Fear the Wicked (Illusions Series Book 2)(52)
Slowly making my way down the trail that my prey always followed, I took my time weaving beneath the thick branches of trees, moving into and out of the streams of dying sunlight that managed to break through the leaves. One after another, those rays lit my path until the woods opened up into a small clearing where a small wooden cabin could be found. Smoke rose in slow puffs out of the chimney letting me know that Richard was inside.
Stepping slowly through the twigs and dead leaves, I barely made a sound as I approached and listened closely for any clue as to what he was doing to pass the time. It had been a week since he’d abducted the businessman and his daughter. Surely the girl was dead by now.
My hand wrapped over the handle of the door as soon as I was within reach, my forearm flexing as I turned it and let myself inside.
Turns out the girl wasn’t dead after all. The bastard had kept her alive for the entire week. Richard’s head spun in my direction as soon as he heard me step in. I looked at the girl with a question in my eye before returning my gaze back to him. He didn’t need to hear the question to know what I was asking.
“I want to keep her,” he confessed. “I want her instead of my wife.”
My lips kicked up into a smile. “And what will you do when she grows older? Kill her and replace your wife again? Isn’t that how we found your wife in the first place? You always want to keep them, Richard. I allowed it once, but I won’t take that risk again.”
His broad shoulders rolled back, his chest puffing out with anger. “She won’t say anything. I’ll make sure of it. She wants to stay with me.”
I highly doubted that, but still I looked over at the young girl who sat naked and shivering on top of the platform, her body wrapped in the same thick blanket I’d used long ago with Eve. Her face was downturned and she didn’t bother to look up at me. There was no doubt she’d lied to Richard in order to stay alive, and she’d chosen to endure the rape and torture hoping that someday she’d find a way to escape.
“I’m sorry, Richard. But you’ll have to let her go.”
The poor girl winced in response to my words. Still staring at her, I noticed her eyes close and a tear slip down her cheek. I had to hand it to her for being a decent enough actress to make Richard believe she really wanted him. Even now I was struggling to see the truth that she was planning her escape.
“When?” he asked, his gritty voice curt and clipped. “When do I have to let her go?”
My eyes snapped to his, a question flickering through my mind that I couldn’t help but ask. “You do know what I mean by let her go, right? You haven’t forgotten what’s to be done with them when we’re through playing?”
Darting a glance between the girl and me, Richard stepped in my direction and moved past me to open the front door. I turned to see him silently request for me to follow him outside.
The door closed as we stepped out into the woods and I leaned back against an exterior wall. Folding my arms over my chest I watched in amused silence as Richard struggled to bring himself under control. He was angry that I’d told him the girl couldn’t stay, angry that I treated him like the minion he was rather than an equal partner with equal say.
“Why can’t I keep her?” he asked, his feet pivoting on their heels, his eyes locking to mine with frustration and rage. “I should have a choice of who I want to fuck on a nightly basis.”
He’d taken his current wife, much like he’d stolen the girl in the cabin, and had begged for her much like he was begging now. How many woman would he have to go through to figure out he’d lose interest once they grew older? I wanted to hate him for looking upon practical children with more desire than he did adults, wanted to toss him firmly in the same category as the bastard priest and music director who had laughed at me with the same lust-filled eyes.
“You’ll only grow tired of her, Richard. Stop denying it to yourself. She’ll grow older just like the other one did and how will we explain to the family that your wives keep mysteriously dying?” Pausing, I allowed my words to sink in. “You can keep this one until we need the cabin for something else. I’m not saying you have to get rid of her immediately. If anybody questions your absence, you can claim that I saw evil approaching the compound and you’re outside watching the perimeter. Those brainwashed bastards will believe anything you tell them as long as it points to their bullshit God.”
Huffing out a breath, Richard’s shoulders relaxed to find out that I wasn’t demanding he dispose of the young woman immediately. Shuffling his foot over the dirt in front of him, he swallowed down his hasty rage and took a few seconds to look up at me. “Why are you out here?”
“I need to talk to you about Eve. It seems she’s ready to stop consuming the teas I left for you to give her, and I want you to watch her closely when I’m not around. She’s close to death, Richard, and I don’t want anything happening to my blushing bride.”
Nodding his head, he kicked at the dirt again. “I would have told you that, but watching the compound and traveling out to the parish to talk is hard. Nobody answers the damn phone over there.”
I was never in the office to answer the phone, my priestly duties taking up much of my time. It was a good excuse I could use to explain to the Diocese why I was never available to take their calls.
“Stop giving Eve the tea. Start making sure she’s eating and regaining her strength. It was never my intention to kill her. I want her kept safe.”