“Well, he was smart, if you ask me. He knew what he wanted, and he knew he could overpower the Almighty and the Leader—those two arrogant bastards who sit on their thrones and act like they’re better than the rest of us. But really, there are enough of us to outnumber the Almighty. It took someone brave to show us that: the Leader. And another to show us exactly what we can have. That we can create a paradise so much better than Heaven ever was.”
“You sound quite proud for someone Janka abandoned.”
“Ugly thing, you stick with me, and you might be able to have a slice of the new Heaven.”
“I’d like that. But I doubt Janka would let me in, considering how I betrayed him.”
“You prove yourself to me, do exactly what I say, show me how worthy you are, and I’ll take care of Janka.”
That was all Hayde needed from Taldon—proof that he was in league with Janka, that he would have the intel Hayde had come here seeking.
Hayde reached under the covers and grabbed the knife Taldon had removed from him during their encounter. He offered a kiss, lapping up Taldon’s saliva, swapping kisses, being utterly disgusted by having their mouths against one another’s. Then he reminded himself this was what he had to do.
As he started to bring the knife up, Taldon grabbed him by his wrist, seized it, and laughed. “You didn’t really think I ever had any intention of letting you out of here alive, did you? You come here wanting to know secrets about Janka. You don’t think I know you’re up to something, you little bastard?”
Hayde struggled before Taldon head-butted him. As Hayde fell onto the mattress, Taldon pinned him down and whispered in his ear, “I’m going to tear you apart, you nasty piece of shit. This is what I wanted to do to you since the day I first set eyes on you. This is how I wanted you, totally crippled beneath me.”
Taldon grabbed Hayde by his throat and choked him. “I just wanted to see you think you had the upper hand. Give you a little so that I could rip it right from you and tear your fucking head off with my bare hands. Don’t worry, Hayde. I won’t make it fast. I want it to hurt. I want it to be so slow that it’s unbearable. I want to give you enough air again that you can catch your breath, but then you surrender it just as quickly.”
Hayde tried to break free of Taldon’s hold, but the higherling’s strength was far superior to his own. Hayde reached for the only weapon he could find. He grabbed the cuffs and chain above him, near the headboard. He yanked them back and stabbed Taldon in the eye with the sharp edge of the inside of the cuff. Taldon cried out but kept his firm hold on Hayde, who despite all attempts, couldn’t force another breath in. He jammed the cuff into Taldon’s eye once again, with all the strength he had, knowing if he didn’t make it count, he would pass out, leaving Taldon to restrain him and torture him for who knew how long.
Taldon cried out again and released his grip enough that Hayde managed to squeeze from his hold. “You little piece of shit.”
Hayde reached for the knife on the bed, but as Taldon came at him, Hayde rolled off the bed. He scrambled to his knees and reached down to the jeans he’d taken off before they’d started fucking. He turned as Taldon leapt from the bed, arms and wings stretched out, his knife ready as ever to pierce through him. Hayde slid a dagger from his holster and held it out so that Taldon descended onto it, the blade sliding through his throat. As Taldon swung before him, Hayde pushed to his feet, moved out of the knife’s path, and pushed the hilt of his dagger, forcing Taldon back to the bed. Taldon struck at him again, but Hayde seized his wrist and pushed him back onto the mattress. Blood spewed from the higherling’s mouth, dripping down his jaw.
“I’m glad I could give you a good fuck, Taldon. Because it is your last, and you’ve given me what I need. Now I know what Janka is up to...and as soon as I finish rummaging through this shithole, I figure I’m going to know a lot more about his operation. I’m going to put a stop to what you’re doing. And you, Janka, and the fucking Almighty are going to pay for everything you’ve done.”
Hayde pulled his dagger out of Taldon’s throat. He grabbed the chain cuffs from beside the headboard and cuffed one to Taldon’s wrist. Taldon gargled something inarticulate, surely a curse word, as Hayde grabbed the key off the bed and got to work, searching the room for anything that could be of use to him.
He rummaged through the run-down bedroom of the treacherous and fucked-up higherling’s place, hunting for anything that could help him and Kinzer track down Janka and get their revenge on that nasty motherfucker.
