“If you can’t do the job...” Her tone went into a deadly whisper, calling out like the angel of death. I knew it would be horrific, barbaric, sadistic, but I couldn’t look away. I couldn’t help but think that while she was covered in blood and tearing this man apart, she looked stunning. I wanted to slam her into the wall and fuck her. Have her scream my name before she brutally shoved her fangs into my vein. I was having a hard time keeping that fantasy locked away now that she was going this far.
“Then we will find someone who can.” She pulled his rib cage in opposite directions, bones cracked, muscles and skin ripped, the man was being torn to shreds by sheer force. Blood sprayed all over her, covering her from head to toe. She licked at her blood-covered fingers while grinning up at the guards that were frozen stiff, gulping down their fear. “It’s very simple, boys.”
She leaned back down, slurped at the blood pooling in his chest cavity. With each sound of her enjoying herself, a few guards turned paler, actively trying not to watch what she was doing to their fellow guard, but the sounds compelled them to turn her way. The only ones that seemed to be unfazed by this turn of events were the twins, Fin and Rin. Their whole demeanor didn’t change, they just stared straight ahead, accepting anything Rayla might hand down.
“Fuck, that’s hot.” Ax adjusted his pants as his eyes filled with a beastly lust, and he licked his lips like he wanted to dig into the flesh and tear it up, too.
“She always puts on the best shows. They are hot and educational. I never knew you could just pull apart someone’s chest like that,” Lex whispered, but when I faced him, I saw the excitement in his eyes as his body shook. His hands opened and closed. He was just as bad as Ax, maybe even worse.
When the slurping and sucking stopped, Rayla made a show of digging around in his chest cavity, searching around until she found what she wanted and yanked it out—the heart. She looked down at the vampire who was out of it from the pure pain she had inflicted, as well as the emotional trauma of being eaten alive, and she glared at him. “All you needed to do was keep your mouth shut and take your punishment like a big boy. I don’t have time for the lazy and self-absorbed. Take this as your termination papers.” Then she crushed his heart right in front of his face. At first, blood dripped down her arm until it turned gray and crumbled and flew away like ashes in the wind. As soon as it was fully crushed, the vampire took his last breath and sunk into the floor.
Rayla stood up like she had all the time in the world, her demeanor was poised and regal once again. “Do you all understand how serious I am about this issue now? That I’m not the one to be fucked with, disrespected, or talked to without answers to my questions. Do your jobs, and you won’t end up like this.” She flicked her fingers toward the body like it was nothing. “But, just know, I can come up with much worse torture techniques than this.” She smiled sweetly, but the threat rang true and clear.
A blood trail appeared, running down the floor until it swirled down the drain. So I guess this was what this room was for. Then I realized if this room was built specifically for spilling blood, then the smart guards knew something like this would happen. They all replied with a “No, ma’am,” immediately.
She turned away from the mutilated body, perfectly at ease with being soaked from head to toe in blood. She looked at Fin and Rin, tilting her head toward the body. “I expect a loyal replacement for him by tomorrow. Do not fail me again.”
They pounded their chests in unison, saying at the exact same time, “Consider it done. Loyalty or death.” She nodded as they spoke their family’s words, showing her the utmost respect as their current leader.
She turned around, scanning us all like she was trying to gauge our reactions before she walked away from the guards, heading for the door. Rick held the door open for her when she got close, and she yelled out with finality, “Find them. Now!”
Cosmo nodded to us, and we followed her bloody footprints out of the room, up the stairs, and back into the office like they were the breadcrumbs leading us to a slaughter house instead of a candy cottage. She was a woman on a mission, and while she could’ve just vampire sped her way to her office, she still gave us the respect of walking, allowing us to catch up. Rick told her he would get her a new outfit, then she looked down, puffed out a laugh like she didn’t realize, and said she was fine. He rolled his eyes and left anyway while grumbling about looking like the grim reaper, but when he looked to us for support, not a single one of us said anything.
