Free Mortal Sin by Allison Brennan

leave Georgetown and drive the forty minutes to my house. Or what would take forty minutes but for this weather. The longer it takes, the more frustrated I become. Because my student is waiting for me
.
    Finally, I am home
.
    I walk across the new-fallen snow and unlock the front door of the old house I love. The familiar smells make me smile. The plastic of the runners that line the floors to protect them. The lingering scent of bacon from this morning. The lavender from the dried flowers Grandmother hung everywhere. The flowers are gone, but the smell remains
.
    My home. My sanctuary
.
    I walk across the floor, the old boards creaking with each step, comforting. I open the door to the basement and turn on the light. Mice scurry across the dirt floor, faint, light movements that also comfort me in their familiarity. The female cries out, whether from the mice or the light I do not care
.
    The stairs are new. I had to rebuild them when two planks split the week I returned, after being gone for so long. Very little has changed in this house. The stairs. The basement. And of course, the cage
.
    She sits in the corner of the large pen, arms hugging her legs, chin on her knees. She can’t stand in the cage, but she can sit up, which I think is quite generous of me. And there is room to crawl and even stretch out—it is eight feet square, four feet tall
.
    She looks at me with large, fearful eyes. Fear, not defiance, the way it should be
.
    “
I am ready for my lesson, Teacher,” she says
.
    Too bad she must die to make way for the new student. It took her only three days to learn the proper way to greet me in the morning. She has been with me for twenty-seven days, and I have—had—high hopes for her
.
    Maybe I can keep her awhile longer. A day? Two days?
    I take out my key ring and insert the small key into the master lock. She flinches when the lock clicks, but doesn’t move until I say, “You may come out now.
”
    She crawls to the opening but waits until I open it, reminding me that I will miss this one. She would have lasted longer than so many of the others. I picked well, this female. So obedient. So eager to please
.
    “
Stand,” I command
.
    She rises, her legs shaky, but I do not help her. She has lost weight with me, but she was too fat to begin with. A woman of her size—five feet four inches—should be between one hundred twelve and one hundred twenty pounds. She had been much more than that
.
    “
Go,” I tell her, and she starts up the stairs. I am behind her. At the top she waits for me, as she has been taught. She is looking at the kitchen table
.
    “
Aren’t we—
”
    I backhand her. She falls to the floor and lies there, her hand on her mouth
.
    “
I didn’t give you permission to speak, Female,” I say. “Get up.
”
    I have been gone since breakfast. It is now after midnight. I know she is hungry, but I do not care
.
    The female rises and stands. I say, “Go,” and motion her toward the living room
.
    She walks and I follow. I open the closet door in the entry and remove my long coat. I take my shotgun from the rack above the door. “We’re going to walk,” I say. “Open the door.
”
    She turns the knob. A gust of icy cold blows in and she shivers. She opens her mouth, but no words come out because she knows better
.
    She knows better than to ask for a coat or shoes
.
    I let her squirm for a moment, wondering if she’ll break a rule and ask. She doesn’t. I say, “Retrieve your house slippers and your coat.
”
    The female turns to the closet and does as told
.
    “
Good girl,” I say. When she is dressed, I command, “Go.
”
    She obeys me, and I smile. I am a wonderful teacher;
my students learn what others would say is impossible to teach. But this proves what I have always known: a woman’s place is to be obedient to man
.
    She walks through the fresh snow, her hands rubbing her arms through the thin coat she wears. She glances at me but dares not speak. Her face reddens