CHAPTER FIVE
Skink closed the tailgate and hung his head, panting for breath. A thrill of triumph, of invincibility, coursed like electricity through his body.
Won’t have to hear from her again, he thought, grinning at a hedgehog cactus growing up from the dry earth at his feet. It’s about time she shut her mouth for good.
It had seemed sacred, the first time he took a life, like walking into church as a child and staring up at the stained glass windows, hearing the stentorian voice of the priest ringing off all that gold and silver. A blissful quiet had washed over him, and for a while he had thought he had escaped the voices for good.
After all, there was no silence like the grave. The dead could not bother the living, could they?
Oh, yes, we can, a cold, mocking voice answered. We’
