Payback Princess (Lost Daughter of a Serial Killer Book 2)

by C. M. Stunich

  The look on his face now is the same way: determined, resolute, immovable.

  “We can go in there together, but if something bad happens, I want you to run.”

  I give him a look, dropping my gaze to his hand where it’s wrapped around my arm again. Chasm’s words come filtering back to me. Stop touching me. I’d say that to Maxx right now, if the words weren’t also an admission of something else.

  Of interest.

  It hits me hard and fast then, something that I’ve known all along but that I didn’t care to admit to myself.

  I have a crush on Maxx Wright.

  I have a crush on my sister’s boyfriend.

  Reaching out with my left hand—but careful to avoid my broken fingers—I extricate X’s grip from my arm in a manner similar to the one he used on me at the café. I go still with my three good fingers on his skin, heat pulsing through me.

  The way he looked at me in the bathroom, with wide eyes and an impossible expression on his handsome face. Is he … is he feeling the same way right now?

  Our eyes meet as X cautiously extracts his hand from mine.

  “I can be dense sometimes,” I admit, and he gives me a strange look before hooking one of those all-American smiles of his.

  “I highly doubt that. If anything, you’re too smart for your own good. Maybe you just overthink things?” he offers, looking up at the house. I’m not keen on the idea of going in there with some unknown guest supposedly in residence, but it’s too big of a clue to look past.

  The skatepark is nearby. The woods are familiar. Chasm’s father knew (knows?) my bio dad.

  Shaking out my hands, I start for the front door, rolling my eyes a bit as X takes the lead. If it makes him feel better, I’ll let him do it. He’s bigger and stronger than me anyway, particularly with the broken fingers, nose, and myriad bruises I’m sporting currently.

  X pounds his fist on the door like a cop or something.

  “Is there anyone in there?” he calls out, raising his voice enough that it echoes around the quiet, wooded property. Birds trill, and insects buzz, but those are the only sounds beside the gentle patter of the rain as it starts up again. I scoot closer to Maxx beneath the safety of the awning as he tries again. “If you’re inside, just let us know. We’re coming in.”

  He punches in the door code and opens the door.

  An unfamiliar living room stretches before us. The house itself has a Pacific Northwest vibe: lots of raw wood, cool colors, and stone elements. But the furniture is decidedly modern, very mid-century and out of place. It’s fancy as hell, too, all that white leather and glass.

  Last time I was here, I came in the side door, so I didn’t get a great view of the house.

  Everything looks normal though, like you’d expect a freshly made-up vacation rental would look. There’s a binder on the coffee table that I flick open with a single finger, noticing laminated pages filled with information about local hiking trails, restaurants, and activities.

  There are no coats on the coatrack, no shoes tucked beside the front door. The kitchen is clean, the sink free of dishes, and the back door is locked. X moves with pure confidence, lacking any scrap of the anxiety that pumps through my blood like poison.

  He moves like the world is his to conquer, like he doesn’t owe anyone a damn thing. Make space for yourself. That’s what he told me at the waterfall. He isn’t worried about what might happen if someone stumbles on us here, not in the way that I am anyway. His only concern is our actual safety, but here I am wondering what I’d say to Chasm’s father’s friend if they were to show up unexpectedly. I’m worried about awkward social interactions.

  Annoying. Get it together, Dakota.

  I follow Maxx up the stairs, catching a glimpse of those family photos in the hallway that I took note of before, the ones of little Kwang-seon with his grandmother. Too cute. We head up, past the potted plant I knocked over last time, and make quick work of the bedrooms. The beds are made, the bathrooms have freshly folded towels on the counters, and the only thing in the entire house that catches my attention is … a white rabbit.

  “What the hell?” Maxx asks as he opens the last door at the end of the upstairs hallway. The bunny is in a relatively small cage atop a chest of drawers that sits against the far wall. It looks at us with pretty pink eyes as we step into the room together.

  “I take it that Chasm’s family doesn’t keep pets in their rental houses?” I query as Maxx turns a perplexed look in my direction.

