Page 30 of The Butcher

Sometimes it takes a bigger demon to conquer your own personal hell, and lucky for her, I’m the goddamn devil, and I have a penchant for watching the world burn.

Chapter Seven

PAGING DR. DICKHEAD

Bramley

Swinging the ax behind me and bringing it forward with a crack, I split the log in one blow, the wood splintering down the middle as the pieces shoot off the stump.

I stop and raise my forearm, wiping the sweat from my brow before momentarily resting my arms at my sides.

What the fuck was I thinking?

Bringing that woman back here, and not just to Obsidian Falls but my goddamn house.

I look at my back porch, my eyes bouncing from window to window, tracking the various shadows moving across the low lit rooms.

This isn’t like me at all, doing some good fucking deed that involves saving a body instead of getting rid of one. And for someone who was about to run a truck off the road and murder the driver just because they were getting too close to the turn for Obsidian, it’s real fucked that I blazed into town with that very same rescued body as if my ass was on fire.

I called Nan on the way. She, of course, woke up Pap, who then called Rex and Ezekiel, and by the time I rolled up to myhouse—with every intention of filling in my partners when I got there—everyone was up and waiting for me.

For us.

Part of me is annoyed that Zeke took off. Not that I expected him or Titus to follow me home but a little support from the other jackass who was there when I found that woman would have been nice. Especially since Nash got pissed off enough to start giving me the cold shoulder as soon as he put two and two together, even if he still helped bring the female into the house. Clay wasn’t thrilled but he bitched at me while he ran around helping Nan set things up, and that seemed to pacify him for now.

Still, if my brother had stuck around long enough to maybe back me up on why the hell we were out there, maybe it would have eased some of this shit.

I shake my head as I grab another log and stand it up.

Then again, maybe it wouldn’t matter at all since I brought someone back to our house.

Boy, the looks I got from the unwanted audience waiting for me.

Pap just laughed. The old coot cackled his damn head off for some reason that won’t make any sense to anyone but him, and he did it right up until he fell asleep in the rocking chair by the fireplace. Ezekiel had that same constipated look he always gets whenever one of us does something stupid, and my dad was bouncing back and forth between raging lunatic and confused puppy.

Between those three, Nash’s unmatched ability to pretend I don’t exist, and Clayton’s lecture, I had no idea what to expect from Nan.

Which was stupid.

I should have known she’d be the most level headed of the bunch.

No yelling, no weird reactions, or bitching me out. She just started barking orders and put almost everyone to work, making them help her finish organizing the spare room while I got the woman situated on the bed.

Then she kicked everyone out before starting her exam.

I split the next two logs with one swing, walk over to pick up the pieces, and pile them with the rest.

The snow finally let up around sunrise, nothing more than flurries here and there, which was a good enough excuse to come out here and busy myself with some unnecessary bullshit for a few hours.

We didn’t need more firewood.

Yeah, we had trees in the pole barn, ready to be chopped when we got low but Nash and I both come out here and do this if we need to let off steam, or get restless for one reason or another, but that’s been happening a lot over the last few months, so we haven’t gotten low in just as long. Me chopping up whatever I can get my hands on right now means we could heat our fucking house, shops, and probably a good chunk of town if we were living in the eighteen fucking hundreds.

It’ll be good for her.

I pause, the axe raised above my head as that stupid thought runs through it.

Sure, the fireplace in the spare room is currently roaring, and the temperature will be beneficial, but outside of getting her the help she needs, I’m not sure why I’m concerned.

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