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26

POISONS DON’T LIE

DIYA

I smiled when Layne launched herself into my arms.

“Hi, babe.”

“Hey. God, I’m finally here,” Layne whispered, pressing her nose against my shoulder, wrapping her arms around me, holding me tighter.

Oh, I missed her. I missed the scent of turpentine and paint that clung to her skin.

When we pulled away, Asher was looking at us with a smile. Layne turned to him and studied him, lips pursed. “I can see why she’s obsessed with you and why she imagined you when she used her toy. It used to be Dex.”

He choked on nothing before he threw a look in my direction, eyes narrowed, cheeks flushed.

“You’re going to scare him, Lay. Leave him alone.”

“He doesn’t look like he’d get spooked easily. So, what are we doing now? Tell me more about this asshole we’re going to kill.”

Asher stood up, looking at the clock.

“See you later.” He walked out.

“Dee, you lucky bitch.” She licked her lips with a wink as soon as he left.

“I don’t feel lucky, though.”

“What? Is Declan still hassling you?”

Trust Layne to call it a hassle when someone was trying to kill me!

“He left a dead rat on my front porch. Other than that, I haven’t seen him since that day.”

Layne laughed. “Boring. Oh, and I got the report from Liam. He fast-tracked it. He said the brown stain is blood, but it’s too degraded to get a DNA match. Here’s the real kicker. The white powder? Mercury Sulfate.”

Bloody hell.

“Wait. Liam mentioned something…” Layne said. “Ah, yes. Mad Hatter Syndrome.”

“Sweet Krishna, I want to kiss Liam.”

Layne laughed. “He’d shit his pants, but why are we kissing him?”

“Mercury Sulfate. Poisons never lie. It fucking tracks,” I said, reading the report, my heart racing. “Riley said he made her drink tea or something, and her letters became increasingly chaotic as time passed.”

“He poisoned them with mercury?” Layne asked.

“Yes. He pushed them until he broke them. Mercury poisoning would cause hallucinations and paranoia, severe memory loss, and delirium. It will eventually lead to full-blown psychosis.”

“Fuck, and combine it with the trauma, the abuse, and mental torture… it would be easy to push them straight to death,” Layne said with a wince. “That cruel bastard.”

“I don’t even know what to think anymore, Lay. This one is not someone we can dismiss as just another serial killer. He’s better than most I have met. He has planned every detail from the very beginning. When I told Ash I’d help him, I was sure I’d catch him, but now…” I sighed, handing her the pictures Millie drew, telling her more about what I knew about Riley and the other girls. “I don’t know.”

“Dee, these pictures…”

“If Millie recovers her memories, we will get an advantage over him, but I don’t think she’s ready for that yet. I don’t think she’ll ever be.”

Layne nodded, leaning closer to me. “He killed everyone. Why didn’t he kill Millie, Dee?”

“Maybe she’s special, she’s the trophy, or maybe because she was never a threat? Or he messed up because it was his first time? I don’t know. She escaped.”

“Did you create a profile for him?” she asked, and I nodded.

“High functioning psychopath with narcissistic disorder. He’s intelligent. He must have learned to mimic emotions well. That’s how he stayed invisible. He loves control. If we shake things up, he might slip and show his cards unintentionally.”

We sat there for a while in silence, her head on my shoulder, her fingers playing with my hair.

“So…” she whispered, her voice shifting from seriousness to mocking curiosity. “The sexy madman, Dee, he likes you.”

“No, he doesn’t. He knows it’s a business transaction.”

“It’s not a business transaction. He likes you and you like him.”

“I don’t.”

“You do. If you don’t like him, you wouldn’t have trusted him with your secrets or ours . I know you, Dee.”

Liking him was even more brainless than getting caught. I wasn’t a fool to…

Oh, Fuck.

“How’s Trina?” I asked, not so-subtly changing the subject. She let me.

“Angry.”

“What happened?”

“The owner hired a new sous-chef.”

“Ah, I heard about him,” I said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, and Trina wants to make seared Foie Gras with brioche and fig compote with his liver.” Layne shuddered, eyes wide as if she wouldn’t willingly join in on that. “She told me step by fucking step, too. It was too graphic even for me.”

“What did he do?”

