Page 48 of Deranged
Her face swept clean of emotion, and she gave me a brisk nod. “I’ll let myself out. See you around, Doc.”
She exited as quickly as she entered, and I stared at the door waiting for another surprise. This time, I wasn’t going to wait for it to come to me.
I found the number I’d kept in my notes and dialed. She answered immediately. “Doctor. I didn’t expect you to be stupid enough to call me.”
“Senator. I want to know what’s going on. What did Kory promise you to protect me?”
“That’s none of your business. It’s between myself and Persephone.”
I wanted to shout into the phone and shake it so she would fucking listen. “She doesn’t get to make that choice. I chose to come after you. She can’t sacrifice herself to save me when I’m the one who put myself in danger.”
A rustling sound cut through the line. “What my daughter does is not your concern. And what you do is not my concern, but if my name every leaves your lips again, I’ll ensure you never speak again.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It’s a promise, Doctor. I don’t know what she sees in you. You are a weak man who is doing nothing but drag her down. Why she decided to save you, I don’t know, but if you speak to the media again, our deal is null and void.”
I seized that little tidbit. “Great. I’ll go out and find something right now who will report on your fucked up family.”
“And hurt Persephone in the process? You would do that after everything she’d done for you. If you do, then I will be proven right after all. And then she will see it for herself. I invite you to try.”
Fucking hell, I hated this woman. I gripped the phone tighter. “You don’t know anything about Kory or me, so don’t pretend like what you do is in her best interest.”
She chuckled softly, a menacing sound. “Where you are concerned, what I do is in her best interest. And if you ever so much as look at my daughter again, I’ll have you thrown in jail for rape. Do you understand, Doctor? I will have you prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law with the most severe punishments. And then maybe you will understand that what I do for my daughter is a mercy.”
She hung up before I could release the stream of curses chocking me. I threw the phone into the couch and let out a loud yell.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Kory
Ihadn’t yet figured out how I would survive a year-round incarceration. Especially with some of my favorite books destroyed. I hadn’t been able to bear reading the others after I destroyed their brethren, like they knew and they blamed me for what happened. As they should.
I dropped my head into my hands. Look at me, not even a day, and I was already talking about my books like they were living breathing creatures. Flesh and blood like myself.
A knock caused me to straighten on my bed and glance at the door. Styx entered with her hands behind her back.
“Are you here to play doctor?”
She scowled and whipped her hands from behind her back to offer me a brown paper package. I took it gently and stared at her over it. “What’s this?”
“Nothing. Just open it.”
I ripped the paper off the package and let it fall softly against my food and slide onto the linoleum. A bright shiny new unabridged copy ofThe Count of Monte Cristostared up at me. Words backed up in my mind and wouldn’t escape from my mouth despite wanting to say something, willing myself to say something.
I swallowed heavily and stared up at her. No doubt she could see the tears at the corners of my eyes, but she couldn’t see the way my heart stretched tight in my chest at her kindness.
She nodded once and spun to leave.
“Thank you,” I whispered, and she paused in closing my door to let me know she heard me.
“Wait,” I said, this time louder.
She turned back to face me.
“Have you read this?”
“Once, a long, long time ago. But the abridged version, not that beast of paper and pulp.”