  “Seamus hates animals. He told me once that he thinks companion animals are better off dead than living as slaves.” X turns back to the bunny as I cringe inwardly. Yikes. Chas’s dad is batshit, isn’t he? “So, no, I don’t think this is his bunny.”

  My phone—and not my Tess-phone mind you—buzzes in my blazer, and my eyes go wide. I slip it from my pocket and unlock the screen with my thumb, my eyes narrowing as I remember Maxx grabbing my hand and forcing it against the phone screen. Asshole.

  I stare down at the text, but it takes my mind a minute to decipher the words there.

  Princess, you are more than I ever could’ve imagined. I’m so proud of you. You’ve made great strides in the last few weeks. Now, you are not to leave the cabin until a bunny lies dead at the bottom of that cage.

  X reads the words over my shoulder and starts cursing immediately.

  “Shit,” he breathes, lacing his fingers together behind his head. “He wants us to kill the rabbit.”

  I lift my head up from the phone to stare at the tiny, innocent animal twitching its whiskers at me from inside the cage. It doesn’t appear to be frightened, more curious than anything else. My stomach twists into impossible knots and my head spins with the implications of that text.

  You are not to leave the cabin … until a bunny lies dead at the bottom of that cage.

  So many things come crashing down on me all at once, and I end up sitting down on the edge of the bed, the phone still clutched in my right hand.

  Spoiler alert: I’m not murdering a fucking bunny.

  It feels like … like I’m being primed for something so much bigger than this, and I don’t like it. I don’t like that, this very morning, I let my anger get the better of me and gave into the rage I was feeling. Yes, the cars needed to be destroyed in order to protect Parrish, but did I have to do it with gusto? Did I have to take Mr. Volli’s bait and chuck the plan Maxx, Chasm, and I came up with right out the freaking window?

  “I can’t kill a bunny,” I whisper, looking up at Maxx. “I can’t kill anything or anyone. I just can’t do something like that.”

  X stares down at me with that gorgeous emerald gaze of his, the color similar to freshly budding sprouts or leaves in spring, alive and vibrant and brimming. He turns his attention to the cage before moving over to unlock it.

  I find myself shooting to my feet, still squeezing the phone in my right hand.

  “I don’t want you to do it either,” I blurt out as he collects the small, furry creature in gentle hands and holds it against his chest. Maxx strokes his right hand over the rabbit’s ears, flattening them against its delicate skull. It’d be quick, and easy, to end the bunny’s life. In the scheme of things, it wouldn’t exactly stop the world from spinning.

  But it would change my world entirely. It would end the bunny’s. It would cause a seismic shift in someone as kind as Maxx.

  “What do you want to do then?” he asks me, carefully stroking the rabbit’s head as he watches me. I start to pace, lifting the phone to my lips and tapping it against my mouth.

  If it came down to it, between Parrish and the rabbit, of course I’d choose him.

  But I really, really don’t want to have to do that. If I give up everything about myself in the pursuit of Parrish, then there won’t be anything of Dakota Banks left to give him when he comes back. I’ll have sacrificed myself in exchange for him.

  That isn’t the Slayer’s goal though, is it? He’s mentioned more than once that I need t
o ask for the things I want, that I think too much about others and not enough about myself.

  “The text is worded in just such a way to put distance myself and the actual act of killing.”

  Maxx raises his brows as I continue to pace, mulling the words over in my head.

  “Until a bunny lies dead at the bottom of that cage,” I breathe, looking up at Maxx again. “So we just need a dead bunny to put inside the cage, right?”

  “Without you ever having left the cabin,” X clarifies, thinking on the subject for a minute. “But how do we get a dead bunny without killing one? Isn’t the result the same either way?”

  “Not really,” I argue, shooting a quick text over to Chasm. “There are certain lines that should never be crossed; this is one of them.” I look back up at X, but he doesn’t seem convinced. “Pet stores sell frozen rabbits for captive snakes. If Chas can bring us one of those, we’re golden. There’s a bunny lying dead in the bottom of the cage, just as I was instructed. It isn’t my fault if the Slayer isn’t more careful with his words.”

