Ivan squeezed his eyes shut and began crying. His whole body shook, doing nothing to pull sympathy from the one staring him down.
“Or so, I thought that’s who I was meant to be. Untilshecame into my life and showed me something other than cruelty.”
Vade’s outrage boiled, and an even greater hurt started knowing he could have prevented the attack if he’d just been brave enough to tell Orelia how he felt. In the safety of the room beneath the ground, he let it all out.
“I had no one! No one in my life to protect me! The people who were supposed to look out for me, who were supposed to love me, didn’t. My father kicked me off a fucking mountain for the gods’ sake!”
He didn’t care that he was admitting his past. Ivan wouldn’t live to tell anyone about it anyway. The human cowered like the weakling he was, whimpering through his tears.
“But she cares for me. My rotted soul has the affections of a woman I don’t deserve, so I will spend every second enjoying what the fuck I’m about to do to you because of what you did to her. You drugged her. You beat her. You made her bleed, and hurt, and cry. Made her afraid. And there isn’t a god in this entire fucking universe that will save you from the wrath I’m about to unleash you disgusting, despicable, piece of shit excuse for a human being.”
Vade grabbed Ivan’s tunic and tore it to ribbons. He didn’t want anything getting in the way of the canvas he was about to paint.
Leaving Ivan to his tears, Vade walked to the weapon wall and surveyed all the possibilities, eventually landing on an unassuming, if not a bit crude weapon at the end. The instruments of punishment were all steel or iron made, except for a wooden paddle. The flat end was filled with pins a tailor would use when taking measurements.
His lips quirked. “Blu, you twisted devil . . .” The other weapons were obvious but this one was personal. He gripped the handle tight and stalked back toward Ivan.
“I’m going to try this one out first,” Vade said, smacking the wide end on his palm with a resoundingthwack. He stopped when he was standing at Ivan’s side, an arm’s length away, and with a wide stance for balance.
Hazel eyes poured tears and bloody lips begged for mercy. And Vade cared not a bit. He reared his arm back and swung the paddle toward Ivan’s bare stomach.
Ivan wailed.
Vade let go, and the pins held the weapon in place, sticking heartily into pale skin.
Ivan blew out quick breaths, spittle flying. “Wait!” he said between bouts.
Vade moved to stand directly in front of the quivering human. His height made it easy for him to raise his leg and slam his boot down on Ivan’s knee, shattering it completely.
There were screams for him to stop, but Vade did the same to his other knee until both legs hung limp in the restraints. Ivan reared back against the chair, the lodged paddle heaving along with his bloody chest.
A shiver of delight skittered over Vade’s skin.Fuck, this felt good. He’d begun to sweat himself, enjoying the feel of it dripping down his neck. “Now, we’re having fun. Isn’t this fun, Ivan?”
Vade grabbed a fistful of golden hair and wrenched Ivan’s head back. “That’s what you told Orelia, wasn’t it? That you were just having fun?”
A sob wracked the sniveling piece of shit. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Just please . . .please don’t do this.”
“No one’s going to help you. No one’s coming to save you.” Vade stared into the man’s soul. Every disgusting inch of it. “Money, bloodlines, connections. None of those things matter down here.”
He let him go and took a few seconds to think about his next move. Vade tapped his chin for dramatic effect, stretching out time with an excessively long, “Hmm . . .what shall I do next?”
Lines of blood dripped from the pins in Ivan’s stomach like rain on a window, and the smell of urine soon filled the air.
“Ah, I’ve got it.” Vade freed two daggers and jammed them into Ivan’s thighs.
A wicked cackle came out of the fae when Ivan roared, eyes bulging as he stared at the weapons sticking out of his legs.
What a glorious sight.
“Stop! I’ll do whatever you want! Just make it stop!”
“This is what I want.” Vade yanked one of the daggers out, and blood pumped out of the wound in waves. He’d only have a few minutes before Ivan bled out, so he cut the upper half of his trousers and ripped the fabric open, then knelt and began carving letters into Ivan’s thigh.
Without functioning knees, the human’s thrashing was limited to his upper body, making it easy for Vade to work.
“Stop! Gods! Help me!”
Vade smiled, enjoying each new puncture of flesh and drag of his blade.