He rolled his eyes and threw up his hands, mentioning on his way out, “Of course, you all find it fucking acceptable. You bunch of psychos.” Maybe we are, but who cares. It works out better for us with this job.
As she sat down at the desk, she took out a towel and wiped at her face, with all of us crowding around the desk. If she noticed, she didn’t say anything as she sifted through papers, leaving bloody fingerprints everywhere.
“What if he needed that?” It was a simple question, something to get her to talk to me rather than being so consumed in her hunt.
She continued to read something before picking up another paper. “It’s his fault for getting taken.” She put the paper down, and her eyes scorched me with her truth. “If he didn’t want a bloody desk when he came home, then he shouldn’t have been stupid enough to be taken.” It was hard to argue with her logic.
“So, you think they were taken?” Falcon asked, peering down at the scattering of papers while fingering the edge of the desk like he wanted to be the one sifting through all the papers.What a nerd.
She continued to read something as she replied, “Yes. I do think they were taken. I also think that they preplanned to ditch their guards.” She set down the paper and folded her hands together as she faced us all. “My dad is an impatient man”—her eyes flicked to Falcon—“and if he had someone on his side who could tell him the future, he might take unnecessary risks.”
Falcon’s jaw clenched. “My father’s spirit magic, while accurate in premonitions, only shows him two-to-five second intervals of time and sometimes gives him gut feelings. They are not something I would completely rely on.”
She nodded. “I know. That is why we still need to find them. They might be biting off more than they can chew by not seeing the bigger picture.” Damn it, she’s right. Ever since we got here, our fathers had been acting wild and unpredictable now that they had others to back them up.
A furious knock came at the door, and Rayla called them to come in. In walked the guard twins carrying a tablet and handing it over to Rayla. “We have found footage with their last known location.”
She took the tablet already cued up with a video, then paused, raising her eyebrow at us before pressing play. “Are you guys going to come around and watch?”
We quickly moved around, all but Lex, who sat on the edge of the desk across from her, staring at her like he just came to watch her in action. She pressed play, and we watched a clip of our fathers being shoved into a white van while wearing magic handcuffs. Falcon held out his hand at the end, and Rayla handed him the tablet so he could examine it closer.
“Plates on the van? Address of the owner?” Ax asked as he cracked his knuckles, ready to go to war this instant.
Instead of the vampire twins, Falcon was the one to answer Ax as he tapped his fingers against the tablet. “Looks like it was spelled. No plates, no faces. Nothing to go from... wait.” Falcon turned the tablet around after he zoomed in on one of the abductors’ faces. “It looks like the enchantment was only for their faces, but this one’s arm is in the shot. It’s blurry, so I can’t make out it out, but that’s a tattoo... Do any of you recognize it?”
It was very blurry, but the tattoo itself also looked fuzzy, like it didn’t have solid lines, making it increasingly harder to recognize. I wondered what new group was popping up and using this weird ass tattoo. We all peered at it, trying to figure it out, but a tan, smoky hand snatched the tablet.
“Interesting... I think I know the tattoo artist.” Lex hopped off the table, walking backward as he studied the tattoo. Rayla’s face fell as her eyes narrowed on him.
“I can send backup with you?” she said carefully as she leaned forward on the desk while staring at Lex.
Her words gave him pause, and his head snapped up to her glaring at him. While he smiled at her like he normally does, this time, he had a plea in his eyes. The feeling of a whole nonverbal conversation happening before our eyes had me stepping closer to Rayla. What the hell were they talking about? How did they get so close? He had less time with her than the rest of us, but he seemed to be only steps away from Cosmo’s level. What really happened between them when she was kidnapped?Maybe I should stage a little kidnapping myself?
His smile fell as his voice lowered, and he bowed his head slightly to her, the equivalent of baring his neck in submission. “Let me do this, Rayla. While I enjoyed you getting all bloody and vengeful, I don’t like seeing you so stressed out. Let me do what I can, please?”
