Page 50 of Lady Killer

Alister had softened something in me, and somehow, my defenses against both had been compromised.

“I have a present for you.”

Why did that sound both incredibly alarming and the tiniest bit exciting? “What did you do?”

Everest didn’t answer. Instead, he reached inside his wool coat and pulled out a small square gift box wrapped in a camel-colored satin bow.

“That’s—‍”

“Your favorite color,” he said helpfully, holding it up for me to take.

I took the box from his hand, giving it a gentle shake. It was fairly lightweight, and inside, a couple of small objects could be heard moving around.

They sounded . . . damp.

I tugged on the ribbon, pulling it loose, and held it out to him. “Hold it, please.”

He smiled in delight.

I grasped the top of the box and lifted. It caught for a second before pulling apart with a faint whoosh.

“Everest . . .”

“Yes, Starbright.”

“What am I looking at?”

Four blood-crusted, wrinkled, fleshy slugs lay atop soggy tissue paper.

Except that wasn’t quite right. Because that looks like adipose tissue, and that looks like . . .

“They shouldn’t have let such vile filth fall from their lips if they didn’t want to lose them,” he said.

“Their lips . . . Whose lip—Oh!”

Understanding washed over me, and Everest’s grin stretched out disconcertingly wide.

“You cut off their lips?” I said, trying to make sure I understood.

His head bobbed up and down emphatically.

“Are they still alive?”

He nodded again, this time with an awfully adorable scowl on his face.

I delicately put the lid back on the box and set it on the desk next to Everest. I wasn’t squeamish. I had cut Aaron’s heart from his chest after all, but the lips were distracting.

“You don’t like them?”

Have you ever seen a serial killer crestfallen? Has your heart ever broken for a very bad man?

I stepped up to the edge of the desk, brushing against his crossed shins as I got closer. He radiated intense warmth, and I wanted to wrap myself up in him.

Instead, I put my hands on either side of his face and brought my eyes level with his.

“I love them.”

Chapter sixteen

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