The Spider Catcher (Redemption by A.L. Tyler Book 1) (21 page)

Isaac’s head wobbled more than shook. “No.”

He turned back around, and continued walking away down Main. When his form had finally become lost in the trees next to the antique shop, Ember saw that Acton hadn’t twitched a muscle since Isaac had stood before them.

“That was weird.” She said. “Even for Isaac—”

With a gesture reminiscent of Zinny’s, Acton held his hand up. “Zinny wouldn’t lie to me, and Isaac can’t. Someone else is here.”

Chapter 22

As Ember sat on a crate in the backroom of Zinnia Knox’s bar, she bit her lip, wondering if she was happy. Acton and Zinny were standing in front of her, arguing. He wouldn’t let Ember leave, not even to go to the bathroom, unless he went with her. He had followed her and washed her blood from his hands before taking her wrist and cleaning it under the tap; she cradled the wound in her lap, wrapped in a clean, scratchy bar towel.  The noise was comforting, even as the two demons snapped and hissed at each other.

“I’ll take her back to the house.” Zinny snipped. “It’ll be fine—she’ll be safe.”

“She isn’t any safer with you than she would be with Isaac.” Acton paced back and forth in front of her.

“You don’t trust me?” Zinny asked, sneering and tearing up at the same time. Her sad eyes turned on Ember; her mascara was threatening to run.

“I trust you,” Ember offered. She didn’t really.

Zinny smiled warmly, squaring her shoulders as she turned back to Acton. “You can’t hunt it down while you’re dragging her along…”

“Hey!” Ember yelled.

“…Let me take her back to the house, and you can go and do what you need to do.” She gave him a winning smile.

Acton’s lips twitched just barely.  He allowed Zinny a moment to believe he was considering her offer. “No, she’s staying with me.”

“She’s dressed like a whore!” Zinny protested. Ember looked down at the blouse and jeans that Acton had picked for her out of the things Kaylee had procured. They were easily the most modest things in the stash. “Let me dress her. I’ll fix her hair, too. Asher shouldn’t have done that.”

Ember’s fingers moved to her hair; she had almost forgotten.

“Her hair is fine.” Acton snapped.

“So you’re going to drag her along to look for a newcomer?” Zinny crossed her arms. “You’ll get her killed. I won’t allow it.”

“Either you or Isaac just lied to me.” Acton said, his eyes narrowing. “Anyone who could make that happen is dangerous. I’m not trusting anyone until he’s dead.”

Zinny’s eyebrows raised in insult. “You’re so sure it’s a he? Because a woman couldn’t possibly have pulled this off?”

Acton smirked as he gestured for Ember to rise. “It’s a he because if it were a she, Asher would already know she was here. Asher always knows when there’s a new she on the island.”

As Acton led her out the back door and Zinny went back to the front, pouting, Ember examined her blouse and pants again.

“Do I really look like a whore?”

Acton didn’t look at her, keeping his eyes on the woods. “I don’t keep whores, Em.”

“You keep Kaylee,” she replied, cringing as soon as the words left her lips. She had never called another woman a whore before.

Acton laughed as he looked down at her. “But only for Isaac’s sake. Very good, Em. I like you.”

“She’s not a whore.”

Ember spun around.  Isaac was standing behind them, gaunt and twitchy as he usually was, with a dark look in his eyes.

“I didn’t lie to you.” His lip curled as if the thought were disdainful.

“You did.” Acton stood up straighter, and Isaac immediately shrunk back. “But you won’t do it again. Tell me what you see.”

Isaac looked him in the eyes, and his curled lip suddenly transformed into a pleased smile. The circles under his eyes darkened as he lowered his chin, and his eyes darted around the street. “Everyone. Everyone who should be here, and…”

“And?” Acton pressed. “And what?”

Isaac’s eyes wandered, and then focused on Acton again. “What?”

“What else do you see?” Acton’s voice carried a cold edge of annoyance.

Isaac’s eyes flashed as he blinked away confusion and worry. “And nothing, Acton. Nothing. What are we doing?”

