Page 74 of Knotted their Beauty

“Exactly. It was a bad idea. Very bad, and now you’re going to have to pay for making that decision.”

I scoot down some and grab a fistful of his thigh, waiting until he forces himself to look back at what I’m doing.

“A pound of flesh should do it, don’t you think?” The blade sinks into the side of his leg like butter, the first layer slicing clean off and falling to his ground with a plop. “No? You’re right. What are you, one fifty, one fifty five? I think that should suffice.”

Corvus starts to shake as I continue slicing, layer after layer of skin stacking up until I see bone. I finish with his left thigh and notice Corvus is barely conscious, so I go back to the tarp and grab the airhorn and spray bottle, hitting him with both and laughing when he jumps.

I squat on his right, grinning behind my mask and tilting my head when his lolls toward me. “I don’t want you to miss any of the fun. Gotta stay for the encore, isn’t that right?”

After god knows how long, I’ve removed the skin from both of his legs, arms, back and stomach, and I stare down at my tools with my hands on my hips.

“What next?” I say, knowing Corvus can’t hear me. He’s next to dead already, but I need one final touch to continue making this look like a copy cat.

We withheld the info about The Orphan’s victim assisting in removing their own skin, and we’ve never said anything about the notes.

I grab the creepy doll I bought and tear the head off, poking out the eyes before I pick up a roman candle and stuff one end into the neck hole. I walk back to Corvus, noting the death rattle that’s starting up in his chest, then crouch down by the bastard’s bare backside.

“Someone should have done this sooner,” I growl as I ram the opposite end of the roman candle up his ass. “Maybe you wouldn’t have turned out to be such a sick fucker.”

I light the fuse hanging out of the doll’s neck, stand and start backing away.

I watch until the thing explodes, lighting Corvus up like the fourth of July, pieces of his ass flying with little splatter since he’s been bleeding out for hours. I look over my work a moment longer, nodding in approval, enjoying the immense satisfaction swelling in my chest before I start cleaning up.

I wipe down my suit and put everything in ziplock bags, careful to stay on the tarp the entire time, bagging up everything I brought with me the same way before putting it all back into the duffle. Pulling on a second full body protective suit, gloves and booties, I have a moment of panic over passing out on the drive back, but I can’t leave any trace of anything in the car until I decide what I’m going to do with it.

I might not have the experience The Orphan does, but I’ve been living in his head for a long time, at this kind of work even longer, and I can only hope all of that is going to pay off.

No matter what happens, I did this for my daughter, and I can rest easy knowing that.

Chapter

Twenty-Three

LENNOX

Arlo did his best to get Cali asleep, but she woke up immediately when Baron and I walked in. From what I understand, she’s a really deep sleeper, but tonight threw her.

I don’t blame her, because Corvus crawling on the ground to be able to smell her hair and pull strands from it for his weird fetishes wasn’t on my bingo card. I called Maurice from the bathroom, asking him to swing by Corvus’ apartment, and he found some nasty shit.

He had blonde, red, and brown hair collected in tied ribbons, though Maurice mentioned that there was an awful lot of blonde in his collection. These are his trophies and my stomach heaved as I listened to Maurice tell me about his findings. I told him there was no need for the police because it was being taken care of by the FBI, and then I returned to console Arlo and Cali.

Ves will cover up whatever I might have messed up, but Maurice wore gloves and put everything back where he found it once he was done. I needed answers. I would have called Fishman, but I finally paid him and he’s in Minnesota for another client. I’m kind of sad I’ll need to find another private investigator, but Baron is proving he’s very good at getting into places no one wants him to be.

My poor omega was desperately trying to hold it together while Cali was asking for her daddy and asking if the ‘mean man’ was gone. Ugh. Arlo is curled in bed with her now, while I rub her back to remind myself that she’s with us and safe.

I’ve never wanted to tear someone apart the way I do now. Our troupe is close, and I’ve been working with some of the same people for years. However, there are times when members need to leave. Hugh got married a couple of months ago and we needed a replacement. Corvus fit because he’s very good with theater makeup and the art of becoming someone else.

He had three different smaller roles in our act tonight since he can change his hair so well. I guarantee most people wouldn't have realized it as they watched the show, and I wonder how often he’s used these skills to lure little girls and boys away.

Clamping my hand over my mouth, my stomach heaves, but I know I won’t be able to throw up. I don’t eat before a performance, and tonight was no different.

“Hey,” Baron hisses at me as I suck in oxygen like it’s my damn job.

“I’m…Give me a second.”

I’m not fine, and I want to stop the cycle of pretending I am. My heart jackknifes in my chest as I shudder, and I reach for the water on the edge of the table. I don’t know who it belongs to, nor do I care.

Sipping it, I find it’s cool, and therefore fresher than I originally thought. A cold sweat is beginning to grow between my shoulders, which either means I could still end up getting sick, or my mind is going to continue to fuck with me.