“Ah, he just exists, and she gets mad. I think she’s horny for him,” Layne said with a dismissive wave, and everything was as it was supposed to be.

I laughed until I was crying, until my heart broke and healed again. Layne pressed a kiss against my hair.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you more.”

“Where’s your sister?” Asher asked, meeting me in the hall when I came back after walking Layne to my cottage.

“She left.”

“Will she be staying in the cottage?” he asked, and I nodded. “And she said you used to think of him when you…” Asher trailed off, his eyes narrowed, and his nostrils flared.

“You look pretty when you get jealous, but it’s all in the past. I only think of you now, Pussycat,” I said, walking toward the hall where group therapy was held. He walked with me.

“You better,” he whispered. “Can I come tonight? I want to make you forget every other man. I want to make sure you know who you belong to.”

“I already don’t remember anyone else, Ash.”

“Good.”

I ran a finger up his thigh. “Come. We can be discreet. Layne’s a heavy sleeper, but…” I leaned closer to him, my fingers squeezing his ass. His eyes widened as he jumped back. “You must be very, very quiet.”

“Oh, I can be,” he smiled, full, and it did something to my stupid heart. “I think I can be.”

I looked at him, wondering if I did like him more than I was supposed to. That was a problem, but most problems had solutions. I just had to find one.

Shaking my head, I showed him the report.

“The results came. Layne brought them.” I told him about the mercury sulfate poisoning. “But it’s highly regulated and illegal. He must have found someone to supply it for him. Must have blackmailed someone to get what he wanted. If we find the source, we might find him.”

“Again, I’m sure there won’t be any leads. Sometimes it feels like we’re chasing our fucking tails.”

“I know. He’s so fucking good at this.”

This monster in the woods, he didn’t desire the spotlight, like most of us. His humility kept him safe, even when his thirst for power pushed him to kill.

“Ash?”

“Yes.”

“When this is all over when you finally get your revenge, where will you go?” I didn’t know whether I was his therapist now or the woman he was fucking.

“I don’t know.” He leaned back, crossing his arms.

“What do you really want to do?” I asked, looking into his eyes.

“Find a home,” he said, his voice rough yet achingly sincere.

Home.

Everything in me begged to pull him to me and protect him, to tell him he’d always be safe with me, but I was too broken for any of that.

My need for him was consuming, but it couldn’t be my truth. Sometimes, the lies were better and more beautiful than the truth anyway.

“You will.” Somewhere far away from this brokenness, somewhere wholesome and beautiful. In a place where he wouldn’t be haunted by the memories of a girl he couldn’t save.

“You? What will you do?”

“I’ll go back home,” I said, and I saw something in his eyes—something I couldn’t name.

He nodded as I opened the door, and we walked toward the main hall in silence.

Millie was staring into space when I walked. Michael looked cheerful as he talked with his dead wife.

“Good day, Doctor Sharma,” Jimmy greeted me when I sat down, momentarily pausing his song about a fire that ate away the world.

“Good morning.”

For fifteen minutes, we just talked about breakfast and other normal, mundane things.

“We are going to tell stories today, something from your past.”

They nervously looked up.

Millie closed her eyes, and Sarah snuggled with her teddy bear.

“Past… past is… no,” Sarah’s hands shook. She was a victim of domestic abuse and after years of bearing the pain, she tried to walk away, and her husband beat her until she lost consciousness. She would have died if her neighbor hadn’t called the cops.

Men who asked why she didn’t walk away didn’t, couldn’t understand what it would take to walk away. Sometimes… women had to die to finally escape the abuse.

“I know, but talking things out loud helps.”

I looked at Millie, who was staring at the pictures in her sketchbook.

“Sometimes… you have to open the door yourself to get out. Sometimes that’s the only way.”

“There are so many monsters behind the door, Doctor Sharma. Why… why should I open it?” Jimmy whispered, shrinking back into his metal chair. “I’m not alone. I’m not alone.”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to fully open the door yet. Just a peek will do, but one day, we have to. That’s the only way to move on. We can’t stay inside, trapped forever.”

I looked at Millie again, and she was scratching in her sketchbook, over and over and over, until Asher placed a hand on her shoulder.

When she looked up, her eyes were wet.

“He won’t let me open… op-open the door. He won’t let me-me. The door will not open.”

“He lies. We will open it together. Maybe another day,” I said.

