Screams erupt in the room, both from Selina and Mrs. Goswami. The latter’s is more ear-piercing, though, since most of the flesh in the area she’s been shot at has now blown off and is drooping down her face. It’s quite a lovely sight, if I’m being completely honest.
Cignette shifts her arm and fires again, this time at Mr. Goswami. And, because it’s a close-range shot, it hits him squarely in the middle of his forehead, splattering chunks of his brain, and a thick stream of blood against the buckram-covered books behind him. He falls onto the loveseat, and Mrs. Goswami screams again.
I hook an arm around Cigs’ shoulders as I step closer to watch her handiwork. “That wassohot,” I whisper in her ear, just as Alex says, “Fuckingepic.”
“Good work, babe,” Varsha praises.
Cigs chuckles. “Thanks, Teach.” She gently elbows me in the abs. “And thankyou,” she tells me.
“Can I clap? Because I feel a clap coming in real fast,” Magner comments, making us all laugh.
Mrs. Goswami moves, trying to reach for Cigs, but Magner rushes forward and drives what looks like a slick dagger under her chin. It’s long enough that it pierces the entire length of her face, and exits through the top of her head in a clean, straight line.
Her body goes slack, and she falls in a heap onto the carpeted floor.
“Brutal,” I say, thoroughly impressed.
He takes a bow. “I aim to please.”
“I can pay,” comes Jedediah’s rushed, broken voice. “I’ll pay you all. Whatever the price, I’ll fuckingpay.”
I let go of Cigs and turn to face him. “Ofcourseyou can,” I muse. “But it’s too bad I’m not a sellout.”
He’s shaking – head-to-dick-to-toe. “I’ll double the price,” he tries again. “Whateverhe–” he points at a calm and composed Aras, “–has paid you, I’ll double it. I promise I’ll double it.”
I grin. “I’m sorry,Jed, but I don’t do the whole double-agent thing. It’s not really my forte, y’know?”
He looks at Aras. “Why the fuck are you doing this?” he asks, seeming helpless. “Are you seriously so petty? And what has Selina ever done to you? She’s innocent, damn you!”
“So you agree that you’re not,” I say. “Innocent, I mean.”
He glowers at me. “I’ve done nothing to deserve this,” he spits out.
“Well, Sylvia would say otherwise, don’t you agree?” Aras states coldly.
He hadn’t mentioned Jed’s victim’s name to me this morning, so it’s the first I’m hearing it.
“Who’s Sylvia?” asks Selina, then yanks her husband’s arm. “What’s he talking about?”
His face pales. “Babe, it’s nothing, I swe–”
“Sylvia is one of our ring girls,” Magner provides, giving Jedediah a quick, disgust-filled once over. “Someone your husband raped, right before quitting on us andReign.”
Her entire demeanor shifts at that information. Her throat bobs as she swallows, and her eyes mist over as she steps away from Jedediah.
He reaches for her, but she jerks away from him.
“Howsad,” I remark, then glance at Varsha. “Get her.”
She nods, then makes her way to Selina before grabbing her by the hair and dragging her away from Jedediah.
She struggles against Varsha’s hold and claws at her hand to break free, then doubles over when V jabs her in the stomach.
“You bitch!” Jedediah moves forward, but I fist his collar and knee him in the gut.
“What the fuck did you just call my sister?” I hit him with an uppercut to the chin, and when he falls backwards against the study table, strewing the papers and stationaries on it, I go to grab him again. He’s quick, though, and kicks me in the chest, making me stumble.
“Dor!” Cigs comes to me, but I lift a hand, stopping her.