Acton stared at him. His hand clenched into a fist, and Ember took several steps backward, frowning as a low whimper escaped Isaac’s throat. Acton raised his fist, and then sighed as he released his fist and gripped Isaac’s shoulder instead.

“Nothing.” Acton said quietly. “Go find Ash. The two of you stay together tonight. If you see anything odd—and I mean anything—I want you to tell him immediately.”

Isaac nodded uncertainly, and breathed a sigh of relief when Acton finally let him go and turned back to Ember. Isaac disappeared in a blink.

“So what now?” Ember asked with a frown.

“Now, we’re going back in the bar.” Acton said, starting to walk back around to the front. “We’re going to show everyone that you’re one of mine now, and we’re going to wait for Joseph to come and find us.”

Ember paused, furrowing her brow, before taking several quick steps to catch back up with him. “Who the hell is Joseph?”

“An old friend,” Acton smiled as he glanced back over his shoulder at her. “The man who’s supposed to be dead in Gina’s fire pit, but who is apparently more clever than we all assumed, because Isaac noticed him hanging around and can’t seem to remember that he did.”

He held the door open for her, and she stepped inside. The long looks that people gave her whenever she appeared at Acton’s side in the bar hardly bothered her anymore.  She was someone worth remembering to them, and she loved it. She gave a cursory glance around the room before turning back to her escort.

“Is he dangerous—”

The feeling of Acton’s lips pressed against her own caught her off guard. She shoved him hard, but he held her firmly against him until she turned her head away to break the kiss, and then looked back at him in shock, raising an arm to wipe at her mouth. His breath was foul, like mold and rot, and when she looked at him, he was looking away across the room.

She followed his gaze to a pale woman with the dark hair; it was the same woman who had stood with Zinny earlier that night. Even as disgusted as she was, Ember understood.  Now, they all knew that she was one of Acton’s, and no one would threaten her. No one was looking at them now as they pretended to go about their own business, except for the pale woman with the dark hair.  With a chilling realization, Ember remembered seeing her face before, reflected on a plastic garment bag.

“She was one of yours,” Ember said quietly, knowing full well that as Acton was staring at the woman, the woman was staring at Ember. “She was your girlfriend.”

Acton’s gaze stayed fixed on the woman, whose eyes followed them as they walked to their table at the rear of the bar. When they sat down together, Acton gave her a light smirk as he ran his fingers lightly through Ember’s hair. The woman stood up from the table where she had been sitting alone, and walked slowly to the door.

“I told you.” Acton said idly. “I don’t keep whores. Bear that in mind.”

Distracted by her own thoughts, Ember hardly heard him. “I saw her once—that time I was changing, and I saw someone behind me, I mean…I didn’t see her that long or that well, but her hair—”

“It was her.” Acton said, frowning as he turned his gaze back to the door. “But it won’t be a problem anymore.”

Dumbfounded, Ember looked back at him, and he met her gaze straight on. “You just kissed me,” she said. “And your breath stinks. Don’t do it again.”

“If the others thought we were friends, they might have still considered you fair game as a romantic conquest.  I’m doing you a favor,” he said with another shrewd smile. “I’ll kiss you when I want to. I mark my territory as needed—if you can’t deal with it, then you get to leave.”

“Well,” Ember grumbled, sinking lower in her chair as he put his arm around her. “Consider brushing your teeth. What did she do to you? What’s her name?”

“She doesn’t have one.” Acton said quickly, raising his hand to wave at Zinny. “And she was a whore.”

Zinny gave Ember a small wink as she set down two glasses and a bottle of schnapps, and then walked away. Acton poured with his free hand, and then set a glass in front of Ember.

“Drink it.”

Ember glanced up at him uncertainly. “I really don’t enjoy throwing up.”

“I enjoy it.” Acton said firmly.

Ember shook her head. “Well, that’s kind of gross…”

Acton scoffed. “Demons aren’t called demons because they’re pleasant, Em. I like your pain, and your depression, and you have plenty. I’m not keeping you to do you a favor. I’m keeping you to do me a favor.”

Staring at the glass, Ember was still shaking her head a little. It made sense; he must have enjoyed her company immensely, and she suddenly understood why he had been waiting for her every day, and what he was getting out of it.

