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“Iwant you to walk towards me, Delilah. Meet me at the altar as a symbol that you’re offering yourself to me,” he demanded.
Nope. Didn’t like his use of that word. “Offering” myself to psychopaths seemed to be my thing, though, throughout my life. So maybe this was fitting.
“Although I wish the Master was here so we could do this properly.”
“I’m sure he wishes that he was here too. Should we wait until he gets out so that he can walk me down the aisle?” I tried to not sound too hopeful, but my nails were digging into my skin with how hard I was clenching my hands. Just wishing for something to turn in my favor.
Even if I didn’t deserve it.
His lips pursed, his eyes squinting as he thought about it. Hard by the look of it.
Bentley began to shake his head, his overlong hair flopping into his eyes, and my insides dropped. Besides the gross suit he was wearing, most people would have found Bentley attractive. Not attractive enough to catch overt attention, but enough for people to have a pleasing feeling when he was around, to immediately trust him. It was part of the reason the Demon had allowed him to apprentice--he thought his outer package and his sick inner package were an ideal combination. I think the Demon had ingrained in me the ability to sense evil, though. I think maybe that was my superpower now. You could line up a set of normal-looking people and I’d somehow be able to sense which of them were cracked inside.
“I think it’s much better that we do this today. Your father would want me to start the process ofcleansingyou,” he said, bringing me back into the room. “By the time he gets out, there will be no trace of those disgusting, overwrought frat boys in your head. I know you wouldn’t want any distractions from the plan you and the Master put together.” There was a challenge in his voice, the distrust still there. Yep, he hadn’t bought what I’d said earlier about the Demon’s arrest being planned.
It was worth a try, I guess.
The creepy wedding music had long since stopped, so he went to the dilapidated music player and started it up again. “Go over to that wall,” he ordered, since I hadn’t yet moved from my original spot.
A wave of hopelessness crashed over me. Over and over. I felt like I was drowning in my pain.
Their faces flashed in my head. Cain, Paxton, Remington…and Stellan. Were they looking for me? Would they be able to figure out where I was?
I had suspicions the more that I looked at my surroundings. It had taken me a second to remember, because I’d only been inside once. But he’d had a burial ground, not far from the college actually. There’d been a small fisherman’s cottage on the property that was hidden in the trees right beyond the lake. Anyone on the water would have had to look hard to be able to see any sign of it.
It was the thick woods that surrounded the property he’d like, though. There was an algae that had grown on the ground, sheltered by the trees and given ideal conditions to grow. It had been perfect for decomposition, he’d told me. He’d bury the bodies in the ground and they’d disappear at a much higher rate thanks to the algae.
I had only seen into the front room, and it had been more…updated than this basement was, by about thirty years. But there was a smell caused by the algae. I could remember it now. A dank, musty smell of decay that had cloaked the air. And I realized now, after however long I’d been down here, that I was getting that same smell stuck in my nostrils. Of that algae.
Had Bentley taken me there?
As I walked over to the wall where he wanted me to start, my insides were trembling just thinking about this place. His more personal kills had been buried here. I might not have seen him bury them here, but I remembered him telling me that he liked to keep them close to his “favorite place”. And I remembered most of those kills. Those were primarily the ones that starred in my nightmares, the ghosts that haunted me when I closed my eyes. He’d been…brutal in those killings. He’d desecrated their bodies until they were unrecognizable.
“Delilah!” Bentley roared sharply, his face a mottled red color at my obvious distraction. “If I didn’t know better, I would think you’re not as happy about this as I am…since you can’t seem to keep focus on the vows we’re about to take for one fucking second.”
His gaze had that crazy look he’d had when he struck me. I needed to fix this…fast.
“We’re at the cottage, aren’t we? I was just thinking about it, how thoughtful you are to want to be at my father’s favorite place for our ceremony.”
Evidently, that was the right thing to say because the crazy dimmed and pleasure replaced the rage in his features.
“Yes, I was hoping you would notice that.” He took a deep breath in, I’m sure inhaling the stench of decay. “This place is sacred. Can’t you feel it? The perfect place for us to begin our eternities together.”
“I can feel it,” I answered truthfully. It did feel like a sacred place…for the Devil.
“I’ve been mostly staying here since everything happened.” He grinned…and it was terrifying. “Sometimes I feel like I can hear their screams at night. It’s absolutely exhilarating.”
How did people like this happen? I knew very little about the Demon’s background. I only suspected that his parents had abused him since, at least in the beginning, his primary target was sex predators. But I knew nothing about Bentley’s background.
Had he been born like this? Or had he been made?
And what was the answer to that question for me?
I don’t think I wanted to know.
“Perfect,” I answered when I realized he was waiting for a response. “I couldn’t have picked a more perfect place.”
His eyes glimmered at my use of his favorite word, and I made a mental note to add that to “cleansing” and all the other words I kept in the Demon database in my head.
