“I haven’t done it yet, but I’m going to.” He flicks my nose, and I sputter in response, slapping away his hand. His smile grows, taking over his scarred face and brightening his yin-yang eyes.
Jesus, his smile is fucking dangerous. It easily stops my heart.
“Eight o’clock, little mouse. It’ll hurt my feelings if you miss it.”
“You can’t sit there, Addie! You’ll be sitting right in Baine’s lap. And he’s awfully bony, so he won’t be very comfortable.”
My ass is popped out mid-air, suspended over my leather couch when she stops me.
“Uhm, okay,” I sigh, a smidge tired of avoiding my own damn furniture because Sibby’s imaginary friends are sitting all over it. Can’t they stand? It’s not like their invisible legs are going to get tired.
I straighten and Sibby gasps loudly, causing me to jump and almost drop my wine.
“What?” I ask, alarmed, searching the couch for a spider or something. They don’t scare me, but Sibby tends to morph into an even smaller child when bugs come out.
“I am so sorry, Addie. Baine grabbed your ass. Baine, don’t do that! Zade is going to kill you, ya know? He gets his balls in a knot when people touch her.”
“Balls in a knot?” I mutter, both confused and utterly fucking frazzled. I hike a thumb over my shoulder awkwardly when she continues to berate Baine.
“I’m gonna go over here,” I mumble, just a little disturbed. I turn on the TV and flip to Channel 8. They’re droning on about Xavier again, and I immediately break out into a sweat, waiting for my picture to pop up as a person of interest.
I think if I were, the police would have already come knocking, but my anxiety gets away from me anyway.
Taking a large gulp of wine, I glance at the time on my phone and note that it’s 7:59 PM. If I know Zade, whatever he’s about to pull, he’ll be on time. Eight on the dot, to the very second.
I take another sip, rolling my eyes when Sibby’s hand slides up her thigh, pushing up her black polka-dot dress, and then proceeds to slap at her own hand, yelling at Mortis for trying to hit on her in front of me. She’s getting better about keeping the sexual activities to herself.
My heart trips over itself when the image of the reporter on TV begins to skip and then turns to static before cutting out. I gasp when a picture of a man replaces the reporter, his black hood dr
awn over his head and face covered with a familiar black mask with a dramatic frown, and a slash through the eye.
No fucking way.
Slowly, I stand, my mouth open as I near the TV.
“Greetings, fellow Americans,” Zade starts, my brows jumping when I hear how abnormally deep his voice is. He altered it. “In light of the disappearance of oil tycoon, Xavier Delano, this is a message for the police force, all government officials, and as always, the people of this country.”
Zade crosses his black-gloved hands, seeming to get comfortable.
“Xavier Delano was buying young women as sex slaves from human traffickers, then murdering them when he grew bored. I have released all evidence of this online. Pictured above are several women who he bought, tortured, raped, and killed. Remember their names. I have. In honor of all the women who lost their lives to this man, I took matters into my own hands. Xavier Delano is not missing. He’s dead.”
Zade leans forward and cocks his head. An eeriness pulses through the radio waves emitting from the screen. Raw danger radiates throughout my bones when I look into the bottomless holes where his eyes are hidden. I shiver, delighting in the feel of it.
“He is not the first to suffer the consequences of his actions, and he will not be the last. I am Z, and I am watching. No one is safe. Especially not those who have betrayed me.”
His video disappears, cutting back to the news reporter’s pale, slackened face.
A loud crunch snaps me out of the hypnotizing effect I’d gotten lost in. I whip my head toward Sibby to see her shoving a handful of popcorn in her mouth. She must feel my stare because she stops mid-chew, her cheeks puffed out, and looks at me with wide innocent eyes.
“What?”
“He took responsibility for it all,” I say, dazed.
Sibby blinks, appearing confused. “Well, of course he did. I mean, he wasn’t entirely lying, but Zade would do anything to protect you.” She cocks her head. “Did you honestly doubt him?”
My mouth parts. “I guess I just wasn’t expecting… that.”
Sibby shrugs, scarcely swallowing the first mouthful before she’s stuffing her face again. “It was smart.”