“No. No… he told me the door will open only when I…”

“Millie. Millie, it’s okay.”

“Millie?” Asher whispered.

“He’ll kill you, kill you.” She was looking straight at me. “If you don’t run… RUN.”

She closed her eyes and when she opened them, there was no life, no memories.

She stared at me.

“He tells me he’s going to kill you. Tick tock. Tick tock.”

When the session was over, I walked out with Asher.

“What was that?” Asher asked once we were alone. “She-she was looking right at you when she…”

I pressed my lips together. “I don’t know. Maybe she dreamed something. She often has very vivid nightmares.”

“She sounded lucid to me.” Asher pulled at the neck of his shirt, his breath shaky, fingers trembling.

“I’m fine, and if he comes for me, I’ll teach him a lesson he won’t forget.”

Layne had made me a cup of chai when I walked in. After we finished, we called Trina.

“Hey.”

“God, I wanted to come, too. I miss you,” she said with a sigh. “Oh—guess what? Sheila and her husband came to the restaurant for dinner. She said she saw Declan at St. Anthony’s yesterday.”

Sheila was a doctor at St. Anthony’s, and a friend.

“So, he’s gone then?”

“For now,” Trina said. “He’ll definitely be back.”

“If, no, when he comes back, I’ll have no qualms about killing that bastard,” Layne shrugged. “You should have let me do that back then. I’d have made his ugly ass into something beautiful. Something precious.”

I glared at her.

“What?” she asked with a frown.

“Do not kill him.”

She smiled at me. “Okay.”

I knew she crossed her fingers behind her back. I frowned, shaking my head and she flashed me an impudent smile.

Trina laughed.

“Just let her, Dee. I don’t know why you want to protect him.”

“Not you too, Trina.”

After another twenty minutes of talking with Trina, Layne went to bed. I sat in front of the laptop searching Mercury Sulfate for a few minutes before I stood up and stretched.

Now that I knew Declan was back in NY…

I smiled as I pulled on my lacy underwear, the one Asher once used to do his dirty business.

I put on a black leather dress that clung to my curves. The leather ropes all over the bodice tightened down my body like a lover’s possessive hold.

I licked my lips when I heard the low knock.

Painting my lips a dark red, I opened the door for Asher, wild butterflies in my stomach.

“Hey, Diya… I—” His lips parted when he noticed my dress, and his breath caught. “Oh,” he sighed, his eyes sliding down my body, darkening. “Fuck. Oh, you…”

“Hey, Pussycat, wanna eat me?” I leaned closer, whispering in his ear.

“Uh…”

“Asher? Asher? Are you breathing?” I tilted my head, watching him with a grin. “I got you something.”

“You bought me a ghostface mask?” He sounded incredulous, still sounding breathless.

“Yes.”

He licked his lips, his gaze traveling down my body as he pulled the mask on. My breath hitched when he cupped my throat. “I’d dreamed of chasing you through the woods… you were wet and wild, running away, but begging for me. I caught you and fucked you until your throat was raw from screaming my name, until you couldn’t breathe properly.” His voice was a low growl against my skin, and it was my turn to gasp.

His eyes smoldered as he tugged a leather strap on my shoulder before letting it go. It met my skin with a snap.

“Asher Maddox, you’re all words and no bite.”

His eyes flashed. “Careful,” he warned, his voice dropping, his breath teasing against my lips, his fingers running down my spine.

“What will you do?”

“I’ll chase you and punish you when I catch you.”

I bit my lip, leaning forward until my lips moved over his.

I pulled away with a laugh. “If you catch me, Pussycat, you can fuck me to hell.”

“Oh, I intend to,” he murmured, a promise and a threat.

Cold wind slapped against my skin as I ran, his laughter following me.

“Run, Little Poison, but you won’t go far,” he said, his voice so soft, so close, caressing my skin in a goading song. “You know I’ll catch you.”

I knew I’d gladly forfeit this game to have him.

Fuck, Layne was right.

“We’ll see. You’re slow, Maddox,” I taunted, swerving around a tree and smacking against him.

He cupped my throat, pressing me against the tree, his finger sliding down until he was rubbing me over my underwear.

“Look at you. You dirty Little Poison.” I gasped when he tugged it down, his fingers so close yet so far.

