Page 81 of Dangerous Silence

“A practical matter,” I repeated. “Should I ask for your dad’s approval?”

“If I remember correctly, hebeggedyou to marry me,” she smirked. I couldn’t help it. I kissed her, pressing her against the wall, her body tensing with passion, then relaxing, dropping against me.

She broke from the kiss. “We’re going to be late!” she cackled with laughter.

We took the van to the courthouse. It was a quiet affair, without anyone, like I wanted. I had purposefully picked a day that Clara was out at a spa treatment facility and wouldn’t be back until late that evening. Luckily, Demi didn’t mind the small event at all.

Afterward, we took a bottle of champagne and three glasses to the cemetery, where Shep had been buried. We clinked our glasses together, Shep’s flute nudged against his tombstone. I would tell my family about the wedding later. But for now? This was Demi’s night. And she wanted to see Shep.

We took our sips, and Demi cringed. I chuckled at her puckered face.

“Thisis champagne?” she asked. “I’ve been waiting to drinkthissince I turned sixteen?”

I shrugged. “Some people like it with orange juice.”

“My dad would bepissedif he knew I was drinking,” she said, staring at the tombstone. I disagreed—I figured Shep wouldn’t mind a night of celebration—but it didn’t matter what I thought.

Demi’s face softened, her hand stroking the top of the stone. “You think he’s smiling down on us right now?” she asked.

I put an arm around her. Wherever he was, I knew he’d be happy for us.

***

And like good newly-weds, I fucked my wife until she fell asleep. It left me satisfied to see her that way. We had a cage in our bedroom that I sometimes locked her inside of, but most nights, I wanted her beside me. And both of us couldn’t fit in that cage.

But at one a.m., my phone rattled on the nightstand. I sat up quickly. Demi stirred in the bed, but never woke up.Derekflashed on the screen. I went to the hallway to answer his call, closing the door behind me.

I waited for him to speak.

“You need to come here,” he said.

“Where are you?” I asked.

“The Adler House.”

“What is it?”

He sighed, and in the background, I heard Clara howling, the sobs raking from inside of her. That was all I needed to hear.

I hung up. I gently woke Demi, helping her into some jeans and her old PGU sweatshirt. She mumbled about a headache as we went to the van, and I strapped her into the seat. My chest tightened. Every nerve ending in my body sat on the end, but I breathed deeply, in a practiced pattern. As long as Demi was safe, there was nothing that would disturb me.

Once we were inside of the Adler House, I put Demi in my old room, tucking her in bed. Then I followed the sounds of Clara up to my parents’ bedroom. Wil, Derek, and Ellie were standing outside the room. Clara’s sobs vibrated through the walls, louder than I knew was possible coming from her.

Derek tilted his head toward the door. “Go in,” he said.

Clara was on her knees, covering her face with her hands. The bed laid disheveled, the comforter halfway on the ground, and two lifeless bodies laid on top. Blood splattered the sheets. A brownish-peach chunk of flesh was stuck to the headboard. Margot’s black hair laid across my father’s face, like the tendrils of a loose scarf. Gerard’s blank eyes stared up at the ceiling. Both of their necks were split from end to end, broken like a branch snapped in half. From right below their shoulders to the bottom of their stomachs, two curved hills were carved into each of their abdomens. A symbol. An M. Miles Muro’s mark. I grit my teeth, my vision going red.

I was glad, so damn glad, that I had Demi with me. I would never let her out of my sight until I stood over Muro’s dead body.

Because this war was far from over.