My target – because today, I’m the goddamned predator.
It’s impossible to separate Cassandra’s voice from my own. Her memories and my will are one and the same, united in boundless fury.
Rydon gives me an easy, confident smile as he stands and comes to sit beside me. He invades my personal space with ease, and his leg presses against mine. The back of my neck prickles as he drapes his arm over the back of the couch, his fingers barely brushing against my hair. The cruel anticipation in his gaze gives away the vicious monster that lurks beneath the surface.
My own monster all but purrs, knowing she’s going to love the taste of his blood.
“Your little act isn’t fooling me,” he notes, giving me a conspiratorial look. He laughs before adding, “Don’t worry, your little secret is safe with me. I know you don’t want Leon. In fact,” he pauses to adjusthimself, “I prefer it that way. I’ve become a bit of a… connoisseur of taming women who don’t know their place.”
His fingers twine in my hair. I look down, trying to pretend I’m afraid. I keep my hands loose, almost smirking when I catch sight of my finger stub. It’s too small to hold a ring.
From the corner of my eye, I see the bulge in Rydon’s pants growing. Still, I wait. He’s the captain of the guard. This man is highly trained, so I need to choose the right moment.
He leans in closer, his voice becoming breathless with excitement as he takes in my fear. “It’s even more fun in the beginning… when they resist. After all, the easiest way to break a woman is with your dick. Leon has been going on and on about how excited he is to do just that.”
My blood feels like it’s boiling, and ever so slowly, I lift my gaze to meet his. Horror is etched across my features. It isn’t a mask.
“I wonder if he’ll let me watch?” His eyes rake over me before he runs his nose over my neck, inhaling my scent. “Then again, once we’re bonded, you’ll probably thank me when I take my turn with you.” He tuts like he’s disappointed. “That won’t be any fun at all.”
Almost there.
His hand slips between my thighs, and his whisper is warm against my ear. “I think we should practice just once, before you start begging for it. I want to feel you break for me. After all, you took away my toy, and I’ve been very lonely. You–”
His comment is cut off by an anguished, keening sound. Rydon tries to jerk away from me and fails.
My dinner knife is buried between his legs. Before he can scream, I grab a donut from the table in front of us and shove it into his mouth, gagging him.
I’m. Not. Finished.
Grabbing the handle, I start stabbing him in the crotch, over and over again. The sharp blade of the scythe would be too merciful. I like how the serrated edge of the dinner knife tears into his skin.
Between struggling to push me away and trying to pull out the donut, it takes a few moments until he finally finds his voice. A high-pitched scream tears from his throat.
I only have a few seconds until I’ll be pulled away.
I make them count.
Peering through the jagged holes in his pants, I take in the ruined bits of his flaccid penis. It’s still attached to him, and that just won’t do.
His dick is slick with blood, but I manage to yank it out through a hole in the fabric. Rydon wrenches on my hair, trying to stop me, but I don’t feel the pain.
There’s a wet, tearing sound, followed by a spray of blood that arcs across my pale pink dress. I fight against his hold, trying to shove the severed appendage into his mouth.
The door slams open with a bang, and Leon bursts into the room. He freezes, taking in the blood coating Rydon and me. His gaze bounces from the knife in one of my hands to the dismembered penis in the other.
I wish I could have this moment commemorated as a commissioned painting.
“Vivian! Drop the blade!” Leon orders.
My hand goes slack, and the blade falls sideways onto Rydon’s lap, rather than impaling him a final time.
Shame.
“You stupid, stupid girl.” Leon strides forward, yanking me back by my hair. He doesn’t let go, instead dragging me behind him and heading for the door.
I don’t struggle. I just wave Rydon’s penis at him and give him a blood-coated smile. “Look at that. It turns out your dick can break men, too.”
Rydon is still screaming obscenities when Leon drags me down a servant’s hallway. I assume he’s trying to avoid being seen, but we still pass at least half a dozen servants. Each of them blanches when they see us, their expressions twisting in sacrilegious disgust.
