Page 29 of The Girl He Claimed

"Is that how you seeyourself?" Adam asked.

She looked over at him, notanswering. Perhaps she saw any answer as revealing a weakness. "How do yousee yourself, Adam Riker?"

Adam didn’t care what he revealedthen. "As better than all of them. And you are clearly superior to Dr.Chang."

She tilted her head to one side."Am I meant to blush and say that's the nicest thing anyone's said tome?"

"Now you're just fishing forbetter compliments," Adam said. "Instead, why not focus on how lastnight felt?"

She paused then, obviouslyconsidering it. "It was... different. Sharing a moment like that withsomeone else."

Adam could only agree."Different, but good."

She nodded, and they both fell intoa more comfortable silence than Adam could have imagined with anyone else. Itwas strange to think that they were both serial killers, working together toevade the police. But it was almost like they were two sides of the same coin.They both had a need for control, and the thrill of the kill.

The Exsanguination Killer broke thesilence. "What's next for us then? I take it that you want to try the sameagain?” It was put as delicately as if they were two Victorian sweethearts,carefully arranging a tryst, rather than to kill more people.

Adam smiled. "If you wouldlike to? My understanding is that you typically work in groups of three."

Three kills and then a break. Threemore, and then a break. Last night represented the first in a new set for hiscurrent partner. Adam, of course, didn't have any such restrictions. He didn’thave any limitations.

"You think that such thingsare a weakness?" she asked, prickly as only a fellow psychopath could be.

Fellow psychopath. Adam smiled atthat. By definition, there could be no such thing. Adam was a world entire,admitting no such weakness as the need for other people.

"What are you smilingat?" she snapped.

"The words 'fellow psychopath.’"

She paused for a moment, staring athim as if he'd said something she didn't understand. Then she did somethinginexplicable—she laughed, the sound high andbell-like.

That was a strange feeling, therebeing someone else out there who could laugh at that, someone out there who gotwhat it was like to such a degree. Who got him?Briefly, Adam had thoughtthat Paige might be able to fill that role for him. He’d thought that she waslike him. That she was the other half of a whole. But it quickly became clearthat she was just another pawn in his game. He'd underestimated her, but neveragain. As for the Exsanguination Killer... he wasn't quite sure what to make ofher. She was fascinating, intriguing, and the only person who could truly keepup with him. But he had to be careful. He couldn't let her get too close.Because, in the end, he was always going to be the one in control. He couldn’tsurrender that, certainly not to someone like her.

"Has anyone told you that youare a most remarkable woman?" Adam asked her.

She shrugged. "When I wantthem to."

Another piece of humor only the twoof them could get. They were both experts at manipulating others. People sawonly the sides of them that they were meant to see. She was undoubtedly capableof seeming remarkable or unremarkable, exactly as she wished.

"We need to consider our nexttargets," she said. “They need to be… appropriate for what we are tryingto achieve.”

"So eager?" Adam replied.

"I thought perhapsthese." She pulled out a phone, using it to call up pictures of twoindividuals.

Adam's first instinct, of course,was to say no automatically. If he hadn't come up with the idea, then, ofcourse, it could be no good. But as he looked at the pictures, he had to admitthat his partner had a good eye. These two would be perfect.

He was so moved by the choices thathe hurried over to her, took her in his arms and kissed her. It was almost asurprise when she kissed him back, rather than trying to stab him.

"What was that for?" shedemanded when he pulled away.

Adam shrugged. "I've alwayswondered what it would be like to kiss myself. You're the next closestthing."

She preened, but he could tell thatshe was doing it deliberately. "I'm much better looking."

The Exsanguination Killer's eyeslit up with amusement, and Adam couldn't help but feel a thrill of excitementcoursing through him as well. They were a formidable team, and nothing couldstop them. They stood there briefly in one another's arms.

"You know one day that I'mgoing to kill you, right?" she whispered, the way someone else mightwhisper sweet nothings. “It’s inevitable, given what we are.”

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