“You were going to keep me anyways.” She said with a wry smile. “Because I’m…broken.”

With a pleased smile, he gave her a light hug, whispering in her ear. “I was hoping to chase you away, just to make you miserable when I decided to keep you as my prisoner. But you like being miserable too much to leave, so this has worked out better than planned.”

She stared at the wood grain on the table. “So…”

“So drink this.” He took the glass of schnapps and put it in her hand. “And tell me about the time your roommate found the birthday card.”

“What?” Ember hissed, using both hands to hold the glass. She suddenly felt weak.

“You know who I mean. You told her you were an orphan, and then you ripped up the card.” He paused. “It had a picture of a kitten on the front.”

Ember frowned at the schnapps in front of her, suddenly wanting to drink the glass, and the bottle, and anything else she could persuade Zinny to give her. A lump was rising in her throat. Acton gave her shoulder another squeeze, but it wasn’t to encourage her or prompt her to speak—it was gentle, as though he wanted her attention.

When she looked over at him, all of the glee had left his face. His eyes were dark, and when his mouth opened just slightly and his eyes closed, she knew he wasn’t going to apologize. He wasn’t going to apologize, but he was sorry.

Ember slowly raised the drink to her lips, swallowing as quickly as she could. It burned as it went down, and she felt tears sliding down her cheeks, but she didn’t stop. When Acton reopened his eyes, a disturbingly serene look was on his face.

“She had lost her textbook, or something.” Ember started, wiping her face on her sleeve. “She was looking in my closet, and she shouldn’t have been in there, but—”

Acton leaned in close to her, whispering in her ear. “Just be quiet. I already know the story. I already know all of your stories, so just be quiet.”

He refilled her glass. He pushed her head down to rest on his shoulder, and despite his harsh words, she let him.

Much later that evening, Acton stood in front of Zinny’s bathroom mirror, examining the contents of her medicine cabinet. She was a vain and very beautiful woman.  She knew things about grooming oneself that even the most self-obsessed demons didn’t, because she still cared about others.

The cabinet, and the surface of the bathroom counter, were overflowing with products to tame hair, to eliminate body odors, to change the color of things, to remove hair, or to do god knew what else. He sifted through the mess carefully, trying not to disturb Zinny’s messy order, except to take the things he needed.

Rotting meat left an unmistakable odor. Corpses smelled strongly, and they drew every predator in a wide radius, and that included demons and hunters. The gases emitted by the decomposing flesh were said to be highly unpleasant for humans, although he himself had never known them to be anything more than a smell that clung to the breath of every demon he had ever known.

Ember wasn’t the only one who had eaten flesh off of the rabbit bones in the last several weeks, although she had been the only one who had tolerated it poorly. The bones and flesh were still sitting cold in Acton’s stomach, where they would remain until his slow digestion had taken all it could. Usually, it was everything.  He had overexerted himself several times in the passion of his youth, spending weeks in a bloated stupor to wait for his system to catch up with him, or else sneaking away to the edge of the water to cough up what he had taken that he didn’t need—blood and crushed bone coming up like black and gray rotten hamburger while Isaac knelt next to him, watching and silent, and little Rachelle laughed.

She had only laughed at him once.

He knew it took a long time for the solids to decompose. They were still in there, rotting and stinking.

Carefully, he fetched a half-empty container of mouthwash from amid Zinny’s mess, and then found an old used toothbrush and a new tube of toothpaste beneath the sink. It had probably been used once, or a few times, by one of Zinny’s many paramours, but it didn’t bother him. He didn’t even bother to rinse it.

Kneeling over the shower drain, he drank as much water as he could, and then proceeded to empty what he could of his stomach into the pipes. It was a tedious, unpleasant business, but one that had to be done. He didn’t need all of those rabbits, and there would always be more. They were preventing him from accomplishing what he wanted to accomplish, and that meant they had to go.

When the last bits of them had gone down the drain, he brushed as thoroughly as he could, and then swallowed several gulps of the mouthwash. He wiped his face with a hand towel, and then discovered a glob of black meat stuck to his shirt. Frowning, he took it off and tossed it into one of Zinny’s hampers before going back down the hall.