There was more than anger behind Kinzer’s words. There was deep, profound sadness. Despair. Hopelessness. He’d opened up to Hayde, trusted him even when he believed he shouldn’t, and he had been betrayed. Once again, Kinzer’s impulsiveness did not serve him.
“I don’t personally care if you kill this asshole,” Quintz said, “but say you’re right and this is all a ploy. He was sent as a mole from Janka or the Almighty, so he might have information we could use to help us, which we need, considering what happened back there.”
“Yeah, a lot of good any of that did us,” Kinzer said. “All that work and they just used it as an opportunity to kill your guys. And now they have your fucking bomb, so your whole plan went to shit.”
“On the plus side, your friends are alive. I saw my contact carrying them off during the attack.”
“How do you know this contact’s not the one who ratted us out?”
Quintz shook his head. “I don’t believe Aerysn would ever betray me. He’ll reach out to let us know they’re safe.”
“Yeah. Well, let me know how that works out for you.” He turned to Hayde. “What about it, Hayde? Do your guys have Treycore now?”
“I’m not working for Janka,” Hayde said. “If I were, I would have let you fall right into his trap back at the portal, and he would have had some guy back there to slit your throats.”
“And you apparently know more than you’ve shared so far.”
“Maybe I’m willing to tell you what I know.”
“I’m not interested in hearing what you have to say unless it’s being dragged out of you by force. What do you say, Quintz?” Kinzer asked. “Wanna torture the fuck out of him? You’re real good at that, and I’m in the mood for a show. Even if he doesn’t know anything, I would rather see him suffer in the most painful and sadistic of ways than to finish him off right now, leaving him little more than free of the agony of existence. Because it’s living, not death, that is the real torture.”
They seized Hayde and carried him off into a nearby room that reminded Kinzer of the one Brock and Quintz had tortured him in—it even had a similar loop attached to the wall where it was clear they chained people up to torture them.
Kinzer punched Hayde before throwing him back against the wall. He laid blows into his ribs before letting him fall to the floor, coughing and moaning from the pain. Kinzer tore off Hayde’s frader and chained him to the loop on the wall, binding Hayde’s wrists over his head in cuffs. As the cuffs pinched at Hayde’s flesh, Hayde groaned.
“I hope you know I’m making it hurt on purpose,” Kinzer said through gritted teeth.
“I didn’t doubt it.”
Kinzer pulled his sword from its sheath and pointed it up, running the sharp point under Hayde’s neck.
“You have no idea how much I want to kill you right now,” he said. “To make you suffer for what you did to her.”
Hayde looked into Kinzer’s eyes, and Kinzer tried to read his expression. Was he regretting what he’d done to Maggie? Was he scared for his life, since Kinzer had every reason to kill him for what he’d done?
Kinzer ran his sword down between Hayde’s pecs, not able to help but notice how beautiful that body was, knowing how much pleasure it was able to bring him.
“I should tear you open,” he said. “I should rip into your guts and rip your fucking stomach out of your fucking crotch. I should make you feel the most unbearable pain you can even conceive of. But even that wouldn’t be enough to satisfy my rage.”
Hayde turned away, avoiding eye contact. Kinzer grabbed his jaw and forced him to look at him. “Why won’t you look me in the eyes, Hayde? You never had a problem lying to my face before. Making me believe you had some sort of honor…or decency. Why look ashamed of any of the terrible things you have done?”
“You think you know me so well, Kinzer, but you don’t know a fucking thing about me or my life.”
Kinzer pulled away and punched Hayde in the gut.
“Fuckin’ A,” Hayde said. “Is that all you got?”
He struck Hayde in the face repeatedly until he drew blood.
“The loss of your wings has clearly crippled your immortal strength.”
“You motherfucker!” Kinzer head-butted him, and Hayde moaned once again.
Kinzer pulled his sword back, then reared his fist in his opposite hand and threw a punch into Hayde’s face. He took a breath. “Oh, but that does feel good,” Kinzer said. “So fucking good.”
“Then do it again,” Hayde said. He sounded sincere, not like he was challenging him or hateful about it, but like he wanted to be abused…like he wanted that from Kinzer.
Quintz stayed back, watching the brutality, a look in his eyes as if he wished Kinzer would have taken that sort of aggression out on him.
