He let out a breathy laugh before practically melting into the floor. “Fuck it, do whatever you want.”
My gaze narrowed. He had a lot of spice for someone potentially dying in front of me, but part of me wondered if that’s howtheyfelt when talking to me. I moved slowly and grabbed my bag before making a show of grabbing the plastic first-aid kit andnotthe gun.
With my bounty in hand, I knelt beside him.
“I need you to take your shirt off.”
“There arebetterways to get me naked, Little Light.” There was a smug quality to his voice, once again I rolled my eyes.
“Your dick is still out, that means I’ve seeneverythinginteresting.”
His hand flew to cover his modesty, and I wondered if he eventhoughtto ask for his pants back. After all, they were very much within reach.
“Fine, but I’m only getting naked becauseyou’renaked.” He pointed at me with a circle of his finger.
Once that was done, he sat up just enough and peeled his shirt off. He winced as he threw it as far as he could. I sucked in a breath as I took in the sight of his bare chest. The clown was more defined than I expected, leaving his torso a map of lean muscles. His pale skin was dusted with freckles and stained with more scars than I could count. Some were fresh and pink, others faded and white, each of them told the story of a man molded by violence. And, after tonight, once I left, I would be nothing more than another one of his scars.
That stirred something cold deep in my chest, a feeling I couldn’t explain. I chalked it up to the exhaustion looming over me and moved on to what I had to do. Snapping the caseopen, I scanned the contents before pulling out a wad of gauze, antiseptic spray, and a few butterfly style bandages.
I’d used them a few times when someone cut themselves at the bar. They weren’t as good as stitches, but they’d be close enough for now.
“Stay still,” I mumbled before spritzing the mouth of his wound with the antiseptic.
This resulted in him screaming like a bigbaby.
“Oh, come on, you didn’t even act like that when Istabbed you,” I reminded him.
“Yeah, but that was kind of sexual. This is just torture.”
“Are youalwaysthis dramatic?”
He hissed through his teeth as I continued to doctor him up, but I knew that was the only answer he'd give. I interpreted that as a big, fat,yes.
The clown propped himself up on one elbow as I continued to work. The silence between us was nice, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t worry about himpotentiallygetting revenge by stabbing me back. So, I kept an eye on him while I worked. Eventually, I was ready to apply the first butterfly bandage.
He winced when I did, and something in the action must’ve reminded him that he can, in fact, make conversation with me.
“So…Ifyou make it out of here alive, and you get the money, what’s the first thing you’ll do?” The question struck me as strange, and I wondered if my pity strategy worked better than I’d expected.
Still, I paused and considered it. Ten million was alotof money, and while I had the general plan of improving my life, I hadn’t considered thefirstthing.
“Is it possible to rent a bathtub?” I laughed.
Saying it out loud felt sad, but the creek was the closest I’d gotten to a good soak in years. My studio apartment didn’t even have its own shower. Instead, my floor had a dorm-likebathroom, luckily I only had to share with three other girls. Still, the water was often cold when I actually got to use the shower and I wanted aproperbath. The kind with salts and oils, I wanted it to start scalding hot and for me to stay in it so long that it grew cold.
“You know…wehave a few bath tubs,” the Jester offered.
I stared at him for a beat, trying to decide if he was being serious.
“Yes, because a nice long bath in murder mansion seemssorelaxing,” I deadpanned.
He shrugged. “It’s only like this once a month, you know, full moon and shit… But, if we found a bride, we couldstopthe ritual.”
There it was, the wordbride. It settled on me like a weight, and I’d remembered Solomon explaining the whole thing. They wanted to be loved, but they needed someone who could accept them at their worst, which had to be this.
At least, I hoped it was.
And, while I had no reason to consider staying, the ideadidn’tappal me as much as it had earlier.
