Chapter 49: Chapter Forty-Eight

The tongue speaks but the head does not know. —Russian Proverb

Maya

I sipped my drink—not even sure what I'd ordered, numbness had overtaken me the minute I stumbled upon Nik and Phoenix's conversation.

Who else could he be talking about?

And why wasn't I running around screaming my head off? It's not like I could go to the police, I mean I could, but what exactly would I say?

I shivered as I glanced down at my latte, it tasted like nothing.

Was it foolish of me to still be sitting in that building?

Stupid to think about going back upstairs and trying to convince him that I wasn't so psychologically damaged that I was going to snap.

How could he possibly believe that? After everything that had been dropped into my lap over the last few weeks most people would be committed! I'd done well all things considered.

“I love you,” he'd whispered.

Most girls crying over broken hearts didn't have to worry about being killed, but maybe it would be less painful.

Because how, after knowing everything I knew, could I possibly live without him in my life? A few tears escaped as I covered my face with my hands. Of course, that was it.

I was certifiably insane.

Because I was mourning my killer.

Maybe I did deserve to die.

Maybe I'd just lie down on the bed like I've lost every ounce of sense and hand him the knife to stab me with.

Sergio had said Nik would always be mafia, always thirst for blood.

And now he wanted mine.

There was nothing romantic about it, nothing.

It made me angry, frustrated, terrified, and if I was being honest, I was sorry for myself, sorry that the same man who breathed new life into me, was going to be the one to take it.

Run! My mind screamed.

Stay. My heart whispered.

“Maya!” A female voice interrupted my inner battle. “Over here!” Jac waved a hand up at me and approached the table. “Oh dear, he told you, didn't he?”

“Told me?” Everything about Jac set me on edge, like she was a drunk tightrope walker just waiting to take the plunge.

“About me.” She sighed sadly. “About our family.”

“Um, no, but, you know I really should get back.” This was danger.

I would run back into my killer's arms—away from her, any day of the week.

I made a motion to stand, just as something pricked the inside of my wrist. With a curse I jerked back my hand. “What the hell did you just do?”

“Shhh.” Jac smiled warmly. “It's finally going to be okay. You'll be safe now. I promise. You'll finally be safe.”

“I am safe!” With him, I was safe. Safer than with her. My vision blurred as my heavy body leaned against the table. I tried to hold myself up with my hand, but it missed the table completely.

People would see us, right? They'd see my struggle.

I fought to keep my eyes open and moaned out, “Help,” as we passed two large figures.

They did nothing.

“No.” I shook my heavy head as my chin drooped to my chest.

“Ah, it's working so much faster than I thought.

“I only stole as much as I could carry without him noticing, though he'll for sure notice now.” She was breathing heavily and then we were in the alleyway between the two office buildings. The trunk of her car was already open.

I had no strength left. A cold prickling sensation ran down my legs and then they gave out just as she pushed me against the back. Why was nobody coming after me? This wasn't normal!

Maybe that was the danger. My mind whirled as my mouth filled with cotton, the danger in profiling.

“Shhh, now.” Jac pressed a finger against my lips. “Make sure you take long, even breaths. Don't want you to hyperventilate or anything.”

I moaned.

“That's it, sweetie.” She patted my cheek, hard, really hard. I could tell because of the force, but the sting wasn't there. Why was my cheek numb?

Like I'd gone to the dentist and lost all feeling in my mouth, my tongue was heavy too. Her silver-blue eyes narrowed. “That's it, dear.”

I could still breathe, but would that go too? If my muscles were paralyzed, did that mean my organs were going to be too?

Tears stung. The only reason I knew I was crying was because I couldn't see anymore, only blurry black.

Minutes went by that felt like hours, and then the car stopped. I tried to scream, but only small moans and whimpers escaped. Sunlight burned my eyes as the trunk was opened again.

Jac put her hands on her hips and stared at me. “Now, to get you out, that's always the trick! Be right back!”

She walked away. I couldn't see where, only blue sky telling me we weren't completely outside of the City yet if the seagulls and noise were any indication.

