I raise a mocking eyebrow. “Oh, Gary boy, I know all about your family. You see, touching what’s mine was more than enough to grant you a place in that chair. But I had a hunch you weren’t just a drunk sleaze harassing women in my club, so I did a little digging. Well, I wasn’t surprised to discover you raped and nearly beat your wife to death, and then did the same to your teenage daughter. But your uncle, the mighty judge, can’t get you out of this one. When I finish with you, you’re going to wish you were dead, you sick fuck.”
The sinister smile spreading across my face prompts him to continue his useless begging as the smell of urine permeates the air. His cries don’t play in his favor, though, because they only fuel my deviant half. I turn to my torture spread on thetable. I brought every single weapon from Hell, then asked Malik to spell them so they would inflict a hundredfold the pain of their damage. Serrated knives, machetes, a knee splitter, thumbscrews, pliers, a tongue tearer—everything exactly two inches apart and polished to perfection. Just how I like it.
I finally settle on a sharp, medium-sized knife, curling my bloody fingers around its handle before striding back to the shit stain who dared put a hand on Iris. The second he bent over her while she was sitting on the barstool at Sin, I wanted to squeeze the life out of him. And then he tried to hoist her up.
You’re nothing more than a monster.
An abomination.
You make me sick.
I let my father’s words wash over me and dive back into the darkness—where I belong. Because my light is gone. I thought I was broken when I let Iris go eight years ago. But now. Now I can’t fucking breathe. I can’t think. I never knew this kind of pain existed. It’s all-consuming. Like being swallowed by a black hole. So I embrace it. I inhale it and let it saturate every atom as I get to work.
The sound of the door closing reverberates in the cavernous space, snapping me out of the deep end I gladly threw myself into.
“Why is a human in the torture chair?” Malik asks as he advances toward me, letting out a whistle. “Is that his dick in his mouth?” He gags. “Well, this is new—skinning someone alive. How long did it take you?”
I’m sure the smell of charred human flesh is vile, but I’m immune to it by now. I’ve had years to get accustomed to it. When my father forced me to use my hellfire on one of the disobedient dark creatures they were experimenting on, I was only four years old. I was the same age when I killed someone for the first time. But the scariest part was the pleasure it broughtme, my demon half. I welcomed it with open arms. I fed on the keening wails.
That hunger only grew over the years. I kept it satiated by finding the right dark creatures to torture—those who kill innocent humans. Being the head of the Obsidian Conclave has many advantages, but exerting punishment on the underworld beings who break the Celestial Treaty is what keeps it at bay.
“I don’t know. I’ve been in here since early this morning.”Since Iris told me she’s going to forget I exist.I fist my right hand to hide the tremor in my fingers as I stop the gliding knife and drop the last strip of the asshole’s skin on the cement floor. I injected Gary, when he passed out again, with an adrenaline serum Malik created a while back to keep victims awake through every single second of justice being served. He’s now staring at me from a skinless, burnt face, eyes wide open and drenched in terror. After I cut out his tongue for how he spoke to Iris, I shoved his useless cock into his mouth.
“Well, it’s almost midnight, so you’ve been here all day. What did he do anyway?”
“Touched Iris.”
“Ah, that explains it. Wait. Is he the piece of shit Raul and Oliver brought in from Sin the night Adramelech escaped?”
I grunt in response as I stride to the table, drop the knife on top of the towel I laid out earlier, then trudge to the sink to wash my hands. The amount of blood mixing with water would make anyone else queasy. But I fixate on the red gurgling down the drain—painting the scattered pieces of glass in fresh streaks of violence—it’s not nearly enough to satiate my thirst for revenge. It should have beenmore. It should have been Erik’s.
“Wow. You’re a real Chatty Cathy today.” Even though I can’t see him, I know he’s rolling his eyes. “The last mansion we checked on our way back was also a bust. Dominic is grabbing a quick snack, but he said he’ll join us in your library for theConclave meeting after I heal Iris.” He pauses. “Um, so are we letting the skinless human die? Judging by the way he looks, he doesn’t have much time left. I’m talking hours…maybe less.”
“Can you prevent his organs from shutting down, but not heal him further? I want him to live like this.” I know Malik’s question stems from the fact that the Celestial Treaty forbids us to kill humans. But that’s not the reason I don’t want Gary dead. Death is an easy way out. It would be too merciful. If Erik were still alive, they would make the perfect cell buddies.
“Um, maybe. I don’t think I have enough juice left to heal Iris and attempt this, though. The multitude of tracking spells took a lot out of me while trailing Adramelech all over the country like a bloodhound.”
“Just do it.”
“But what about Ir—”
“She left.” My voice is a deep, gravelly rasp as I white-knuckle the edges of the sink. While I had these poisoned-tipped words contained in my mind, I could pretend they weren’t real. But now…
When I finally meet his cat-like eyes, his eyebrows draw together. “What happened?”
“She heard us talking on the phone this morning. Heard you…about the barrier.”
Malik swears under his breath before closing the space between us to pull my shaking body into a hug. “I’m so sorry.”
“I fucked up. Not only did I take away her memories, but I…Fuck. She tried to—tried to kill herself because of me. Because of what I did. I shouldn’t have left her in her aunt’s care. I should have been there for her.”
Malik inches back, gripping my shoulders. He locks his kaleidoscope gaze with mine. “Youhavebeen there for her. You’ve watched over her for eight years. Protected her. She wasn’t the only one who lost everything that day. You both did.You made what you could out of a shitty situation. She would’ve died if you hadn’t activated that barrier. She was too far gone, Kaiden.”
“But I should have been the one to take care of her after—”
He scoffs, cutting me off. “With Mammon watching your every move like a hawk? He would have killed Iris the second he found out about her, and you know it. He was already suspicious of you disappearing to visit her. Letting the Order take her in was the best solution at the time. And seeing you that soon could have compromised the barrier. Maybe even killed her.”
I hang my head between my shoulders. “She’ll never forgive me for this…”
