This is the one point on which he is utterly irrational. Cole loves his art. He’d no sooner destroy it than he’d destroy me.
I almost want to let Hawks search the house just to show him how fucking stupid he’s being.
On the other hand, he’s not completely wrong. Cole is a murderer, just not the one he’s looking for.
The only way to deal with Hawks is to keep him at bay until we can deliver Shaw gift-wrapped. Just in time for Christmas.
Calmly, I remove Hawks’ fingers from my arm, grabbing his pinky and bending it back until he lets go.
“You’re wrong,” I tell him, flatly. “You’ll see it for yourself soon enough.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“The Beast of the Bay kills three times. Have you noticed that?”
Hawks goes still, eyes glinting behind his glasses. “Last time was four.”
My stomach lurches.
Can’t think about that. Picturing Erin drowned on my bed doesn’t fucking help her.
“The point is, he started a new cycle. Why don’t you try tailing Shaw on your off-hours? Either you’ll catch him in the act … or you’ll save a girl from becoming his next victim.”
To his credit, Hawks actually considers this idea. But then his eyes narrow and he hisses, “Sounds like you want to clear the way for your boyfriend’s nocturnal activities.”
I’m losing my patience.
“If that’s what you think, then there’s no point continuing this conversation. I would NEVER help a man hurt another woman. I’m a ladies’ lady and always will be.”
Shaking off Hawks, I storm into the building.
Sonia is already hurrying over, having seen the whole thing through the window. She looks ready to rip Hawks a new asshole if he hadn’t let go of me.
Sonia is also a ladies’ lady.
When she sees that I’m fucking fuming, she puts her arm around my shoulders
“You want me to call his boss?” she says. “Or better yet—I’ll call Cole.”
“No need. I told him off myself.”
“I’ll bet you did,” Sonia grins approvingly. “You’re turning into quite the little hellcat.”
I let out a laugh, thinking that Cole calls me a pleasure kitty, and Sonia a hellcat. I really don’t mind either of those descriptors. In fact, they suit me perfectly.
“I don’t want to claw his eyes out. But I will if I have to.”
Sonia snorts. “Now you sound like Cole. Must be a hazard of working here. We all become a little more … utilitarian.”
Sonia and I part ways at the stairs, her attending to the monumental labor of running Cole’s empire, and me heading upstairs to work on my newest series.
Sonia is right. Cole is rubbing off on me, and so is she. We always become like the people that surround us. No human is an island. We’re more like rocks in a tumbler, knocking each other’s rough edges, polishing and refining one another as we pass.
These days, I have no problem with the company I keep.
18
Cole
Shaw dies on Christmas Eve.
That’s the plan.
I’ve gone over it with Mara a thousand times, but I still hate that I have to involve her. She’s the bait, and the bait is never entirely safe from being swallowed whole.
We’re attending the East Bay Artists’ Christmas party. In the art world, this is the biggest rager of the year—bigger than Halloween or New Year’s. Holding it on Christmas Eve probably means something—that artists lack the traditional family ties that would usually consume this night of the year. That used to be true for me.
Tonight I wish I was home with Mara, far away from anyone else.
At least she looks fucking stunning. I love showing her off. Wish I didn’t have to ruin it all in a few hours’ time.
Mara wears a glittering gown, the halter top cut almost down to the navel, the long skirt hiding the fact that she’s wearing her favorite boots beneath. No high heels tonight—that would be very stupid.
Her makeup is full of sparkles too, her hair tumbling down her back in dark waves, with little diamond stars and moons pinned all over it. She looks like the night sky come to life.
Her arms are bare, the long scars running up both wrists still dark and raised. They’ll probably never fade.
Tonight, they’re meant as an invitation to Shaw: come finish what you started.
I know he’ll be here, though I haven’t seen him yet. He wouldn’t miss the biggest event of the year.
The party is in the Castro Theater on Market Street. The old baroque theater is currently being renovated, so all the seats have been removed, leaving plenty of space for socializing and dancing. The movie screen remains, playing a loop of psychedelic images: time-lapse video of flowers blooming, withering, dying. Raindrops falling upward in reverse. Spiraling mandalas that break apart and reform like beads in a kaleidoscope.
The music pumping from the speakers is dark and insistent, perfect for my current mood.
On My Knees – RÜFÜS DU SOL
Spotify → geni.us/no-devil-spotify
Apple Music → geni.us/no-devil-apple
Right before we left the house, I tucked a knife in the pocket of Mara’s long black evening coat.
“I’m not going to need that,” she said.
“I don’t care,” I snapped. “You’re taking it anyway.”
The knife is freshly sharpened, the blade finer than a razor’s edge. I have its twin in the pocket of my tux.
Shaw won’t use a gun, and neither will I. A knife is far more personal. And far more effective, once we’re in close range of one another.
I’ll keep my promise to Shaw: the next time we’re alone, only one of us will leave alive.
We circulate through the crowd, Mara staying close by my side as we both search for Shaw. It’s easy for me to make conversation with anyone we pass, because I’m used to scheming and chatting at the same time. It’s harder for Mara. Her smile is strained, her eyes darting around the party.
I keep my hand on the small of her back to calm her.
She makes a sharp sound, drawing in a breath.
“Do you see him?” I mutter.
“Not Shaw—Hawks is here.”
Fuck.
I turn to look, spotting him over by the open bar. He’s dressed in a rented tux to try to blend in, but his best disguise is his scruffy face and uncombed hair. That’s what really makes him look like one of us.
Hawks has been demoted again. He was in charge of the investigation of the Beast of the Bay for two short weeks—then Alastor made another kill, and Hawks was booted back down the ladder.
Mara was devastated when she heard the news of another body on the shore. She said we waited too long to attack Shaw.
“The Christmas party is our best chance,” I told her. “If we don’t play this off flawlessly, if we tip him off in any way, it won’t work. He’ll bolt and we’ll be right back where we started.”
In a way, it benefits us. That was the second girl in the cycle. Shaw will be aching to complete the triad.
And Mara is the perfect prize.
If I know anything, I know that Shaw is salivating to take her from me. He wants it more than he wants money or success. Killing Mara would be the ultimate act of domination over me. Shaw ascending to his final form.