Jac pushed a gurney that was level with the trunk right up to the car and then pulled my body toward it.

Terror shot through me in that moment.

She was batshit crazy.

And she was going to kill me. I had no doubt that this wasn't some sort of funny prank or idea she'd had because I'd somehow touched her grandson and it pissed her off.

Humming, Jac pushed the gurney toward the back of a large red house. Why were we passing the house?

I heard the sound of a waterfall and clenched my eyes shut, hoping and praying that didn't mean she lived on water and was about to push me into it—drowning terrified me, not breathing or moving was right up there.

“Succinylcholine.” Jac leaned down and patted my cheek, then laughed out loud.

Cleansing?

“You should be able to talk, though.” She tilted her head. “I think I may have given you a bit too much, which just means we'll have to wait until you can participate.”

Participate?

“It's always better to confess your sins aloud before you die.” She opened a large door and pushed the gurney into the dimly lit room.

Lights flickered on around me, bright lights, like the ones you'd see in an operating room.

Everything was white.

I felt sick to my stomach, but held the coffee down. If I puked, I'd just suffocate, right?

I squeezed my eyes shut again and thought of Nik, of the way he kissed me, touched me. Was this really how my life was going to end? At the hands of some crazy lady?

I'd do anything—anything to be back in that apartment, even if it meant I was on the other end of the trigger, awaiting my fate. Better to die in love than in fear.

Jac continued to hum while I heard the clatter of metal against metal. Finally, after a few minutes, she started talking again. “I warned him. I truly did. I warned all of the men in my family.

What the hell?

“We must keep the memory of our ancestors alive and cleanse the world of evil… of promiscuity. It is the only way for us to make it, to redeem the earth. It is up to us. Pity.” She sighed.

“Because I truly liked you. I liked all of them.”

All of them?

“Oh, I didn't kill them all, I simply… scared them into running off, it was easy.

“Though the bad ones, the ones with disease, I always end them, it is our legacy, after all.” She peered over me, her pupils mere pinpoints. “Do you know who I am, dear?”

Satan. She was Satan.

“It was August 1888, the date of the first kill. Funny, how so many historians and scholars assume that only a man could do such work.” She scowled.

“Mary Ann Nichols, that bitch had it coming.” Light flickered off a silver knife that Jac waved in the air. “But he was weak, so weak, he cheated on my great-great-great-grandmother.

“Cheated on her several times actually, though it took years to find all the women, and oh she had to be careful, so very careful.

Jac pulled up a rolling stool and laid the knife on the table. “And you know what she told him?

“She told him that she was going to cleanse the city of its darkness, one by one, and she would start with every woman he'd ever been with.

“Of course, his immediate response was to beg forgiveness, but do you know what that bastard did that next night? He went to warn another woman, leading good old Grandmother to her next victim.

“She didn't attack that night, merely watched and waited, she was patient like that, so very patient. It's been an issue in our family, infidelity. It matters not, now…”

What was she talking about?

“Oh…” She patted my head. “You look confused…didn't you ever pay attention in school, dear?

“Listen very carefully…my grandmother wasn't just any killer, she was a serial killer.” Jac chuckled, a sinister sound that shot terror into my heart.

No. And I didn't want to. I just wanted to escape, go back in time to where I was lying in Nikolai's bed.

I closed my eyes.

“Open your eyes,” she commanded.

I tried to shake my head.

Sudden pressure against my neck had me opening my eyes.

“Oh good, you're starting to feel again, but the sad part is, you still won't be able to move, you'll simply feel everything but be unable to run away. Wonderful, isn't it?”

“No.” I finally got the word out.

She smiled warmly. “Honey at least your death will be honorable, a penance of the sins of our family.

“If I do not kill, then our family is not successful, the one woman who tried to go against the tradition ended up getting killed in a freak train accident along with everyone in her family but her two children, me and my sister, rest her soul.

“We are history in the making. Think hard… prostitutes being killed… London.”

I let out a gasp.

“I'm Jack the Ripper…” she whispered in my right ear. “And I will listen to your confession—before I cut you apart.”