“Get the Lifeport ready, I’ll finish this.”
Zoe nodded and took a step away, removing her gloves to deal with the shipping transporter.
The machine did everything in one, eliminating the need for separate cold storage and other means of solutions.
It had been designed with a pressure-controlled pump that enabled me to choose the pressure based on the particular organs' needs, in this case, the vasculature. It would also perfusate under aseptic conditions.
All in all, it gave a good peace of mind. Better that the transport could be tracked, and the goods monitored with an app.
Thank fuck I didn’t need to remove any ribs this time around. I was careful when finally removing the fist-sized organ. Kyle helped his fiancé with the transporter, prepping it with more solution and adjusting the gages. The moment the kidney was secure and ready to go they made a hasty exit promising to keep me updated with Demitri.
“You want help?” Niklaus asked, continuing to laze beside Amber.
“Your idea of helping me usually makes more work.”
“Not everyone can be as efficient as you when it comes to handling corpses.”
“Corpses?” I grinned at him. “They aren’t dead yet.”
“Huh.” He glanced down at Amber and smoothed a hand over her brow. Her eyes widening, a fresh wave of tears making them glisten. “You’re right.”
“You can’t keep it,” I warned.
He looked back up at me with a cool smirk. “I don’t want it, sir. I have something better. Thanks to you and sis.”
“Right,” I drawled, grabbing my scalpel once I located where I’d left it. “How is that going?”
“Pretty good. She’s crazy in a good way, you know what I mean?”
I laughed under my breath, slipping the scalpel into Patricia’s jugular, giving it a small twist to make sure I fully severed the vein. Her mouth parted but no sound came out, eyes rolling to the back of her head.
“In other words, I should wish you luck?”
“Exactly.”
I angled my body away from the blood spraying out the side of Patricia’s neck and removed the retractor from between her ribs.
“What’s our timeline looking like for Johnathon?”
“After tonight, things should be done within two weeks.”
“That fast?”
Using both hands, I scooped up all the things I’d taken out to get to Patricia’s kidney and kindly put them back through the opening I’d created.
“I don’t see any reason to prolong this. Catalina isn’t like the others. She’ll be with me indefinitely.”
“You like this girl.”
He sounded amazed and a hint relieved. I wasn’t sure why. I always followed through with what I said I would do. Did I like her? Yes, I did, but that didn’t have anything to do with the deal I’d made with her mother. It just so happened she was what I needed in my life. She was everything I wanted without knowing it until she stepped out of Demitri’s car.
Catalina was one of the most fascinating women I had ever met. Watching her work so hard to keep hold of reality was as enchanting as witnessing the madness inside her be set free.
She was perfect for me.
We had so much fun to have together.
“Okay, I need you to explain this again.”
“Explain what?” I undid the straps meant to keep Patricia in place, and then gathered her lifeless body into my arms. Her nakedness didn’t faze me in the slightest. Wasn’t much to look at even if I wanted to. My ass was bigger than hers.
“Cat is ‘special’, right? Right. But aren’t you in the process of breaking her down like you’ve done the others?”
“Get the door for me,” I commanded, carrying Patricia towards the back room.
He hurried to help, pushing the metal door open so that I could carry her through. The linoleum changed to dirt and the scent went from blood-tinged and clinical to acidic. I laid her body in the metal trough off to the right and then readied the first container of sulfuric to be added to the trough.
Stepping away, I exited the room to retrieve Amber.
“My kink is breaking them into nothing. I like them on their knees begging to be mine and promising that they’ll do anything I ask. They’d happily die for me. I own them—mind, body, and soul.”
“I’m aware…” Niklaus followed behind me like a curious puppy. He was older, but he’d always had a restless, energetic spirit that made it seem like the opposite.
“Catalina was well on her way to insanity before she met me. I’m just giving her mind that last push over the edge.”
“So, you’re not doing anything diff--.”
“She’ll only need to beg a little. When she promises to die for me, she’ll do it happily.” I contemplated Amber for a minute, debating if I should kill her now or let the acid eat away over the next few days while she was still alive. The latter seemed like the best idea.