“Touch me.”

He moved his fingers further.

“So fucking wet and swollen already, and we haven’t even started.”

I gasped when he moved his fingers in a soft circle, applying just enough pressure to make my legs tremble.

I was so close to coming when he took his hand away and spanked me. I looked at his masked face, my breath breaking into a gasp.

“Run, and this time, when I catch you…”

“I don’t want to run. I want to—” His finger dug into my pulse, and I saw darkness and stars.

“Hush. Run.”

Grumbling, I pulled away and ran. Faster.

After a few minutes, his hand was on my hair. I groaned when he pulled me against his body, and his hand clamped down on my shoulder.

“Gotcha, you evil bitch.”

The rush of adrenaline instantly drained.

Someone out there definitely hates me.

“Hello.”

“Don’t scream or I’ll kill you.”

“What wonderful timing,” I said with a groan.

“Are you…” his voice dipped lower as he tightened his grip, studying my dress. “So… you’re fucking him?I always knew you’re insane, but this…”

“It’s ironically funny how you question my morality when you’re trying to murder me.”

“Well, they say it’s okay if the one who reads the words is a devil, as long as it’s holy words.”

I sighed, shaking my head. “Sheila said…”

“Sheila should learn when to shut the fuck up. I finished my surgery and came right back for you,” Declan said with a shrug. “Oh, and your boy toy won’t be coming to save you.”

“I never needed anyone to save me. You know it better than anyone.”

His frown deepened, and I saw a flicker of guilt in his eyes.

“How are you going to fight me, Diya? You’re only good at crushing your pretty little flowers and feeding them to a man who was already tied to a chair.”

“I didn’t tie him to a chair. I tied him to a table.”

I should shut the fuck up.

I quickly scanned the surroundings, my eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness.

“What did you do to Asher?”

“Are you worried about him? It’s so unlike you, Diya. You don’t worry about other men. Everything is always about you and your sisters.”

“I-I don’t—”

He laughed. “You’re worried. I can see it now. Are you in love with him, Diya? If I had known, I’d have killed him just to punish you.” Declan hummed before he plunged a syringe into my neck, his fingers quick and efficient. “I won’t make the same mistake twice.”

He tossed the syringe aside and pulled a shiny Glock from inside his jacket.

I saw broken black shards floating in my eyes. Soon, I’d lose consciousness, and I’d once again find myself duct taped to a fucking table. No way in hell.

I desperately scanned the ground. I knew these woods, the poisons that grew in beautiful hues. I just had to find something.

“I’m sorry to have interrupted your game,” he said, voice smug. “But you don’t deserve to laugh or love after what you did. Don’t try anything funny. Do as I say.” He pressed the gun against my head.

I nodded.

“Let’s go back to your house, shall we?” Declan said. I stumbled against a gnarled root and went to the ground. “Don’t be so clumsy.”

Grunting, I pushed my hand against the ground and stopped when my eyes met the bell-shaped white flowers. It was like a fucking glowing halo against the darkness.

Oh.

I crawled toward the plant, my heart pounding in my chest. Just a few more inches. I grabbed the branch as Declan reached for me.

I yanked the flowers out and hid them in my palm as he pulled me up.

“Are you going to crawl to your house?” he said. “Let’s hurry the fuck up. I have another surgery the day after tomorrow, and you have to die before that.” The gun dug into my back, and we stumbled through the dark until I saw the light from my room.

You’ll be alright, Asher, I thought to myself as we entered the living room.

“Sit down. I’m thirsty from fighting that asshole.”

I gritted my teeth but sat down anyway.

“What’s your last wish, Diya?” he asked, voice smug.

“Don’t sound so sure. I might have some trick up my sleeve.”

“You wouldn’t be talking about it if you had, Diya. Stop trying to outsmart me,” he said, gulping down a bottle of water before slamming it against the kitchen counter. I hoped he would put the gun down, but he was holding on to it like his whole life depended on it. “I’ll kill you tonight.”

“Then do it.”

His fingers went to the trigger as he leveled the gun at me. I was so sure that what he did was to soothe his bruised ego, but I wasn’t sure anymore. Maybe it wasn’t just his hurt pride.

I might have underestimated his capacity to feel, to love.

“I’m sorry, though, Dex. I shouldn’t have used you.”