Page 66 of Unhinged Kallie

Neither seemed to notice me as I walked closer and leaned against the wall. I was trying to act relaxed, but I was anything but. This tension between them was new, and even though I didn’t think Cain would turn on his daughter, there was always that little voice in the back of my head reminding me he was different from the rest of us. He called himself an apex predator, and he was.

“No, you half thought and then acted. If you’d thought, we wouldn’t have had to spend the last two hours scrubbing down a house and body.”

Words you would never hear in another house, and they were said like she’d forgotten to load the dishwasher.

“You didn’t even finish your kill. I had to do it. That is the worst rookie mistake. If she’d lived and they found even a single fiber of corroborating evidence, you would be in a cell.” Cain tapped the side of his head.

“I wanted to prove to you that I could do this. You didn’t trust me and followed me, then treated me like a child.” Kallie growled, her hands balling into fists.

“I treated you exactly how you acted,” Cain yelled back.

Kallie crossed her arms. “I just wanted to prove I could do it alone and be as good as you.”

“And if you start using the intelligence you were gifted with rather than the emotions that burn through your veins like toxic waste, you will be. But until then, all you’ve proven to me is that you’re not ready. No more killing until you’re eighteen, and you will train with me and only me from now on.”

“But Dad, I just got the training wheels off.”

Cain walked toward her and stared down at Kallie with an intensity that made the hair on my arms stand up. “And now you will have them put back on. I lost your mother when I didn’t listen to my instincts. I will not lose you too. Do not leave this property again for one of your extra excursions, or I will know, and you will like your next punishment even less.”

Cain looked up at me, and I swallowed the rising bile. He didn’t say he would go after me, but the look implied it all. Using me as a chip to keep his daughter in line was vile. I also didn’t know if it would work. Kallie was quite literally holding my life in the balance.

Kallie looked over her shoulder and noticed me standing there. Her body tensed up even more as she looked between me and her father.

“You wouldn’t,” she breathed.

“Test my rules again, and you’ll find out.” Cain walked out of the room and opened the basement door. “I’m busy for the next two nights, but we will start the project of my choosing after that. I know you’re thinking of testing me.” He shot a look over his shoulder. “I wouldn’t.” The door slammed with a thud.

The hurt look on Kallie’s face made me reach for her, but she marched away, her eyes filled with tears, and I was left standing alone in the kitchen. When we were little, Kirby would make us hot chocolate when we were upset. After she was killed, whenever Kallie was sad about her mom, I would make it for her, so that was what I did.

Putting the kettle to boil, I grabbed the tin of hot chocolate and prepared the mugs. Searching the cupboards, I couldn’t find marshmallows and sighed. Instead of milk, I spiked them with a splash of Bailey’s. I was already on the hit list—literally—giving Kallie an ounce of alcohol was the least of my worries.

Reaching her closed door, I tapped our unique knock, and Kallie slowly opened it. She looked like she’d been crying, which I hated. It hurt my heart, and I wanted nothing more than to wrap her up in my arms.

“I brought hot chocolate,” I said, holding the mugs. The corner of Kallie’s mouth curled up, and it wasn’t fair that she was so beautiful. She’d showered, her hair was still dripping wet, and the fresh scent of her shampoo filled my nose. Every moment I was with her was a temptation, and my resolve slipped a little more.

“Thanks,” she said and took one of the mugs before stepping back and inviting me in.

My mind screamed not to step over the threshold, but my body was already in motion, and before I could stop myself, the door closed behind me. I glanced around her room, and it could’ve been anyone’s. The walls were the color of the ocean on a sunny day, and the trim was bright white. She had pretty accent pillows and images she’d sketched in small frames to create a collage on one wall. There were flowers in a vase and family photos on her dresser.

You’d never suspect a budding serial killer lived here. I’m not sure what I would expect to find, but maybe small animal skulls lined up on a shelf or a display of knives with black walls. I once had a nightmare about a room like that, and it stuck with me.

“Earth to Carter,” Kallie said. I turned to look at her but had no idea what she said. “Are you going to sit down or stand there and stare out my window all night?”

Parking myself on the end of the bed, I watched as she sipped the hot chocolate. She moaned and licked the cup, and I had to look away. This was too much. I was trying to be a good guy with morals, not a walking hormone stick. But, shit…every nerve ending came alive with her near me.

“So, what were you and your dad arguing about?”

“That’s what you’re going to ask me?”

“What am I supposed to ask you?” She was giving me a curious expression that I couldn’t quite decipher.

“My dad threatened to kill you if I didn’t behave, or did you not pick up on that?”

Chuckling, I smiled at her over the top of my mug. “Um…I hate to break this to you, but that is not the first time. You being told to stay in line or else is new, but I’m not surprised. And, yes, Cain would do exactly what he claimed, and there is nowhere I could run that he couldn’t hunt me down.”

“How are you so calm about this?”

Shrugging, I took another sip. “What exactly would you have me do, Trouble?” She looked adorable when her brows knit together as she thought hard. “Don’t you think I’ve been through all the options in my head? I don’t think your dad wants to kill me, at least not anymore, but he does know I’m not like him or Abel, Troy, Bo, or even you.” I could see the wheels spinning in her mind, her face falling.