“What do you mean?” As he backed away, Griff tried to get a look inside. “You don’t trust the address she gave you?”
I shut the door behind me. “She didn’t give me an address.”
Griff quirked his brows. “What do you mean she didn’t? You always get the answers to your questions.”
“I do.”
“There’s blood splatter all over you.”
“There is.”
Griff held his hands out. “Fun was clearly had.”
“Fun was had, but no results came.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “Like I said, there was an unexpected occurrence.”
“What the hell does that mean? We need that money.” Griff pulled out a cigarette and handed me one.
To high off Phoenix, I waved it away. “The money isn’t completely lost. We still have time to get it.”
“How’s that?”
“Phoenix is supposed to do the money exchange in four days—”
“Yeah, but she’s dead.” Griff lit his cigarette. “How do we find the friend or the place for the exchange, if she’s dead?”
“As I said. . .there’s been an unexpected occurrence.” I walked over to the edge of the porch and gazed at the sky, sparkling with bright stars. “Phoenix isn’t dead.”
“What?” Griff coughed on smoke. It took a few hacks for him to gain calm. He cleared his throat. “What do you mean? She’s still alive?”
“I didn’t kill her.”
“Because?”
“I didn’t want to.”
“Where the hell did the blood come from?”
“I cut her. I just didn’t kill her.”
“Well, she’ll be dead soon if she’s hanging from your hook. It’s only a matter of an hour or so before she rots away and—”
“She’s not hanging from the hook.” I turned my view up to the glowing moon.
“Okay. She’s not on the hook.” Griff got to my side and blew out smoke. “Then where is she?”
“I cleaned Phoenix’s wounds, patched her up, dressed her in one of my clean shirts, and placed her in my bed.”
Griff stared at me in shock. “Did you tuck her in and read a story for her too?”
“She was passed out.”
“Passed out from what, your undying mercy?”
“The whole night has been unexpected occurrences.” I shrugged.
Silence hit the porch.
Griff took a puff from his cigarette and then exhaled smoke. “I don’t know what to say about this…”
“You’ve never been a fan of my killing too much. When I started last year, you freaked out. Now, you should be relaxed.”
He took a puff from his cigarette. “I should, but your blood lust scares me.”
“I have my blood lust under control.”
“You do.” Griff inhaled more of the cigarette and then blew out smoke. “My only problem with this situation is that your actions tonight are different from usual. I’m not a fan of change when it comes to you.”
“This is a different situation. Usually, the people who enter my soul coffin deserve it.”
“But she’s got to be bad too.” Griff flicked ash on the porch. “She stole from us.”
“Thieves stealing from thieves is not necessarily a wicked crime.”
Griff nodded.
“And she refused to give up her friend’s location.”
“Just like when you were about to choke her on the bed?”
“Exactly the same way.” I stared wildly at the glittering stars in the sky. “She leaned into death with no fear. She’s loyal to a fault.”
“It’s hard to torture someone like that.” Griff flicked his cigarette. “I can’t believe she made it through your stabbing and slicing without giving up a detail or address.”
I didn’t want to admit to him that I hadn’t inflicted the usual pain or asked about the address at all. She wasn’t like the others, so I sought to provide more pleasure, puncturing instead of slicing, pricking instead of slashing.
And when it came to torturing her for information, I’d simply forgotten as soon as the blood dripped from her collarbone down to her nipple.
A perfect moment.
I remembered the second when she looked at her bloodied reflection in the mirror. There was horror. There was shock. But there was arousal too.
I need to do that again.
My body shuddered in desire.
Griff’s voice pulled me out of the vision. “Are you okay?”
I straightened myself. “I’m good.”
Worry crossed Griff’s face. “I’m. . .”
I eyed him. “Nervous?”
“Terrified.”
“Of her escaping?”
“Of her not being able to escape.”
I raised one eyebrow. “What does that mean?”
“After you killed Reverend Hayward, I knew that you would change, but—”
“I’ve remained disciplined.” I put my view back to the sky. “I created rules and maintained them.”
“Yes, but with each person, there’s always some change to it. You went from only killing pedophiles to kidnapping and getting rid of murderers.”
“You wanted me to save the murderers?” I spoke through clenched teeth. “Give them an ice cream cone and trust that they won’t do it again?”
“No. It’s just. . .you keep graduating and changing the rules.”
“She’s not dead. You should be happy.” I scowled at him. “Instead, you look antsy.”
He stirred. “I am worried about what you’ll do to her.”
“You’re worried I’ll take too long for you to get your fix of touching a dead body.”