Page 25 of Worse Than Wicked
Wrapping my fingers around his head, I twist, snapping his neck in one swift crack.
I tip his head back, pull the bottle from my pocket, and dump the contents down his throat.
I lift his head and slam it down on the side of the tub again and again until his skull caves, blood swirling through the water, transforming it into a bathtub full of strawberry syrup.
But if I did that, I’d still have Baron… For a moment.
Even if Baron walked out, and then I struck, once Duke was gone, I’d be left alone with him and his depraved punishments. He’ll never let me go. Duke is my guard dog, the only thing standing between me and his brother, the attack dog. The best I can do is to survive them both, appeal to Duke’s humanity, and direct Baron’s dark impulses towards those who deserve it. And when I can’t do that, aim them at the one person who can survive them—me.
seven
Duke Dolce
They put me to bed between them. That place is usually carefully reserved for Mabel, both because we can protect her and because we can guard her there. Baron’s also very aware of touching me, even when we’re with Mabel. He always scoots away, adjusts positions, moves his hands. I think he knows, even though I’ve never told him. He always knows everything.
Just like tonight, he knows that I need this, even though I hate it as much as I love it beyond reason, without reason. Mabel scoots close and wraps her arms around me like we’re dancing, threading her fingers in my hair and resting her cheek against my chest.
I hold back from returning the gesture, even though I crave the comfort, the intimacy. For once, she can know what it’s like to give more, and I’ll make sure she knows it, even if it keeps me from getting what I need. So I let my arms hang at my sides instead of wrapping her into a mutual embrace. Neither of us deserve that, anyway.
“You going to tell me what happened?” she whispers in the dark.
“I just…” I say, turning my face toward the ceiling. “Stopped. That’s all.”
“Well, I’m glad you restarted.”
She wraps her arms tighter around me, like she doesn’t even need me to hold her back.
Tonight, she’s the first to fall asleep. Usually it’s Baron if we’ve brutalized her enough to satisfy him, or me, if I resisted an evening pearl and drank myself stupid instead.
I lay there, annoyed that my cold shoulder didn’t work on her. After a while, I hear Baron shifting in the sheets.
“I think we should go back tomorrow,” he says.
“We just got here,” I point out, absently scratching at my arms. Inside me, under my skin, the itch for more has sprung up. I can’t remember the last time I went a whole day without visiting Wonderland.
“This place isn’t good for any of us.”
I know he’s just saying that so he doesn’t single me out. He and Mabel are too rational to let a place get to them.
Then again, he’s the one who snapped first. He choked her out. I didn’t hurt anyone.
“Don’t you want to find her?” I ask, giving in at last and wrapping my arms around Mabel. She nestles closer in her sleep, as if I’ve ever protected her.
“I’m not a bounty hunter,” Baron says behind me. “I can work from anywhere.”
“What about that Ingrid chick?”
“I’d rather put distance between her and Mabel,” he says. “If she’s even the one who was here.”
“You think it was Jane?” I ask, a little shiver racing up my spine.
“I don’t know,” Baron admits quietly. “If she’s alive, and she wanted to find me, she would have gone back to the rental we had last summer.”
“She could have asked around,” I point out, turning onto my back. “Even if no one in Havoc Harbor knows us, we’re pretty noticeable, even in a place that sees a lot of tourists in the summer.”
“True,” Baron muses. “They could have found out that we had a connection with Mabel and where she lived, especially if her aunt is still around here somewhere. Which is all the more reason to leave.”
“So if Jane was staying here before we came back…” I trail off, cold dread racing like spiders over my skin.
