“Too eager to die, are you, Miranda?” he taunts, then kicks at her tied-up feet, making her cry out. He then points at Toby’s body, which is now turning blue in the face. “Wanna end up like him, then, or would you like the special treatment?”
Chills rake through me at the ice in his voice. It’s leveled and calm – a deadly combination when it comes to him.
Mom thrashes against her binds, just like I’d thrashed under Riley, pleading with him to stop. Images from earlier assault my mind, but I swallow and push them away.
You’re not the pain you’ve endured, I tell myself.Chin up; stay strong.
Dorran faces me, just as I steady my breathing and look at him.
“You alright?” he asks, then touches his knuckles to my cheek.
“I will be,” I answer honestly, then give him a small smile.
He places a kiss between my brows, then presses his forehead to mine. “I’m here, okay? Always. Whatever you need.”
Countless emotions tighten my chest. “I know,” I whisper, then give him a brief kiss. “I know.”
56.
“For the love of…” Dorran moves away from me and turns to look at Mom when she pushes the cabinet yet again.
I glare at her, but she keeps her gaze locked on him.
“Can’t you see your daughter happy for one fucking minute?” he questions, then scoffs at what he’s said. “Ofcourseyou can’t. It’s one of the reasons why you’re gonna die tonight. Are you fucking excited about it? Because I sure as hell am.”
I glance at Toby, and at the thick stream of blood that’s surrounding him, and imagine my mom in his place. It wouldn’t be wrong of me to say that I’m eagerly looking forward to watching her bleed out, but more than that, I’m excited to witness the process that will lead to it.
Mom falls sideways and starts shifting away from Dorran, and let’s just say that it’s…awkward.
He raises his hands in mock defeat, making my lips twitch. “You literally made all that noise to get my attention, and now you’re moving away from me?” he says to her, and when she shakes her head and continues to slide away from him, he sighs and presses the heel of one of his boots to her bound ankles.
She cries, to which he rolls his eyes.
“I don’t have time for this shit,” he mutters. “Let’s take you out of this room so that I can be done with you for good.” He grabs her by the hair and starts dragging her towards the door, ignoring her broken sobs.
As he should.
“Dorran?”
He stops at my voice.
I walk over to him. “I can’t hear her screams clearly enough,” I say.
He blinks, then lets go of a surprised chuckle. “Do the honors, then,” he states, and jerks his head at Mom.
I take a step back and look down at her, and when her teary eyes bore into mine, I give her a wink before pulling away the duct tape from her mouth with as much force as I can muster.
She yelps in pain, and it’s a pleasing sound, albeit a short one.
Dorran grins at me, then resumes dragging her out into the hallway. She screams and curses all the way through, and it’s ineffective enough that it doesn’t even bother me.
Bitch. Cunt. Whore. Perfect nicknames for the Flawed Princess, I suppose.
We enter the main gym area, and I notice two metal chairs in the center of the room. They’re placed in such a way that they’re facing each other, and next to one of these chairs is a wooden table, upon which is a surgical tray. There’re a couple of pliers in this tray, and I can only imagine how Dorran is going to use them on my mother.Ifhe decides to use them at all, that is.
Mave and Solo are standing next to one of the walls in the room, half-shadowed by darkness, whereas Jayce and the rest of the crew have taken to the other corners of the room.
“Christ, fuck-face. Whathappenedto you in there?” Mave says, giving Dorran repeated once-overs, clearly rattled by the amount of blood on him.
