Page 83 of Kept

My face crumples, my head bowing. “Enzo.”

“Abby Millers,” he says quietly. “Aged seven, when it started. Her mama couldn’t live with him, so she tried to run, and he buried her for it, just like the others. Abby grew up a sad, sweet little girl, and everyone said howkindJohn was to care for her so when her cruel mother ran off and left her. He was so devoted, he never even looked at another woman. Why would he when he was such aloving father?”

His voice is harder now, and he looks over my shoulder.

“He owes the devil, Zella,” he murmurs. “And I’m right here, collecting my dues.”

“How do you know all this?” My lips feel dry, my mouth like a desert as I look down at what’s left of John Millers.

“There’s always a trail,” he murmurs. “Men like him, they like to revisit the good old times. John here wasn’t particularly smart. Had all of his recordings lined up like trophies. Didn’t you, John?”

There’s no response.

“He can’t hear us,” Enzo says softly. “Can’t see us, either. He’s already in hell, little prey.”

His words are so casual, even as he plays with the edges of my braid. Tearing my eyes away, I turn around, Enzo giving me the barest amount of space before he pushes back against me.

“Are you scared?” he whispers. “You should be, prey. I told you I wasn’t a good man. I don’t tell lies.”

My head is spinning. “Do you do this… a lot?”

He tilts his head. “Depends. There’s a lot of bad people out there. So many sins to atone for.”

He searches my face for a response, so I nod mutely. His hands reach up, cupping my face.

My lips part. I need to understand why he does this. “Where were you?” I ask quietly. “Before you came here?”

His fingers stroke my cheeks gently. “In a cage,” he murmurs. “Such a small little cage, prey. They tried to contain me, but they let me out when they needed me. And they always seemed to need me. Always someone to be punished.”

I try to breathe, try to work through what he’s telling me. “Do you mean… a real cage?”

“Metal bars and everything,” he whispers. “They’d parade me like an animal in a zoo, their little pet demon on a leash. Except they didn’t find me quite so entertaining when I went back for them, that last time.”

“You hurt them?” I ask. Something cold curdles in my stomach. The image of Enzo trapped inside an actual cage. When he nods, I take a breath.

“I’m glad,” I whisper, and his eyes shoot to mine. “I’m glad you hurt them.”

“They were the first on my table,” he motions behind us. “And I thought that would be it. But the burning didn’t stop, prey. They opened something up when they made me, and I can’t put it back. But this… this stops the burning.”

“But it’s only the bad ones?” I ask, my eyes searching this. “You’re sure?”

He nods. “Maverick keeps me in line.”

“But….,” Swallowing, I turn and glance at the table, avoiding the man who deserves everything he’s getting, if what Enzo is telling me is true. “You put me on that table,” I whisper, and I look at him. “You tied me to it.”

His hands move from my face to my neck, gripping it as I hold my breath.

“When I saw you,” he whispers. “The burning was so bright, little prey. Brighter than it’s ever been. And I thought it meant you needed to be on my table. So I put you there, and then I realized.”

His lips are closer to mine now. “What?” I whisper back.

“It’s just you.Youmake me burn, little prey. You’re like acid in my veins, a knife inside my chest.”

My body trembles as he leans in closer, until his lips press against mine.

“You are my hell, and you are my redemption. And I will never let you go, prey. If you run, I will bring you back,” he murmurs into my mouth. I suck in his words like oxygen, my lungs inflating with air.

When he suddenly steps back, I stagger, the removal of his weight against me making my body feel light as a feather.

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