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Gerald Thackeray was no more. His family would grieve now as I celebrated.
When I met Nat a few minutes later, she asked me what had me in such a good mood.
“Just thinking about Christmas,” I said, and she had no idea.
No idea that my father’s DNA was the one thing that would protect us both.
No matter what it took.
CHAPTER20
I droppedNat off at home and made some excuse to leave her there. I wanted to get back to Archer’s and tell them about Thackeray. I wanted to ride the high it had given me for as long as I could.
Already there was a voice in the back of my head telling me I’d been hasty and sloppy, that there was no way I could get away with murdering that monster in public like that.
But the majority of my thoughts were victorious and glorious. I simply didn’t want to think about the consequences. I was too busy reveling in the violence of my deed.
“Why don’t you and Kingston hang out at his place?” Nat asked me as I had the driver pull into our driveway. I still didn’t have my driver’s license and always depended on Archer’s car service to get me around town.
“I don’t know, I guess we prefer Archer’s place,” I said. She looked at me from the corner of her eye, rolled them, and shook her head.
“I think you like both of them,” she said. “One of my friends at school said you’re dating them all, you know. Four guys at one time. I told her she was crazy and I was going to slap her in the mouth if she said it again but she said her mom told her.”
“People love talking about things they know nothing about,” I said, not really lying but dodging the subject. “Hey, why don’t you go wrap Mom’s present and I’ll help you dye your hair tomorrow?”
“Okay,” she said. “I think Mom’s making dinner, so I’m gonna sneak upstairs so she can’t see the shopping bag. This is going to be so awesome, maybe it will cheer her up. She’s been kinda sad since Dad ran off.”
“He’ll come back,” I said. “Or Mom will learn to be happy without him.”
“I don’t care if he never comes home,” she whispered fiercely, and before I had a chance to ask her why, she said goodbye, grabbed the bags and jumped out of the car. She paused on the top step and waved at me before going inside.
I saw Mom look out the window and watch as the SUV pulled out, but she didn’t wave. She looked sad, though, and I was sure she’d be happier if I stayed home but I couldn’t.
I had to clean up and tell my guys about the thrill of killing the man who’d captured me.
* * *
“Holy fuck, princess,”Ryker yelled. “That’s insane! Are you okay?”
“Oh, I’m great!” I exclaimed. I had just told the four of them about Thackeray and what I’d done. They were all equally in shock over it, as if they couldn’t believe I was capable of such things.
“Youlookgreat,” Kingston said, his eyes studying me as if looking for a crack in my story. “You lookbetterthan great, like you just downed a few energy drinks followed by an espresso chaser. Murder is your drug, it seems.”
“Yes, with no side effects,” I grinned.
“Other than prison,” Valen said. He wasn’t as excited about my story, he was much more reluctant to celebrate. Ever practical, he wanted to make sure it wasn’t going to lead to me being arrested and locked up for good.
I waved him off and shook my head. Even he wasn’t going to put a damper on the crackling excitement spinning through my body.
“What did he do when he realized it was you?” Archer asked, seemingly as activated by it as I was. He might be a killer himself one day, somebody like me who acted on impulse. We were so close in mind and spirit, it wouldn’t surprise me.
“He panicked,” I said and smiled again, remembering the moment. I was surprised at how little it bothered me. At how much I enjoyed reliving that moment over and over, when I’d drawn the cutter across Thackeray’s neck and felt his flesh and tendons part like melting butter. “His eyes rolled around as he tried to look for a way out, and then he got angry. There was a flash of rage that turned to fear when he realized what I’d done.”
“God, I wish I’d been there,” he said, looking at the other three. “Come on, you pussies, support our little killer here. She needed to do it, she had to get even like that or it would have driven her crazy.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Valen said. “I’m just worried about her getting caught, that’s all.”
“I think we’re all nervous about that,” Kingston said, and the other three nodded their heads in agreement.
