Total pages in book: 18
Estimated words: 16567 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 83(@200wpm)___ 66(@250wpm)___ 55(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 16567 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 83(@200wpm)___ 66(@250wpm)___ 55(@300wpm)
“I don’t know,” I lie.
Of course I do. Victor all but said it. He’s the only one who can touch me, and what little touching he did earlier was as close to a brand as he could mark me with.
7
VICTOR
“Six days in a padded cell and straight jacket will drive anyone insane. Tell me, Doc, how can that be any sort of treatment?” I throw my hands behind my head and kick my feet up on Sedona’s desk. She undid my cuffs the moment we were left alone in her office. I suppose saving her from a lunatic has its perks.
“It’s old school and brutal, I agree. But this isn’t a typical mental health facility,” she says, putting on her best professional voice. “Or have you forgotten you’re an ‘inmate’?” She emphasizes the word to tease me.
“Forgotten? No. But you’d think saving a doctor would carry some weight with the higher-ups.” I stretch my upper body and hear a satisfying pop with every motion. They brought me straight here out of the cell, and damn, it feels good to be able to move again. “Only thing that kept me sane was the thought of having the first taste of your virgin cunt,” I throw in to make her squirm.
Her cheeks flush a deep crimson, but she isn’t nervous to show it to me anymore. “Speaking of what happened,” —she ignores my crude remark— “will you tell me what happened that day?”
“It came over the intercom that you were in danger, and I started running.”
“Why?” She raises a brow. Sedona’s more confident now. I can’t say I dislike it, but having her melt into me was equally satisfying. “You beat Tom Reeves into a coma he still hasn’t woken from. And I heard that there’s a chance he will have irreparable brain damage if he does wake.”
“Because chivalry has only died in the hearts and minds of the weaker men. And don’t stress over the big bastard. He had brain damage long before I smacked him around. Who knows, maybe the beating will fix him.” I make light of it.
Sedona’s smile, the airy tone of her voice, and the undone top buttons of her shirt are enough for me to know that her questioning is a formality. She has to do it because her superiors expect answers. Where this meeting is really headed is my face between her legs and my tongue inside of her.
“Most of the patients here don’t speak as well as you do.” The tip of her pen is pressed onto a clean page, itching to drip ink and spill my secrets. “Come to think of it, each one of them has an actual diagnosis. You’re an enigma to the board as well as the staff. Care to tell me why you think that is?”
“That’s for the nerds in the lab to figure out,” I answer. “I speak well because I was educated well. I don’t have a diagnosis because there isn’t anything wrong with me.”
“And yet, you’re a murderer.” Her words should sting, but they don’t. They light a spark of pride in my heart. “A serial killer. Calling card and all.” Sedona slides her hand into her desk drawer and pulls from it the little origami panda I left at every execution. She sets it on the table beside my foot.
“Don’t have to be crazy to enjoy a good hunt,” I say, but my eyes never leave the panda. “No one calls a hunter insane when he kills a deer.”
“You don’t take offense to the labels? Serial killer? Murderer? Monster?” She still hasn’t written anything down.
“Sticks and stones.” I don’t know when the shift happened inside me—from the man who was going to hold his secrets to the grave to spewing my truth to Sedona. Somewhere along the way, I knew I wouldn’t lie to her again. “Words can’t hurt you.”
“Let’s say I understand your reasoning for beating Tom. Why did you kill the others?”
“Coming in strong today, aren’t you, Doc?” Her question blindsides me. “I thought my first day out of confinement would be easy.”
“Before we can take it easy or have any sort of fun” —her voice cracks on the word— “I need something tangible. It’s not for me. It’s for my job.”
Of course. Her job. Her questions aren’t designed to make me squirm. She needs to show progress to stay on my case. Best give her what she wants to make sure I’m not transferred to doctor number seven.
“Fine, I’ll answer your questions.” I kick my feet off the table. “But same as before, it’s quid pro quo.”
“And what do you want in return?” Her eyes twinkle with excitement.
“No, no, you misunderstand. It’s what I want first, then I spill my heart.” Sedona gulps and eases back in her seat. “And what I want is a view from below.”