“What was that?” I ask.
“Let…let Selina go, or else your…” he coughs blood on himself. “Or else your pink-hairedwhorewill find herself in the same situation as Sylvia…”
My vision blurs as my body once again gives into my anger. “That so?” I pull out my switchblade and flick it open, then get to my feet before silently asking Alex to bring Selina over.
She continually gasps for air as she’s dragged towards me, and once she’s close, I bunch her hair in a fist and pull her short frame in front of mine.
Jedediah sits up and outstretches an arm towards her, but he’s too beaten up to do anything beyond that.
“There’s this thing some people like to do,” I begin. “They think it’s okay to threaten me, knowing full well that I’ve got their lives in the very palm of my hand.” I chuckle. “But they don’t realize that I’m a fuckingdeath note. I’m unexpected; I’m lethal.” I throw a taunting wink his way. “I aminevitable.” I pull back Selina’s head, and she makes a weak attempt at getting out of my hold, which makes me scoff. “And so, Jedediah, here’s an example of what happens when you try outsmarting me.” I hold my switchblade in a vise grip, then stab it directly into Selina’s jugular.
Her body jolts at my assault, and spurts of warm blood sprays out of her neck, painting her hair, and my hand red.
“No!” Jedediah yells in a grated voice, then tries to reach me, but fails.
I stab Selina a second time – in the same spot – hearing a faint hiccup, and then once more, just to sweeten the deal. Her body slumps completely, and I feel the weight of it against mygrip, so I drop her into Jedediah’s arms, where she twitches, then goes still.
I sniff as I study my stained hand. “Had you not threatened Cignette, I might have let you live,” I tell Jedediah, then lift a shoulder. “If only to suffer in agony over your wife’s loss. But alas, you fucked up, just like they all do.”
He’s sobbing now as he holds onto Selina and fixes her hair like she has any breath left in her. “My wife didnotdeserve such an end,” he croaks out, then swallows. “But I…I do.”
“Aww, look at that;anawakening!” Cigs muses, clutching her invisible pearls.
I chuckle, then look down at my bloody hand. Bringing it upward, I grunt as the familiar, metallic scent fills my nostrils. And when I put a finger into my mouth to get my fill, I make sure to keep my eyes on Jed, who looks both enraged and disgusted at me.
Not that I give a shit.
“Hmm, tastesjustlike collateral damage,” I say, merely to get a rise out of him.
He grinds his teeth. “You motherfuc–”
Varsha fires two consecutive shots, piercing the side of Jedediah’s head.
He falls against the carpet with a dull thud, dirtying it with brain matter and what not.
I sigh as I step away from the corpses, then sit back down on the chair I’d pulled over earlier.
“Fuckingmarvelous,” Aras praises around a grin, then points at me. “I’ve just transferred the rest of the promised money to your account. And a little more for the applause-worthy spectacle I had the pleasure of witnessing,” he announces, sliding his phone into his jacket pocket. He briefly surveys Jedediah and Selina’s bodies, and a sinister smile curves his lips. With a relaxed exhale, he then scans me up and down. “I thinkyou should clean up before you head downstairs to the foyer,” he suggests. “There’s a guest room a few doors down. You’ll find a closet full of clothes and a bathroom there. Leave what you’re wearing in the washer, and my staff will deal with it later.”
I nod. “Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.” He rises, then looks around at the crew. “The cleanup team will be here in a bit, so while Dorran freshens up, I’ll ask the rest of you to please take a break, get some air, or maybe try the appetizers that I’m sure are currently being served.” And with that, him and Magner leave the study.
“Go get something to eat, guys,” I tell my crew. “I’ll see you downstairs in a bit.”
“You sure?” Varsha asks.
“Positive.”
They look at Cignette, who shakes her head at them.
With a nod, Alex partially opens the door to prevent the smell from inside to waft into the hallway, then slips out. Varsha follows him, then quickly shuts the door behind her.
“You didn’t have to stay,” I tell Cigs.
She tilts her head a little. “Really? And what would I do down there without you?”
“I don’t know? Some networking, perhaps?”
