Page 133 of Kept

Maverick bellows again, and Zella tilts her head. “What did you do?” she asks flatly, and I purse my lips.

“Nothing.”

I have a feeling I know what this is about, but I’m keeping my cards close to my chest.

I move on to carving a smiley face into Timmy’s chest, using his nipples as a guide. Snot slides out of his nose, and I recoil.

Blood? No issue.

Vomit? Meh.

Snot? Hard fucking limit.

“You’re disgusting,” I tell him, and I toss a cloth over his head so I don’t have to look at his sniveling little face anymore.

The door slams upstairs, and Zella winces.

“Somebody’s in trouble,” she sings. Really badly.

My little prey is not, in fact, a songbird. It’s interesting, all these little things that you learn when you’re completely obsessed over someone. Like how she chews the inside of her cheek when she’s telling a lie, or how she dances like an awkward chicken.

It’s adorable. She thinks she has perfect rhythm.

I’ll never tell her.

I sigh as Maverick comes storming in, barely glancing at the beautifully carved soon-to-be-corpse on my table.

“Please, do come in,” I mutter.

“You sneaky fucker,” he roars.

Zella clears her throat, and he blanches when he turns and she gives him a waggle of her fingers.

“What are you –whyis she here?” he demands, and I click my tongue.

Who am I to deny the bloodthirsty urges of our soulmate?

When I don’t answer, Maverick pinches the bridge of his nose, his eyes closing. “I found the records. You asshole.”

Ah.

“What records?” Zella asks, and his mouth drops open.

“You didn’t eventellher?”

Sighing, I wipe my hands and turn. “Little prey. We’re married.”

They both stare at me in silence. Zella looks bemused. “Are we? I don’t remember. Don’t I have to wear a dress for that? And… consent?”

“Youshould,” Maverick says darkly. “But somebody decided to change the records at the Clerk’s Office. Just went on in and updated them.”

“So… we’re married?” Zella asks me, her smile growing on her face. I see Maverick’s jaw ticking.

“Relax,” I say shortly. “We’ll get a divorce in a year.”

Zella’s face falls, and I roll my eyes. “So you can marry one of them,” I clarify. “Figured we could take it in turns.”

God knows the government isn’t intelligent enough to recognize that monogamy is only one of the many options available. Although I did feel a small amount of glee when I saw our names recorded together. Zella decided to keep her name, so she’s Zella Aria Cooper on her identification.

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