Jaden (Jaded #3)(74)

She had a point, but it didn’t change the fact I was sober, and she was on something. She had the weapon, though. I started to look around. I needed a weapon. I needed something, at least.

“Oh no.” Her gleam kicked up a notch and the side of her mouth curved up. “Look at you.” She waved her knife in the air. “Remembered that I have the weapon, huh? You bitch.”

I kept quiet.

Maybe I was in shock. I should’ve been scared, but I wasn’t. She wasn’t even making my blood boil. Then I saw Grace behind her, and I let out a relieved sigh. She was back. She hadn’t left me.

Okay, yes. I was crazy. I was thankful a ghost had come to help me out. We both needed to head to the mental hospital.

I remembered Sheila’s words, “We think when Maria realized the object of her obsession was turning on her, she felt rejected and this sent her into a tailspin of panic and rage.”

I murmured, “They said you’re obsessed with Guadalupe.”

“Shut up,” she hissed.

“That you felt rejected by her.”

“I said SHUT UP!” She jumped forward, but jumped right back. She still held the knife up between us, but her hold on it had switched. She wasn’t holding it like she was going to use it on me. Her hand moved to the side, and she was holding it up, as if to ward me off.

My words. She didn’t want to hear what I was saying.

I kept going. “She called to press charges on you that night, didn’t she? The cops said they think it was a manipulation tactic. She was distancing herself from you.”

“I said to SHUT UP! SHUT UP!”

In a quiet voice, I kept going. Anything to derail her. She needed to feel like I was attacking her. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I needed the upper hand. That was all I was looking for. I added, moving to the side, circling around her, “She was going to set you up for killing Grace. That’s what she was doing, wasn’t it?”

“No, that’s not the truth.” Her voice cracked. A ring of desperation was coming out.

I moved again, still in my circle.

She countered me and slowly, one step at a time, we were starting to switch positions.

I was half way there. She was directly across from me, her back to my closet now. “You were the fall guy, and Guadalupe was going to get away with it, but you love her, don’t you?” Oh yes. This is like Marcus and me. He loved me. He wanted to be with me, but I turned on him. “She didn’t want you.”

“Shut up.”

“You were trying to get her lover back for her. That’s all you were doing. I go away, she gets Bryce again, and then she’s happy. You wanted to give her happiness.”

“Wha—shut up!” she hissed out. Her hand switched back so she was holding the knife, ready to lunge for me. She had regained control. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. The cops don’t know either.”

“They said you went to a mental hospital. You went in four times. Are you sure they have it wrong? Maybe you’re wrong? What you’re seeing isn’t real?”

“No,” she croaked, blinking her eyes again. “GOD! Why can’t I see? I was drugged. They drugged me.”

I nodded. “I’m sure they did. They do that to help you.”

“No—no! Shut UP! I was drugged against my will. I didn’t want that. It messes with your head, what they put in there, and what she did. What she said.” Her voice dipped and her lip started to tremble. “Guadalupe. Lupe. My love. She’s dead.”

I nodded. “Because you killed her.”

Her eyes narrowed to slits, and she hissed at me. An image of a rattlesnake came to mind. She was getting ready to strike, and I had nothing to defend myself. Control, Sheldon. Take control again. My heart rate started to pick up. Great timing. The shock was wearing off, and yes, here came my own terror. Crap. I was in the room with a killer, and she was there to kill me, too. I looked at the door. I could lunge for it? But no.

I played it out in my head.

I would reach for the door, and she would stab me in the back. She could get to me. I had to knock her out, or knock her back.

Scream, Sheldon!

I frowned. Where had that come from? I wasn’t in my crazy/shocked state anymore. No more Grace talking to me, but damn, that sounded like her. No, I couldn’t scream. I didn’t want anyone coming in. She could swipe at them too, or my god, they would step in front of me. She would kill them instead. Bryce. Corrigan. I couldn’t risk them. It was her and me.

“Look at you,” she murmured in a soft soothing tone.

I gritted my teeth. I was scared, and she sounded in complete control now. This bitch was going to win. I knew it then. My mind was scrambling, but I was going to lose. I had nothing to unbalance her. My card was Guadalupe, and I used it.

Physical force?

Did I dare?

That damn knife. If I missed, I was dead.

I glanced at the door again. It was my only shot.

“Lupe’s gone.”

I looked up. Maria was gazing away from me, lost in her thoughts now. Okay, I just got lucky. She continued, sounding sad, “She killed her. I didn’t. I never wanted anything to harm Lupe. She was my light. If she wanted something, I got it for her. I made her happy. That was my job. You wouldn’t understand. Your job is to kill. You bring darkness everywhere. You brought darkness to us, to me. I’m full of it now. Only dark. Only death. Lupe’s eyes, they were so lifeless.”