  “And if you’re wrong?” Maxx queries, staring down at the bunny. I can see it in his face, that strange, twisted morality that Chasm mentioned. If I don’t convince him right here and now, he will snap that rabbit’s neck to save Parrish. I’m not sure how I feel about that. “Parrish dies because of a bunny.”

  “Parrish will not die over this,” I confirm, feeling some of my self-confidence and control come back. These last few weeks have been … gods, they’ve been awful, but I can’t let myself get lost in the minutiae. I have to remember why I’m doing this. A response comes from Chasm almost immediately.

  I’ll be there in thirty or less.

  “Let’s check out the rest of the house; I’d never forgive myself if I found out we were walking on top of Parrish this whole time.” I take the bunny from Maxx’s arms and cuddle it close while he watches me. I can see that he’s torn on this. He wants to trust me, but he doesn’t know if it’s worth the risk.

  To be fair, if he’s right and I’m wrong, the consequences are unimaginable.

  “Okay, Kota,” he says finally, and I heave a sigh of relief. He reaches up a hand, like he’s about to tuck some lime-green hair behind my ear and then redirects his course at the last minute, giving the rabbit a scratch behind the ears instead.

  The bunny’s presence in this house gives us a much-needed clue.

  The Slayer—or his minion, Amin Volli—was here.

  So is the Slayer the houseguest that Chasm’s father mentioned? I look around the carefully made-up room as chills creep up my spine like a ghost’s wicked cold fingers. Was he in here, my bio dad? Did he sleep in this bed? Did he walk these halls?

  With a shake of my head, I push away the thought and put the bunny back in its cage. Maxx is already at the closet, tearing things out and throwing them on the floor. I give him a look.

  “Clearly, the guest that was staying here is gone or else the Slayer is the guest,” he tells me, almost apologetically. “He can clean up the fucking mess.” X doesn’t alter his course, tearing apart the room. But he has a good point.

  I move into the next room and do the same, checking under the bed, in the closet, opening the attic access in the hallway and climbing up to peer inside.

  There doesn’t appear to be a basement to this house or anything else that might have stone walls and bottles of wine lined up in careful order on wooden racks. We search the house together, and then Maxx scouts the yard while I watch from a window, so as not to violate the specifics of the Slayer’s order. He moves back inside just in time for Chasm to show up.

  He’s got a plastic bag in one hand, a frown on his pretty lips.

  “Kimber’s in the car,” he says, lifting up the bag as I move over to take it from him. Our eyes meet and my breath releases in a rush. There’s so much tension between us, it feels like the world might snap on the fine, thin length of that garrote. “We grabbed a coffee and headed straight to the pet store; I told her Maxx was bringing home a bunny.”

  “I’m assuming she doesn’t know what, exactly, it is that you purchased in that store,” Maxx offers dryly, leaning one elbow against the counter, his body slouched comfortably against it. All around us is a sea of chaos, pillows strewn everywhere, closets torn apart. Chasm lets his eyes trail over it all and then looks back at me.

  “Not exactly.” He exhales and releases his grip on the bag. “But I assume you’re going to make the lie right and take the damn rabbit home?”

  “Tess won’t like it,” Maxx offers up, giving a loose shrug of his shoulders. “But we’ll make it work. Maybe we’ll name it Kota?”

  Chas’ lips twitch as he shakes his head.

  “Little Sister seems more apt,” he offers, and I give him a look.

  “How about Gamer Girl?” I quip, but as soon as the words leave my mouth, the small, tiny shred of joy we’ve managed to find in the situation is gone. Everything we’re doing is for Parrish and yet, with every day, he drifts farther and farther away from us. The ache for him in my chest has gone from a gushing wound to a throbbing pulse, and I hate that. I hate that time is passing by without him, that I’m forming a new friendship with Maxx, that … whatever Chasm and I sparked before he went missing is starting to burn.

  “Gamer Girl,” Chasm agrees, running both of his palms down his face. “I like that.” He drops his hands by his sides. “You’re sure about this, Little Sister?”

  “I’m sure about it,” I say, squeezing the handle of the bag and doing my best to distance myself from the dead thing contained inside of it. If I’m wrong, Parrish will be as still and quiet as this rabbit. But I don’t think so. Regardless of who the Slayer actually is—that is, if he truly is my bio dad, a man named Justin Prior—nobody would go to lengths this great without an ulterior motive.

