Page 25 of Some Like it Violent

EPILOGUE

KANE

The sunlight filtered through the dense canopy of trees, casting shadows across the clearing where I stood.

The rhythmic crack of the axe splitting wood echoed, each swing a steady, deliberate motion. Sweat beaded my brow, dripping down my temples and soaking into the collar of my drenched, white shirt.

The pile of split logs grew higher beside me, each one a new piece of the expansion we were building onto the cabin.

I rested the axe against the stump and wiped my brow with the back of my hand. My gaze drifted to where Evelina knelt in the small garden we’d planted.

She wore an old flannel, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, her hands deep in the soil as she tended to the rows of vegetables. The sun hit her dark hair and made it seem like she had blue highlights. The sight alone made my chest ache something fierce.

I never thought I’d have this—a place to call home and someone who looked at me without fear or judgment.

I also never saw myself caring about anyone or anything. I’d always been a loner, someone who knew how fucked up I wasand that I’d have no human connection with others because I was a psychopath.

But then again, Evelina wasn’t like anyone else. She was a reflection of my own darkness and insanity. And together, we’d found a twisted and deranged intimacy.

I was transfixed by Evelina, and I watched her brush a stray strand of hair from her face, her fingers stained with dirt and smearing slightly across her alabaster skin.

She was breathtaking.

The wave of possessiveness rolled through me, and I gritted my teeth. She was mine—in all ways.

All mine.

And I’d do anything to fucking keep it that way. Sure, our life wasn’t normal in any sense. We couldn’t go to town, not together, not when I couldn’t risk being seen. I wanted so fucking badly to give Evelina a “normal” life or something that resembled it. But even though months had passed, things were too hot concerning me and my escape, and I had to lie low.

But then again,weweren’t normal. Normal couples didn’t share a love for blood and violence. Normal couples didn’t bury their secrets deep in the woods and clean the blood from their kills off each other’s hands after they were done.

Getting rid of the cops’ bodies had been fucking messy, but that was my fault. I’d been a barbarian when it came to taking them out. But Evelina had surprised the fuck out of me and had worked with me to get rid of the corpses like we were one and the same.

We’d buried them deep, miles into the woods, where no one would think to look. The ground had been soft and pliable from the storm, as if the earth wanted to help us get away with our crime.

Once they'd been covered with dirt, Evelina scattered the area with broken branches and fallen leaves, her movements and focus calculated, like she’d done it a hundred times before.

I’d been so fucking hard watching her work that I thought about jerking off right then and there.

I’d taken their cruiser out of town, with Evelina following me. That had been the trickiest part but necessary, so we didn’t leave a trace. And then I set that motherfucker on fire. And by the time we were done, there was nothing left but ash and the silence of death.

I’d expected authorities to come, but no one had.

So as of right now… we’d gotten away with it.

I picked up the axe again and tightened my fingers around the handle as I glanced toward the cabin and the expansion we were building. She mentioned once, months ago, how she’d always planned on creating a little space for herself but that she never had the time nor the expertise to pull it off.

And so I made it my mission to give her that.

I went back to cutting the wood, and every swing of the axe was my small promise to Evelina… that I wanted like hell to make this life normal and good for her.

I’d give her the world piece by piece.

I knew that someday, someone would come looking. I knew the life we were building could very well crack under the weight of the hell that was the outside world. But I also knew I wouldn’t go anywhere without her. She was mine. I was hers. And we were in this together, even if we were covered in blood.

We’d burn the world together and watch it crumble to ashes.

I kept cutting wood, the muscles in my arms flexing as I brought the blade down, a sharp crack echoing off the trees. The aroma of fresh-cut wood filled the pine-coated air, mingling with the earthy aroma of the dirt and the faint sweet scent of everything that was Evelina.

The truth was… Evelina was the most beautifully dangerous thing I’d ever been witness to, and it made me want her even more.

We were bound by this twisted and deranged darkness.

We were born and shaped in hell, and having a queen by my side made me the fucking king of darkness.

The End.

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