“Shit!”
The fork was lethal. One trip and it was death. My mind swam with images of the neck brace padlocked around the accused’s throat, forcing them to hold their head high for days. The deadly sharp prongs wedged against sternum and throat, just waiting for tiredness or a fall to jerk their head down and stab them through the heart and jaw.
“That—that’s not the worst of it,” she stammered.
My body turned to lava and hate. “Goddammit! What else could they do?!”
“Part of the Fourth Debt. They—they—” She couldn’t finish.
No.
No.
Fucking no!
I tore off the hospital wristband and traded patient for wrathful avenger.
They wouldn’t get away with this.
Not anymore.
They’re motherfucking dead.
“Get Flaw here. I’m coming home.”
Chapter Fifteen
Nila
A Few Hours Earlier...
“NICE OF YOU to join us, Nila.”
Cut clasped his hands in front of his black jeans. His salt and pepper hair glistened from the sconces around the room.
Daniel shoved me forward. I tripped on the blood-red rug in the centre of the space. A cough escaped as my eyes danced around yet another never before entered part of the Hall.
Amber drapes and bronze accents. War memorabilia along with a few glass cabinets displaying Luger pistols and bloodied ribbons from some battle long ago. Dust motes hovered in the air, swirling a little from the heat escaping the fireplace. The low ceiling and dark orange walls made the space den-like and cosy, full of history and artifacts.
“It’s time we moved forward with the next stage...don’t you think?” Cut sipped his goblet of cognac. “You’ve had time to repay a few of the smaller sins, but my schedule is running behind, and I can’t delay my upcoming surprise any longer.”
Vertigo tried to tackle me, but I did my best to stand tall. Furious tears froze in my eyes, glinting like daggers but not daring to fall.
I will not cry.
Not for them.
Not for anyone.
“You’re gonna enjoy the surprise, Weaver.” Daniel laughed, circling me like a vulture. “Gonna go on a little trip soon.”
A trip?
Where?
Why?
Bonnie shifted in her chair beside the fire. A woollen blanket covered her knobbly knees. “Don’t ruin the surprise, Buzzard. She’ll find out soon enough.”
