Chapter 43
CALISTA
The package is secure by the time I arrive.
But it’s not the package I’m worried about.
“Where’s Christopher?”
A glance around the abandoned schoolyard shows Marlin and a body bag causally slung over one shoulder.
He ignores the question and throws our newfound patient into the backseat of his car. It’s the smile on his face that has my knife flicking into my palm, the serrated blade flipping between my fingers until it’s pressed tight against his throat.
“Do not make me ask again, old friend.” Digging the blade in, I feel my lips peel back into a snarl, “You have already undermined me once this evening.”
Violet eyes flick over my face, lazily tracing the vicious point of my canines without an ounce of concern.
“He was the complication.”
“Spit it out, Marlin.”
“The path he did not choose. Back at the Seaborn Mansion, when he was racing to find a way to save Finley.”
He pauses, reaching up to wipe the blood that’s seeping from the edge of my blade.
“I retraced his steps and found the bridge was pinched between two sewer pipes that were not easily seen from our angle. A narrow margin, but for a man of my height, I was able to see the aquarium in its entirety with every step.”
“What are you saying.”
“I’m saying that if you took a few inches off and had a man with a more average stature, the trek to the ladder would have been uncomfortable. Doable, and well within reason, but tight.”
I stare at the malicious glint in his eyes that I’ve grown to know so well.
“He’s claustrophobic.”
“To an extreme degree, it would seem. I took the liberty of digging into old police reports and found one worth noting.”
His chin lifts and I reluctantly lower my knife.
“Roger Dearly, an exceedingly successful CFO worked for the company that was shooting a commercial featuring the up-and-coming supermodel Cruella Deville. He was one of Christopher’s many stepfathers and had a collection of hunting dogs.”
I nod slowly, “He would count down the days until hunting season began.”
“A fact I cannot confirm, however, given the abundance of animals in such an expensive neighbourhood, you can imagine there were plenty of noise reports filed over the years. Noise reports I merely skimmed the first time around, not taking into account the timeline between Christopher’s new home and his decision to live on the street. ”
A sour taste hits the back of my throat, “His stepfather beat him.”
“Not exactly.” Marlin glances down, fiddling with the cuff links decorating his sleeve, “The animals were known to howl at night, painful cries that triggered numerous police visits and plenty of animal abuse charges.”
A man who deserves to die.
“Each report listed the same basic information, the same signs of abuse that were quite repetitive – tight living quarters for the animals and minimal food unless it was time for them to hunt. In which case food would be served in abundance to encourage the proper conditioning.”
“During one of the house calls the police reported a surplus of flesh and blood in one of the cages.”
He pauses, letting the words drift into the night sky before adding the finishing touch to a horrifying picture.
“Except it wasn’t animal DNA they found in the cage.”
It has been said that it takes a particularly traumatic event for the beast to emerge in a man.
Lucky for me, there’s never been a need for the transition.
“Where is he.”
The promise of blood drips with each word, a promise I fully intend on seeing through.
“If he cannot make it out of that supply closet, he won’t make it to the vault.” Violet eyes blaze into mine, bright and alive with an emotion that does not often see the light of day, “Our plan will fail, Calista. You need to let him save himself.”
Just as you have done all these years.
The unspoken words ring between us, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.
“Tell me where he is, Marlin. Or it will be Melody who pays the price.”
It’s his Achilles heel and I drive my knife in as far as it will go. Twisting and tearing at Marlin Seaborn’s soft spot until he bleeds out in front of me.
“I will leave her body for you to find.” Dragging a sharp fingernail up his shoulder, I lean forward and breathe into his ear, “Slaughtered in every way a woman can be slaughtered. Torn apart until her pretty flesh is a distant memory and the ligaments you find in your bed will be the only evidence of what she once was.”
The flicker of understanding disappears just as quickly as it arrives.
“I did not realize they were on the same level.” A slow smile spreads across his face, a smile that fails to mask the tick of rage, “You have fallen for your own worst enemy.”
“And you have jeopardized the mission.”
“Christopher jeopardized the mission. And if you go in there now, leaving a slew of bodies in your wake, it will be you who ruins it.”
I take another step closer, pressing my chest flush with his. Marlin has to tilt his head down to look at me, but it is I who has the upper hand when I slice an irreparable line up the smooth crease of his dress shirt.
“You should have thought about that before you locked him in a cage.”
Pieces of Wolf Hollow’s finest silk falls silently to the ground, Marlin’s precious suit no match for a monster’s fury. It is a deposit of my own goodwill, the ruination of the second thing he values most in the world before I destroy the first.
“Andreas Morgue. Second closet on the right.” His lips pinch together, displeasure oozing through the flawless lines of his face, “To think you’ve never had a problem with my methods before.”
“Just as you’ve never disobeyed me before.” Poison splatters across my tongue as I offer him a smile of my own, “Run along now, Marlin. Before I change my mind and decide your little plaything needs some girl bonding time after all.”
A beat passes before he turns and walks away. I watch my old acquaintance climb into his car and start the engine, the hard set of his jaw a complementary accessory for the tear in his suit.
The moment his taillights are out of sight, I kick off my heels and start running. Charging with vicious intent towards the entrance to the underworld, the morgue that has my devil trapped within its claws.
Screams resonate through the night as I make my presence known. Silhouettes fall and shadows crumble as guards upon guards underestimate the Dragon’s daughter.
The fools who thought they could defeat me.