“And you apparently knew about the red rooms. Knew who was down there. Visited them and made them get on their knees.” I draw straight down the middle, the edges slicing his skin apart. It takes a bit of pressure to hold him still, screams disrupting my pattern.
But I know how to work around this. It’s not my first time.
It is the first time I don’t want to throw up. I want to keep going, push him until he can’t breathe without pain lacing every jolt of his pitiful lungs.
Leaning into his face, I glare, my glasses splattered in blood. “I might be a monster, born from cruelty and necessity, and I’m alright with that. But you, Finn? You’re a depraved soul who doesn’t deserve the life you were given.”
Rivers of blood drip off his metal bed, covering the floor and my bare legs. I don’t feel the cold now, heated from rage and retribution. This feels good—right.
Finn screams into the gag again and I cut it away. “Have something to say?”
“You think our family is perfect?” He gasps, the light in his eyes fading. His chest shudders, breaths rapid and shallow.He’s going to die soon. Not an ounce of care wells within me. “You don’t know the shit Ferguson did—whatMaevedid. I know their wickedness. I’m just picking a side that will help me.”
“And that side endangered my future husband.” I shrug, holding the bloody scalpel back up. I make a few more cuts, the body cavity fully opened now.
He yells, legs shaking violently. Usually, patients pass out at this point or expire. I’m surprised he’s still with it.
“Viper,” Hayes calls, strolling over to me. His hungry eyes see my body, covered in red and dazzling gems, and then the man beside me. “New project?”
Wiping my brow, I jerk my chin to Finn. “Killian found him. I wanted to teach him a lesson. For you.”
“Me?” He pouts slightly, rubbing his beard. “Are you avenging me, baby?”
My cheeks flush and I smile, palms up. “I’ve been told I’m emotionally stunted. So I thought this could be a way to show you how much I love you. How far I’d go to protect you.”
His blue eyes darken. “Are you killing for me, viper?”
I cock an eyebrow. “I thought that was obvious.”
Pulling me away a little bit, he blocks the gurney, peering into my eyes. His thumb strokes my bottom lip, smearing my lipstick. “You’re doing this for me, but are you alright?” He taps my head. “In there?”
He’s worried about me. His abductor, the man responsible for his healing injuries and he still worries about me.
How could I not love him?
My smile is wide as I say, “Better than good. Because of you, I’ve come to understand that this side of me,” I wave a hand over my body, “doesn’t have to be hidden. Just understood.”
Licking his bottom lip, he nods. “I have to say, you look good when you’re being devious, viper. Covered in blood. Hungry for more. It suits you.”
Returning to my patient, I see the signs of fading life easily. His pale skin is tacky to the touch, and his heart rattles in his chest, out for all to see. The open cavity fills with fluid and blood, with the organs exposed, covered in white pleura. Holding the knife out to Hayes, I gesture to an artery.
“Honors is yours, if you want it.”
When he cuts the artery, Finn gasps, then expires without much fuss. His body deflates, the shock leaving him and then, Hayes is grabbing my hair, twisting it so our lips are forced together.
It’s a meshing of tongue and lips, teeth biting as we fight to get closer. We’re two wild animals, clawing for closeness, and I shove him down onto the stool.
Fuck. My body burns with need so intensely, I could withstand a tidal wave on the shores.
“Now what, viper?” he asks, looking up at me, lips red, hair skewed. “What do you need?”
“You,” I say simply, going back for another kiss. “Just you.”
I shed my bottoms as he unzips his jeans. Forcing him back, I straddle his lap and I feel him at my entrance. Pushing his forehead to mine, he laughs.
“Fuck. I’ve dreamed of being one of your fuck boys. Used just like this.”
Gripping his hair back, I run my fingers over his beard. “So, you did watch me.”
