The vibrations were one now with my hands, and I let it take me over as I angled his head in the directions I needed.
I was so focused that I barely heard the door.
Drayton was back. I didn’t have to see to know that. I felt him.
As I dragged the tip of the knife around, I knew this would go fast. The skull wasn’t horribly thick. It wouldn’t be any harder than the bones I’d already cut. It was more the angles that I was going to have to focus on. But how would I see? How would I know?
Unless…
“Jesus.”
My breath caught, and I couldn’t let what I was doing process.
I finished the cut, using his skull to guide the knife up under the thick surface of his scalp.
I drug it up and around, separating the two as I tried to stop my body from swaying.
My world was unbalanced as I used my fingers to help the blade tear free Bastian’s skin from his skull.
As I worked around, dirt crunched. I couldn’t look back.
I couldn’t stop. I cut faster. I pulled harder against the curls.
The moment the top of his scalp came free from the skull, I nearly passed out.
I managed to hold it off as I forced my fisted hand open to drop the mound of flesh and hair to the ground.
I couldn’t look.
I couldn’t… but I didn’t have a choice.
I brought up the saw with shaky hands, leveling it around the back of the bloody skull.
Impatience had me wanting to go fast. I didn’t.
I got into the motion, pulling my hands back and forth as I let the twisted wires grind and cut through the bone.
My body angled as I worked it around, and I could feel the difference in texture when I finally broke through.
“Perfect. Such a fast learner.”
Hands were back around my waist. I didn’t stop as Drayton’s arms wrapped around me from behind. His face was buried in my hair, and his hand was pushing back up under the hoodie. He couldn’t stay away. He couldn’t stop touching me.
“Almost finished,” I whispered, bringing the wire more towards the front.