Page 53 of His

“Kitten,” he whispered, and moaned again.

My arm was tied tight, but I could reach with my fingers as he moved his head. I touched the top of his hair, my fingertips stretching to caress him.

He stopped moaning. Stuck in an awkward stretch, I continued to pet him on top of his head with only my fingertips. My nails ran through his hair, pushing back the black mess. His lips moved but now there were no words, just silent intonations.

Then he rolled over, his arm swinging across my body, and he clutched me tightly, as though I were a pillow or a stuffed animal from his childhood. His head rested on my shoulder, damp with sweat. His knee rested on my thigh. The weight of him was so real, so impossibly human.

Was he a monster? And was I a monster for caring for him? Even now, tied up to bedposts, I could not help but think that I was less of a prisoner than he was.

I tilted my head down and kissed him softly on the forehead. Hot skin, still moist with sweat.

“Sleep,” I whispered, and he obeyed.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Gav

The next morning I brought her breakfast in bed. Her eyes were bleary; she must not have slept well. Pity.

“Why don’t you untie me?” she asked, as I offered her a piece of buttered biscuit.

“I have to go,” I said. “I can’t leave you untied when I leave the house.”

“Where are you going?” She wasn’t eating; I was slightly irritated.

“Out.”

The shadow was back. It had come back in the night, after so many days of being chased away. I knew I had to find a new victim. Not to kill right away, but soon.

There had been a man I’d been researching. A politician, one who enjoyed whoring around and beating on his wife. He’d slept with his intern, too, a fourteen year old girl. She’d come out of the building once while I was there, her hair mussed, her eyes rimmed red with tears. I watched him as he spoke with her in the parking lot, threatening her, bending her against the hood of his Lexus. The thought made me shiver with dread.

Yes. That would do it. That would drive the shadow back. An indulgence, to kill twice in a month, but I deserved it for dealing with such a hassle. That’s all she was, my pet, a small hassle. I pushed the biscuit into her mouth and she chewed. Chewed, chewed and swallowed.

“What were you dreaming about last night?” she asked.

Her shoulders were relaxed, even tied up. Her lips were pink and tempting.

“I didn’t dream,” I said.

“You did. You were talking in your sleep.”

“I don’t remember.”

“Were they nightmares?”

My eyes snapped back to hers. Clever one, she thought she was. And she was clever, but not clever enough. I didn’t know what she’d heard last night. The screams of the man I’d been killing in my dream? The cries of my mother?

“No,” I said.

“What happened to your mother?”

It was a guess, nothing more. I could tell. She was pushing, trying to figure me out. There was nothing to figure out, little kitten. Push too far, and you’ll see the darkness. I tossed the last piece of biscuit back onto the plate.

“Goodbye,” I said, and stood up before I could get any angrier.

The shadow was already creeping up around, clawing its way back in.

Kat

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