I push Seraphina’s hair off her face and wipe my hand across her brow. She’s sweaty and feverish. I’m awestricken by her radiant smile but wary as I lift her into my arms. The last time I thought she allowed me to help her without a fight, I was surprised by a foot crushing my nose. Could a little soup mend fences like that? Doubtful.
There’s a wet spot on the bed beneath her, and I can tell from the damp shift that she’s been sweating terribly. She will need antibiotics, but shouldn’t need to be hospitalized. She weighs nothing, and my chest pangs in response. Looking around the derelict room, I’m forced to admit I’m another person who caused my Angel pain. I’ll need to better handle my temper after this and ensure it never happens again.
Seraphina wraps her arms around my neck, her fingers tangling in my hair as she clings to me. Her nose burrows into the crook of my neck, and she inhales my scent. She smells like sweat and fear, but that sweetness that’s distinctly hers persists. She’s so tiny in my arms, so precious, and I feel the overwhelming urge to kiss every inch of her body and make everything right. My chest is so warm I struggle to keep standing. I want to lay us both on that shitty bed and hold her.
Holy shit, what have I done?
“This is a warmer reception than I expected,” I admit as she kisses my neck and we leave the abandoned wing. I doubt I’ll even send someone here to clean up after her. Maybe, I’ll have it permanently blocked off.
She hums, and the vibrations tingle more around the stubble on my neck. “You were right about most things, and I missed you, even though you’re an ass.”
I laugh as I tip her chin up so that she has to look at me. How is she so lovely, even as sickly as she seems? Her eyes remind me of spring flowers despite the bags beneath them, and her lips are plush pink petals, even cracked and sore.
“You swearing at me is new. Though I was watching the cameras the whole time, and you did an awful lot of that while I was gone.”
“Yeah, we’re at the point in our relationship where I’m going to tell you when you’re being an asshole, dick–”
I cut her off with a hand over her mouth.
“Are you sure you’re not being affectionate because you were hungry and needed me to feed you?”
“Well, seeing as you left me alone for three days and are the cause of my hunger, I think you canceled out your good deed.” Despite the acid in her tone, she nuzzles more deeply against my skin, like the separation was really the hardest part for her.
She sounds more irritated than outright angry, and I’m tired of the panicked feeling in my chest.
“Seraphina, I’m serious!”
She bites her lip as she stares at mine. A little smirk forms around the edges of her lips.
“It was lovely that you fed me.” She cocks her head to the side. Is she flirting with me?
“That’s not an answer.”
“After three days alone in that shitty room, you’re lucky I’m answering you at all.”
“Seraphina,”
She sighs. “Shane, I’m not going to pretend anything you’ve done is okay, but I love you, and I don’t care anymore. I’ve never been happier than when I’m with you. There’s no one left to explain my choices to, and I choose you.” She takes a deep breath. “It will take me time to get over what you did to Tim, but I suppose I can understand it. I-I don’t know what I would do to someone who was hurting you.”
I pause in the hallway letting her words sink in.
She loves me, chooses me, and understands?
“I hope you’re not telling me what I want to hear in hopes of avoiding your punishment, Angel. That would be especially cruel of you.” I sound angry, and I realize it’s because I’m fucking scared.
“And why would it be cruel?”
“Because I love you so fucking much that when you left me, you ripped my heart out. And if you would say you loved me without meaning it…” I can’t finish. There aren’t words for the feeling.
“I would never do that to you, Shane.” She grabs my cheeks and pulls my lips briefly to hers. “You were right. I remember everything, and no matter what it says about me, I wanted everything. I’m sick and fucked-up, but I love you.”
“No, Angel, you have kinks, and you love a sick and fucked-up man. But you are perfect.”
She’s quiet for a minute as I carry her through the house.
“About my punishment…”
“I’m sorry, Angel. I wish I could take it back, but I’m a man of my word, and what’s done is done.” I want to keep talking and explain away what I’m about to do, but I know there’s no justification, and there’s no going back now. Hell, even if I didn’t make a production out of it, I couldn’t just let him go.
“What do you mean?” She stiffens in my arms as we enter the sunken lounge at the back of the house. “What did you do that you can’t take back?”
