Page 3 of Daddy's Muse
All because ofhim.
He’d lingered in my mind long after I’d vanished from the dorm steps. His image intruded where no one else’s ever had—interrupting the delicate rituals I performed before every kill and fracturing the usual calm that steadied my hands.
I didn’t even think about my victims this much. Sighing, I leaned into the edge of the sink and splashed some cool water on my face.
I stared at my face in the mirror, but saw him instead.
Odin, Allfather, grant me wisdom. Freyja, lend me understanding.
Why does this boy not leave me?
Was he still sitting out there? What if he froze to death?
I glanced at my phone. It was 4:12 a.m.
Which meant it’d been a little over five hours since I left him on those steps.
I drummed my fingers against the porcelain basin, a frown plastered on my face. Maybe I could go check?
I pushed off the sink and walked to the front door, quickly putting on some shoes and grabbing my keys.
I only lived about twenty minutes away from the university, and it wasn’t like there would be much traffic at this time of night.
I knew it was reckless for me to return so soon after a successful hunt, but there was just something in me that needed to see if the boy was okay or not. I’d never been one to ignore my urges.
I stopped at a gas station on the edge of campus before parking in the lot closest to his dorm. The walk to the steps I’d last seen him was relatively short. My fist clenched the plastic shopping bag I held as I approached.
He wasn’t there.
Which meant he’d either gone off somewhere or was suffering through the company of those drunken bastards from before. I wavered, unsure of how to proceed. I shuffled alongthe snow-covered walkway, now intent on searching the dimly lit campus grounds for him.
I walked the perimeter of building after building. I told myself that if I didn’t run into him, he was most likely inside somewhere, safe from the freezing temperatures.
Just as I was starting to think coming back here had been a waste of time, I spotted a glimpse of his red hair.
I’d almost missed him, tucked into a small alcove outside the library. Cautiously, I approached him, relieved to see that he was not only asleep but also still breathing. I crouched beside him, taking in his little form curled up against the brick wall at his back.
He looked even smaller than I remembered.
His knees were drawn up tight to his chest again, arms wrapped around them as if trying to hold himself together in sleep just as he had while awake. His head rested on the curve of his shoulder, lips parted, breath ghosting out in slow, visible puffs. The same threadbare t-shirt clung to his body, still damp in spots and stained from beer, and his bare legs were flushed pink from the cold.
The tip of his nose and his cheeks were flushed as well.
He’d made no genuine attempt to protect himself from the weather. Just raw, pitiful defiance, like he’d tried to outlast the night on sheer stubbornness alone. A smile tugged at my lips.
I stared at him for a long time, listening to the quiet clicks of the heating units on the building wall and the distant creak of frozen branches. My body was still thrumming from the high of my earlier kill, and yet none of that electricity touched me here. Not while I was watching him.
It felt like I could watch him forever.
There was something sacred about the silence surrounding him. Like he’d carved a tiny world of stillness into the cold, and even the wind didn’t dare disturb it.
Gently, I set the plastic bag down beside him.
Inside was a small bottle of orange juice, a granola bar, and hand warmers. I pulled one of the packets out, squeezing it in my hands to activate the chemicals inside. I carefully dropped it into the tight space between his chest and thighs.
He stirred slightly, shifting in his sleep, causing me to freeze.
When he didn’t wake, I hesitated, then slowly slid off my coat.
