Page 88 of The Magic of Revenge
"Uh, well, we'll need you to come collect his belongings."
"Burn them."
"Oh. Well, okay. We can certainly dispose of them. Then there's the matter of his body."
"Burn that, too," I all but growled.
"Cremation is a service that we offer. However, his remains will have to be picked up in person by his next of kin. That is you."
Motherfucker. I didn't want the bastard's ashes.
"I'm kind of in the middle of something," I gritted out. It wasn't Michelle Murphy’s fault that my father's death was something I didn't give two shits about.
"I understand, Sir. However, it is the policy of the penitentiary that we—"
"Fuck. Okay. I'll come pick them up." The prison was only a few hours away. I could go and be back within eight hours and then I'd be done with this shit forever. Fucking freedom. A smile tugged at my mouth at the thought of never having to think about that son of a bitch again.
"And when can we expect you? I'll have a visitor's pass waiting at reception."
"Tomorrow." And I hung up. It wasn't until I put my phone down I realized my hands were trembling.
Holy shit. He's dead. Gone. The one thing I'd thirsted for since that night Kai shifted for the first time had finally fucking happened. I reached for a glass and filled it with water, downed the whole thing, and then refilled it, chugging half of that one. Still no word from Cam... but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I had faith they'd get everything handled safely.
Glancing back to the barn, nothing looked amiss, but it had been about ten minutes since she'd gone out there. I was expecting her to have returned by now. Shifting on my feet, I decided I'd just wait for her on the back patio. It wasn't eavesdropping.
I found myself pacing across the paving stones, getting antsier with each passing second.Okay. Fuck. That's enough. I'll just give her a call and check in.Pulling up her contact info, I hit call and waited. A moment later I heard her phone ringing softly from the barn. And it kept ringing. And ringing. And ringing.
My feet were flying across the grass before the voicemail connected and I flung the barn door open, swearing when I saw the food she'd brought scattered across the floor along with her phone. I ran to the back of the barn, my heart nearly stopping when I saw the chair Laurie had been in was empty. There was no sign of her or Red.Oh, Christ. No. This cannot be happening again. Not on my gods damned watch.
I ran back outside and scanned the ground for signs of footsteps or a struggle. I'd been watching the whole time... except when I’d dropped my fucking phone. Fuck. Of course, my piece of shit father had landed one last kick to my stomach. The grass was trampled off to the side of the barn, toward the side that was hidden from the view at the kitchen window. My pulse was galloping as I spotted the small animal door on the side of the building and clear signs that someone had squeezed their way through here. The grass was torn up from what looked like hands.
A scream tore through the night, sending bats to the sky from their perches in the canopy. I sprinted for the forest, silently begging Red to keep making sounds so I could find her. Another scream had me adjusting my path and I ran full speed, the lush green forest turned dark and dead. This was the aftermath of Red bringing Fischer back. Ash billowed up from the ground with each thundering step I took. My skin itched and crawled with fury and determination. I'd had quite enough of this fucking shit. She. Was. Mine.
My lungs burned with the force I was putting into running. I don't think I'd ever moved as fast in my life. Before I had time to react, I collided with something. Or someone. They released an oomph that could have only come from a woman. My hands out in front of me, I shifted myself so that when I hit the ground, I rolled and easily hopped back to my feet. Spinning around, Laurie was standing there, her eyes wide.
"Where. Is. She?" I snarled, prowling closer. There was nobody here to stop me from killing her. She deserved death for all the pain she'd caused.
"Who?" she asked, as she tried not to grin. Actually had to try not to smile at the fact that her daughter was out here screaming in the woods.
"Don't fuck with me, bitch. Your mother and daughter might have wanted you to suffer in prison, but I would much rather squeeze your neck until the blood vessels in your eyes explode. Just like you did to Fischer. In fact, fuck this. My fucks are gone. You're dead." I launched myself at her and she planted a solid kick to my chest, packing more power than I anticipated. No matter. She still was no match for me and she didn't have her magic.
I shot a line of fire at her and she screeched, falling onto her back. Laurie flailed as I landed on top of her, my hand wrapping around her dainty throat. I could crack her fucking spine right now. But I needed to know where Red was first.
"Where is Saige?" I snarled.
She spit in my face. I blinked and for some unknown reason, I laughed. Using my free hand, I wiped the wetness from my face.
"Start talking or I'm going to start squeezing and I won't stop until you're so close to death you can see the grim reaper coming to drag your ass to hell. Then I'll let up and do it all over again. I want you to feel that panic, that fucking fear. That's what you deserve," I growled and she tried to spit at me again but I anticipated it this time and slapped her across the face.
"Where is she?!" I roared and started squeezing the life out of her. All I saw was red, fire burning in front of my eyes. The need for vengeance, for justice... Her fingers raked down my arms and when her lips started moving, I released slightly so that she could talk.
"I don't know. I don't know where she is, I never saw her," Laurie gasped. I wasn't buying it.
"Liar," I hissed.
"No. I swear. I never saw Saige," she swore and for some stupid reason, I believed her. Didn't mean I wasn't going to choke her ass out.
"Then we're done here," I told her, increasing the pressure on her windpipe and reveling in the panic that flared in her eyes.