“Seraphina?” A deep and gravel-filled voice asks from the couch on the other side of the room.
Seraphina pulls her face out of my neck, her mouth popping open in shock. Her head turns toward him with comic slowness, and a little sound rips from her throat when her eyes land on him. Her hands drop from around my neck, and she grabs onto her own.
“Dad? What are you doing here!?”
She pushes against my hold to get a closer look. Despite how weak she is, I let her down. She sways on her feet, and I help her to a chair. She sits because she’s not strong enough to do anything else. Since she verified it was her father, she hasn’t looked back, and her eyes stay on the floor.
“What is he doing here, Shane?” Red blotches stain her cheeks, and it’s not the pretty flush I’m so fond of. She’s distraught.
“He’s your punishment,” I answer, waving to the balding man watching us from the corner.
He’s wearing a bloodied tan shirt and jeans. I found him in his living room reading a paper about homosexuality and sin and how the pope was playing a dangerous game by not openly condemning homosexuals. It was particularly satisfying to punch him in the face at that moment. In addition to hurting my Angel, I can’t stand a bigot.
The offending middle-aged man sits bound, but I haven’t needed to gag him. The worst thing he’s done since I broke into Seraphina’s childhood home and abducted him was punching me once in the cheek and quoting scripture. That was annoying, but ultimately any information he gave me would be more valuable than his silence. Of course he didn’t tell me much in the day-and-a-half-long drive here, but what he gave me is enough to learn he’s a nastier monster than I am. The kind that takes pleasure in hurting his own child.
Seraphina’s face falls, big fat tears spilling over her eyes. I’m shocked by how quickly she understands what I have planned. She’s malnourished and sick, so I expected to explain the situation.
“You’re this mad at me!?” she bawls, her bottom lip quaking. “You brought him here so he could see what a disappointment I am? You needed to humiliate me even more!?”
She drops her face into her hands, her entire body shaking, and I regret what I’ve done. How could I underestimate the depths of her self-hatred?
“That’s not what’s happening here. You are not a disappointment, Angel.”
I reach out to touch her, but she smacks my hand away.
Her father makes a disgusted sound from across the room. “Who is this man calling you ‘Angel,’ Seraphina?”
“My psychiatrist, Sir,” she answers without missing a beat, and the hands hiding her face drop to her sides.
“And why would he be calling you something so familiar?” The man is seething mad, and I can only smile. “Why would you let him call you that?”
“Is there a reason I shouldn’t?” I cock my head to the side.
When Jensen doesn’t answer, I turn to his daughter. “Well?”
“That’s what he used to call me.”
“Naughty Angel. You never told me that.” She is something special.
“Why, Seraphina?” The ropes holding him creak as he fights against them, and I wonder what he would do to her if he could get loose.
“I’m a whore, Dad! Are you happy!? Just like you always accused Mom of being, the only difference is she never was!” her voice rips through multiple octaves, and I realize she wasn’t exaggerating her pain over Tim. This is what Seraphina looks like in grief. Seeing this man is agony for her.
Jensen’s face turns a similar shade of red to his daughter’s, and I notice that’s where she got her fair skin and golden blonde hair from.
“Seraphina, stop crying right this minute and answer me. Where is your husband? Where is Timothy, and who is this man besides your psychiatrist?” The Pastor’s voice carries over her tears, and with an efficiency far more significant than my hypnotism, Seraphina’s back snaps ramrod straight, and her tears stop.
“I don’t know, Sir.” She sniffles miserably, but the tears stop. He’s completely tied up, there’s no way for him to hurt her, but he shifts toward her aggressively, awaiting the chance. She’s so submissive to him that I bet she’d untie him if he asked.
This just became even more personal. There won’t be another man with that type of power in her life. Anyone who hurts her dies, and this man has hurt her far worse than I imagined.
“He’s dead, Pastor.” I step in between them, blocking his line of sight to her. She’s had enough of his hateful stares, enough time fearing the aggressive way he acts around her.
“Dear God,” he gasps. “And what happened to him?”
“He was beating your daughter, so I killed him.”
