Danse Macabre: The House of Machiavellianism by Addicott Julie Anne

Author:Addicott, Julie Anne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-06-29T00:00:00+00:00

XXII

I’ve begged and I’ve pleaded

I’ve given up free will

What else do I have to do

To feel that final thrill

KILLIAN

One week later

The tree lined path weaves through the dense forest and comes out at the graveyard behind Newhaven Asylum. It’s after midnight, and with dark rainclouds hovering above, threatening a storm, I quicken my steps. With no fences, and no security cameras or lights to speak of, the eerie darkness surrounds me.

Using my phone’s torch to light my way, I veer off the path and traipse through the long grass and shrubbery until I reach the low, brick wall at the back of the abandoned asylum.

In the far-off distance, fleeting glints of light come from Iron Tomb prison’s guard towers. Built into the side of Ironbark Mountain, the thirty-minute drive to the entrance of the prison follows a winding, gravel road. Thinking about the prison brings back thoughts of the hunt, Chadwick Monroe, and the skeleton in Diablo’s mansion.

“Yours.” Why does Diablo have my mother’s skeleton?

The way he looked at the skull… the entire skeleton with such reverence, there is no way he could have loved her, not after the way he tortured and mutilated her body.

“Yours.”

“Someone I once loved.”

“Someone we both loved.”

I groan in frustration, sick to fucking death of the secrecy, the lies, and the fact that no matter what I do, or how much I give in, or offer to Diablo, he refuses to give me what I want.

It’s been a week since Salem threw me—literally—out of Diablo’s mansion. Anxiety laced with desperation is clawing at me—I’m having withdrawals over a killer. Usually, I’d see him around town, or I’d catch a glimpse of him heading into or out of one of the stores or cafés along Main Street. But this week, there’s been no sign of him anywhere.

“From now on, I am the only one who inflicts pain on you. The only one who touches you.”

His words come back to me, and a smile stretches across my lips as I form a plan.

If he’s going to ghost me, I’ll have to take matters into my own hands. I need to let him see me disobey him.

Gavin’s been keeping me off the streets for the past week. He’s had my regulars come to his house where I have to give them what they want right across the hall from Gavin’s bedroom. Now, I wonder if he knows something, if he’s keeping me off the streets for a reason.

Nodding to myself, a newfound confidence envelops me, and I pick up my pace.

Diablo has to be here. I need to see him. Then, I need to show him I’m not afraid to do exactly what he’s forbidden me to do.

Adrenaline pumps through my veins as I heft myself up onto the ledge of an unbarred window and climb inside. I change my phone torch to the lowest setting, then make my way down a long, narrow corridor until I reach the main hall.

Once I’ve gathered my bearings, I follow the path we took during the tour.

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