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Chapter Fourteen

Teddy

I’m frozen in shock when Jane enters the room, my mind screaming warnings at me that my body seems unable to listen to. What the fuck is she doing back so early?

Jane’s eyes narrow at Branson and it takes me a moment to remember how he would have looked when she left. Now, without the grime covering him, the short hair, cup of coffee in front of him, he looks… well, utterly delicious, but certainly not the mindless slave she left behind. The two of them stare at one another, the tension in the room rising by the second.

“Our pet has been exceedingly good,” I say quickly, “earned himself a bath.”

Jane doesn’t look at me, her gaze still locked on Branson’s. My entire body is tense while I wait, seeing if my lies will work.

“Go to your room,” she tells him, her voice low with warning. I see his jaw click and shake my head frantically behind Jane. Please, let me deal with her, I silently beg him. After another beat, he puts the pan he’s holding down and walks downstairs without a word. Jane turns to look at me as soon as he’s gone.

“He’s different,” she says.

“Just clean,” I try to assure her, but Jane shakes her head, looking in the direction he went.

“No,” she says absently, “there’s something else. Now, where’s Bud? I need to speak with him.”

Shit. I forgot about that.

Why did she have to come home early?

“I haven’t seen him all week,” I lie easily, and Jane whips her head toward me.

“What?”

I shrug and try to make light of it, picking up my mug to take a sip.

“I figured you told him to take the week off or something. Where were you, anyway?”

Jane straightens up, easily distracted by the question I know she doesn’t want to answer.

“I’m going to find Bud,” she informs me. “Be ready for a new project tomorrow.”

I nod and wonder what she’s going to do when she realizes he’s gone. She’ll never find him, thanks to the furnace, but he’s been a staple on this property forever. It won’t take her long to figure out that something is going on.

Despite it all, I don’t want to hurt Jane. She’s the closest thing to a mother I remember, the only person to truly accept me and my darkness.

I may not want to stay with her, but I don’t want to kill her either.

I just need to convince Branson we should leave tonight. We just need to get through one more day. I breathe heavily before grabbing the device and heading downstairs.