He closes his eyes, tips his head back, and prays. I let him get out a few words before I walk up to him and slap him across the face as hard as possible. He doesn’t react beyond a soft “oof” and cracking his jaw after.
“You don’t even care that he abused her, do you? Par for the course?” I smack him again. “You’re praying for the dead piece of shit who beat your own flesh and blood.”
“She was his wife. Therefore, his right was to punish her as he saw fit!” he shouts in pure rage, and I see Seraphina’s home life crystal clear.
I turn away from him, letting him have my back as he mutters prayers that won’t save him. I keep myself between them so he won’t have a chance to see her again. Then, grabbing my Angel’s chin, I force her to look at me. She sniffles as her reddened eyes meet mine.
“You seem to be under a misunderstanding, Seraphina. I didn’t bring him here to hurt you with his shitty words and opinions. I couldn’t give a fuck less what he thinks, and neither should you. The reason I brought him here is to kill him for hurting you. I needed to prove a point to you about what you mean to me, and this was the only way.”
I expect more tears at the grand reveal of my wicked plans, but Seraphina remains silent, her eyes glazing over. I turn around to check the Pastor’s face. He’s stopped praying, and he’s watching the place his daughter’s voice came from with stoicism that shifts to horror as she doesn’t object.
“You brought him here to kill him?” The hopeful lilt of her voice takes my breath.
Fully facing her, I pretend it’s just the two of us in the room.
“Yes, Angel, I did.” I take her hand and wind my fingers through hers, trying to understand her thoughts and feelings.
Tears spill from her eyes, but they’re not hysterical.
“Thank you, Shane.”
She lifts my hand to her lips and kisses the back of it.
“You’re happy!?”
“I’m relieved. I’m so fucking relieved that I don’t have to be afraid of him anymore. For years, I thought he was going to find me and hurt me. Because of you, he’s never going to.”
“No, he’s not.”
I stroke her hair, assuring her that I’ll keep her safe.
“What did he do, Angel? Why were you so afraid?”
“She’s always been a liar.” Jensen interrupts from the couch. “I never did anything to that girl but raise her the way the good Lord commands.”
He’s not praying anymore because the good pastor act wasn’t working for him, and now he’s pulling out his other tricks. I stepped out of their line of sight, and she stares at him, eyes wide and frightened. The pulse on her neck flutters and I regret giving him a chance to speak to her. I should have slain this dragon for her and not made a spectacle of it.
“They were fighting, and he pushed my mom down a flight of stairs in one of the county buildings. That’s why she died.”
“Shut your mouth, Seraphina. Your mother fell.”
“He said it was an accident, and they had to settle with him. That’s where all my money came from. He got more than me, but I got a lot too.” She’s sobbing. “It’s blood money.”
“Is that how you bought the house?”
She nods.
“You’re sick as you’ve always been, Seraphina. The Devil has gotten his claws even deeper into you than I feared. You’re a lost cause, and I can only hope he calls you home before you disgrace yourself further.”
She doesn’t look at him as she speaks, “I remember you pushing her, Dad. She fell down those stairs because of you. It wasn’t the building’s fault, and Tim was the only one who believed me.”
“Tim’s mother slit her wrists to get away from him. Do you think I care what he believed? God knows my soul, Seraphina, and I have nothing to fear.”
“No wonder you have so much baggage.” I place my hand under her chin and look her over. “I’m done listening to this shit. No one gets to talk about you that way, Angel.”
“Okay.” She nods, and I smile.
“Are you sure this is what you want?”
She smiles back, “No, Shane, this is a punishment, remember?”
I kiss her swiftly, reminding her she’s loved, before turning to her father.
“You should leave, Seraphina.” I’m not facing her, but her defiance is thick in the air.
“I’m not going to watch, but I’m not leaving either.”
“I don’t want this to be another thing you feel guilty about.” I caution her.
“I finally understand that it’s not my place to judge.”
“No, Angel. It’s not.” I’m beyond proud of her as I address her father.
“Any last words?”
I step toward him, making sure I’m blocking the scene from his daughter.
“May God strike you down.”
“You first,” I answer as I pull the knife out of my pocket and plunge it into his neck.