  The ulterior motive here is very clearly me.

  Killing Parrish over a technicality would destroy everything he’s worked to build with me over the past eleven days. Do I believe he really will kill Parrish if I refuse his demands or break his rules? I do. Because it means that I’m a person who can’t be directed, controlled, or modeled into whatever it is that he wants me to be.

  A killer, just like him.

  I ignore the thought—even though it’s undoubtedly, undeniably true—and head up the stairs.

  Maxx follows me up, getting far too close to me as I approach the cage.

  “This is a lot for me, I’ll admit,” he says, his voice low and tense. “For me to trust you like this.”

  I turn to look at him, but I don’t know how to respond to that.

  “Maxine trusts me, isn’t that enough?” I ask, redirecting his focus back to my sister. To his girlfriend. He waits for a moment and then shakes his head slightly.

  “I’m choosing to trust you for you, not because of Maxine,” he admits, and then he takes the bag with the frozen rabbit out of my hand. “Take the bunny and go, I’ve got this.”

  I scoop her up in my arms, deciding that we really will call her GG for now—short for Gamer Girl—and worry about Tess’ reaction later.

  I wait at the bottom of the stairs, watching out the open door as Chasm turns his car around and takes off down the gravel road that leads to the street. I don’t dare step a foot outside of that cabin until Maxx rejoins me.

  “It’s done,” he promises, and I exhale, moving out into the rain and rushing over to the Jeep. He’s right behind me, reaching past me to open the door. I don’t look at or acknowledge him as I climb in. Our world is already messy and broken enough.

  Whatever is going on between us is impossible and not worthy of putting words to.

  X climbs in with me and off we go. A few minutes later, a text comes in on my phone. I cradle the rabbit with one hand, cringing a bit at the pressure on my broken fingers, and check the message.

  Well-played, Princess. As always, you are your mother’s daughter, a master of words.

  “Parrish?” Maxx asks, his voice ten
se and his hands white-knuckled on the wheel.

  “Safe … for now,” I offer up, but I can’t shake the feeling that things, as bad as they are, are about to get so much worse.

  Luckily for all four of us, Tess is far too distracted with Parrish’s ongoing investigation to get too upset about the fact that we’re about an hour late coming home. She isn’t happy, but the fact that I was with Maxx while Kimber was with Chasm seems to appease her somewhat. The coffees in their hands assure her that the excuse is at least somewhat relevant.

  “Thank you for texting to let me know the situation,” she tells Chasm as he slips a hand into the pocket of his blazer and gives a polite nod. “I’m not sure how I feel about … this.”

  She looks at the rabbit in such a way that I imagine she’s never had a pet before, like she doesn’t even understand the concept.

  “It’s my rabbit,” Maxx says, speaking up and forcing a smile. “After Parrish comes home, and I leave, I’ll take it with me.”

  Tess doesn’t look entirely convinced, but again, with her son missing, an unwanted bunny is sort of small potatoes. The words those girls hissed at me this morning, about Tess buying reviews, about getting people to read her books out of sympathy, they echo like nightmares in my skull.

  “Well, I suppose if you clean its cage and …” Tess just waves her hand absently at us. “I honestly don’t even have the headspace for this. It’s fine. Just … do whatever you need to do.” She turns and heads back to the living room. There are quite a few people in there, some of whom I recognize from the last two weeks. The pair of FBI agents, a couple detectives, a private investigator that Tess hired.

  If their collective efforts can’t locate Parrish, it seems impossible that the three of us could pull off the impossible.

  Only … they’re not being groomed by a serial killer. He wants me to find Parrish. I’m being given clues and information that they don’t have.

  “Come on, GG,” I say, looking down at the bunny with a smile. “Let’s get you settled.”

  Chasm grabs a cage from his car, one that he grabbed while at the pet store, and I find that strange heat permeating my body all over again. I never asked him to grab a cage or food or chew toys for the bunny, but he also figured I wouldn’t leave the rabbit where I found it. So of course it had to come home. Of course we needed supplies.