Page 71 of A Wild Darkness

Damn. I try to play it off. “It’s a couple’s suite. What did you expect?”

“I don’t know, two bedrooms? Or at the very least two queen-size beds?” Her eyes scan the space, darting from one expensive fabric piece of furniture to another.

The bathroom is inside the bedroom, which means I’ll have to walk through her space to get to and from which removes even more privacy. “Looks like we’ll be sharing a bathroom, too.”

Stevie walks over to the heavy drapes and yanks them open to a view of a small balcony and rolling hills lined with ripe vines. From where I’m standing, it looks as though they are endless. “It’s going to be fine. Everything will be fine,” she mutters to herself.

“Don’t worry, I’m going to take one of the couches.”

She turns to me, her expression falling. “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have to do that.”

“I want to,” I say.

My gaze finds her lips. She notices and pulls her lower lip between her teeth. Then a dense silence settles around us as we both simultaneously glance at the massive bed only feet away.

“Now, where do you want your stuff?”

She whips her head around. “By the bed, please. I’m going to change before we head down to the barrel room.”

“You got it.” I set her luggage aside, then place mine behind the couch.

My thoughts ruminate on what will happen tonight. They’ve only given us breadcrumbs worth of information each time we’ve seen them, and I still can’t share the feeling about what they’re really doing here. What is even the real purpose of having a secret society of serial killers?

This whole thing feels like a party for a bunch of self-serving psychopaths, and I’d rather tie them to a table and shoot them in the head one at a time, but that’s not how this is going to play out—unfortunately. But despite testing my patience, the anticipation of the pleasure I’ll feel when I finally get to take out their leader Silas will be worth the wait.

Stevie walks toward me, her hands placed on her hips. “Have you come up with ideas about what will happen tonight? Or this entire weekend?”

“I still don’t know.” I bite my lip with uncertainty, still perplexed by why they exist. “There’s something that’s been bothering me.”

“And what’s that?”

“What’s the incentive?”

“Incentive?” Her forehead furrows. “What do you mean?”

“Like, what would make a serial killer join the Black Veil Society to begin with?” I walk a few feet away, thinking aloud.

Stevie mirrors my movements. “Oh. Like, what’s the draw or purpose?”

“Yeah. Silas mentioned some sort of protection when we were at the dinner party, but is that it?”

“I don’t know,” she replies. “They haven’t explained too much of that yet.”

I walk back to where we were standing side by side, but continue pacing in place. “There has to be a reason. The killers must be getting something out of it, right? Besides bragging about their twisted pastimes.”

“Hmm.” Stevie’s nose wiggles, deep in thought. It’s cute.

“Maybe I could bring it up tonight?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. If they believe our story about Andrew recruiting us, then wouldn’t we already know?”

“I wouldn’t be too obvious.”

“Are you sure? How?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll wait for an opening,” I say.

“What does that mean?”