Page 62

CHAPTER 62

REDLEY

Am I actually going to marry him? Not if I can’t find a good spot to hide those deeds, but I think I am done fighting how I feel about him and what’s formed between us while I hunted him through those woods. I should have known the first night I met him that there was no chance I would ever get over his kindness, his soft hands. Or the blood bond he formed between us when he cleaned my woulds with his bare hands.

One of those rough but gentle hands cups mine, holding it against my thigh and making goosebumps stand up all over my legs. Despite everything that’s happened, this is the closest thing to a quiet couple moment we’ve ever had, and the butterflies threaten to fly straight out my throat.

“Can you take me up to my property?” I ask him.

I still haven’t seen the damage, and I think I need to if I’m going to officially decide to put this behind me and move on with the Big Bad Wolf. Laying eyes on the destruction won’t change it, but maybe it will help me come to terms with it. Get closure or something. I’ve never had that before. Always just lived with the ghosts.

“Are you sure?” he asks.

“Yeah, I’m sure. If you didn’t want me to see, you shouldn’t have done it.”

His jaw clenches, and it looks like he wants to argue, but he doesn’t. Wolf walks around to the passenger side and opens the door for me. I climb inside, and he closes it. This El Camino is even newer than Porter’s cruiser, and while I’m pissed as hell Wolf broke my windshield, I won’t mind taking this as a replacement.

The most shocking thing about the ride is how fast it goes. I never had the money for another vehicle so it wasn’t even a consideration, but there really is something to be said for these newer models. We’re only a few miles from my property in about half the normal time it takes.

“Do you like her?” he asks, following my eye to the wood line as the road steepens.

“Pay attention to the road, and I still won’t like you half as much as I like her,” I confirm.

He laughs and squeezes my hand.

“I really like spending time with you like this,” he says.

I don’t expect things like this from him, and I can’t help but blush fiercely. However, I need to remember all of the very real issues that still stand between us, even if very few of them still mean anything. There is one matter, though, that’s still extremely important for my decision. When we’re almost to the top, I ask him what I really want to know.

“Are you planning to keep killing?”

His hands tighten on the wheel along with his expression. Clearly, he was hoping I wouldn’t ask this question.

“I don’t want to lie to you,” he finally says after a heavy pause.

“Then don’t.”

His jaw ticks. “I don’t have any idea how to stop. I don’t want to promise you something I’m not capable of.”

I sit with his answer for a moment. It’s not what I wanted to hear, but I think I respect his honesty more than anything. If he was willing to tell me anything just to get me to comply, wouldn’t that be more dangerous? Or maybe I’m telling myself whatever I need to so I can feel okay about a choice I’ve already made.

If I’m being totally honest, I’m not sure that it matters to me if he keeps killing or not. I think I just care who he kills and why.

“You enjoy it too,” he finally says as we pull up the drive and stop in front of the remains of my cabin.

“I don’t want to.” I can’t find it within myself to lie to him when he doesn’t lie to me. At least not anymore.

“You don’t want to love me either, but you do,” he says it like it’s a simple matter of fact, and I guess it is.

“You might be right about that,” I tell him.

“Come on, you wanted to see it,” he hops out. I don’t expect him to come around and open my door, but apparently, Wolf is a gentleman. Who would have known? I look straight past where my cabin used to be to the backyard. Porter's cruiser is gone, and my initial instinct is to be afraid of who found it. Wolf reaches out and grabs my hand again to comfort me.

“It was me, Muffin. I pushed it over the mountain, just in case somebody found it while you were hiding. Speaking of, I'm very interested to know where you were.”

“While I appreciate you taking care of the cop car, I won’t be showing you where I was hiding. Ever. You’re not a Little.”

I take great pleasure in informing him that while I may love him, that doesn’t mean he’s going to take everything from me. In fact, he’s going to be doing a lot of giving. He looks at me, his yellow eyes shining in the afternoon sun.

“You know, Redley, you’ve never bored me, not for one minute.” His words again take me by surprise as well as the intensity and depth of emotion in his eyes. “I felt more alive with you chasing me through the woods, trying to kill me than I ever have in my whole damn life, and if that’s all I could ever have gotten from you, I would’ve taken it because that’s how obsessed with you I am.”

He strokes the ring, still sitting on my finger. “I’m pretty sure I’m gonna wake up tomorrow, and this will all have been some crazy dream. ’Cause there ain’t no way Redley Little actually chose me.”

He kisses me, and it’s too damn sweet for me to stomach, so I shove him away. He laughs as he pulls me in tighter and forces me to accept his affection. I had no idea he was going to be like this. I was right when I called him a puppy; all he wants is to be pet.

We stand over top the ashen remains of the home where I spent half my life. Turns out that moonshine is one hell of an accelerant, and dry wood burns quick. Despite my loss and the hollowness of this cabin being gone, I can breathe far easier here than I could before. Like Granny’s presence was trapped and hanging on, and has been freed by clearing her blackened blood from this earth. I mean really should anyone be left hanging on like that?

“Are you okay?” he asks. “I’m not really used to caring about other people, so I don’t even know if I’m doing this right, but I am truly sorry I let him do this to you. I should’ve been stronger sooner, and I should’ve stopped him. As your husband, I won’t make a mistake like that again.”

My heart is hurting something terrible, but I consider whether we should do the same to the house down the hill. I’m too upset to even remind him that he’s not my husband. There’s no cleaning those stains now. Just like Granny’s blood, theirs is permanently stained into the wood. I’ve gotten revenge for my family on the man who killed them.

There isn’t anything left I want to investigate or look into, and maybe some of their souls are sticking behind and lingering the same way. Or perhaps I’m being too superstitious, and the idea of burning down another perfectly good cabin is insane, but I don’t know. Maybe I’m just insane now. He’s right, I like killing.

I turn to Wolf who’s watching me with a nervous expression, waiting for whatever I’m going to say.

“We should burn the other house too, after I look for a few things.”

“Okay, but we need to get you cleaned up and comfortable first.”