Then he turns to Quinn. “Who’s next?”
My blood runs cold because this was never part of the plan. Having her witness the kills was as far as this was supposed to go. She isn’t meant to participate. Yet she’s all smiles and eagerness as she moves to the table and plucks up a hacksaw with a chrome blade. And it’s all my fault for telling her about Daddy Carter. Fuck me sideways.
“Pink is for the child abusers, right?” she asks as she eyes the cowering Cattle.
Jim nods, and she sidles up to the pink character. With a nibble of her lip, she grips the hood and yanks it off, revealing the shriveled face of an old man. He looks harmless, but many of them do. That’s how they get away with it for so long.
Quinn doesn’t even wait for the rundown. She doesn’t need Jim to tell her what this vile monster has done to children. She grabs the man’s gray hair, snatches back his head, and begins to saw his throat open.
His legs kick out as he tries to scramble away from the blade, but the chain catches and sends him to the floor. Quinn is on him immediately. With his hands strapped behind his back, he’s defenseless against her wild onslaught as she straddles his waist and starts sawing again. We can’t see his face. We can’t see the carnage. What we can see is the way his kicks grow weaker as a red puddle begins to spread across the stage.
When he stops moving, Quinn finally stands and faces the onlookers. She’s all purple elegance and crimson wrath as she holds out the hacksaw and takes a bow. Red stains paint her fluffy dress, her pale skin, and her golden hair.
I’ve never seen a more beautiful sight.
Or a more terrifying one.
Quinn didn’t need to wait for Jim’s explanation of this man’s crimes. She didn’t even need to know he’d done anything wrong. She just needed permission. To kill.
My friends, I believe we’ve just witnessed the birth of a monster.
Chapter Ten
Aven
Ibrought my concerns to Jim after dinner, but he would hear none of it. He sees Quinn’s hunger for blood and attention as a positive. Especially the attention bit. His thinking is that the enticement of her special stream for Sinners will be too much for Desmond, forcing him to show himself. Jim liked the idea so much that he went so far as to help her set up a stream to every single room in the hotel. In just a few minutes, she’ll appear on channel four for anyone who wants to tune in.
How positively fucking lovely.
He even kicked me out of the room so that they could discuss what she would do during her stream. Me. Her fucking bodyguard. He expects me to keep her safe, but he isn’t including me in the plans. I’ve let it slide tonight, but I cannae work in these conditions. I’ll speak with him tomorrow.
For right now, it’s time to watch my favorite program.
I flip on the television and turn to channel four. It just shows a screen that welcomes me to the resort at the moment, but soon enough, Daisy’s Room will fill my screen. But one screen isn’tenough, so I pull out the laptop, too. With a few clicks, I’m seeing her room from angles no one else has access to.
Quinn sits on her bed, right in the center. She’s traded her lavender cocktail dress for a silver-sequined bra-and-panty set. It looks like something a pop princess would parade around at a concert. I half expect her to raise that Hitachi Magic Wand like a microphone, but she just plugs it in and tucks it beneath a pillow.
As she moves to the mirror beside the bathroom, I switch cameras so that I can continue watching her. She eyes herself in the wide reflective surface, turning back and forth as she squeezes the poochy bit of skin at the front of her flashy panties. A frown slides onto her face as she tucks the skin behind the fabric. She’s clearly displeased with her figure, but I find her perfect. That extra bit of softness around her midsection is a bonus, not a detraction.
I’m not supposed to look at her this way.She’s my primary, and my focus should center on her safety alone. Why does she have to be so damned distracting?
When it’s time for the show to begin, she hurries back to the bed and positions herself on the comforter. Once she’s certain she’s framed the shot correctly, she goes live. My television screen switches to a shot of her, banishing the darkness with all of her glittering attire.
“Hey, party people,” she says with a wiggle of her fingers. “I’m so glad all of you chose to join me in Daisy’s Room for the night. I’m typically used to a little back and forth, but chat isn’t possible in this setting.” She pushes out her bottom lip in a pout, and I get an instant vision of her on her knees, looking up at me as she makes that same face. “Not to worry, though! I’m sure I can keep us allveryentertained.”
She shifts positions on the bed, going from lying on her side to sitting on her knees. As she leans forward, her breasts fill thecamera. The tight top pushes them toward the heavens. I wonder what they’d feel like in my hands. Would she let me squeeze them until it hurts? Could I bite?—
Fucking stop it!
I shake my head to clear my brain. But it’s no use. I should be more focused than ever, but when she nibbles her lip and plays with her hair, I can’t concentrate on anything aside from filthy thoughts. That is, until she says something that turns my blood to ice in my veins.
“Jim gave me permission to have a date with one lucky Sinner tonight. He’ll choose the winner. All you have to do?—”
Her voice fades as the hotel room door closes behind me. When that first sentence left her mouth, I was already on my feet. I grab my key from my pocket and try to open her door, but then I remember that I gave her the other key. The one currently in my hand only works for my room.
“Fuck,” I say under my breath. Banging on her door won’t do any fucking good. She’s probably eating this up, knowing that she and Jim orchestrated this behind my back. They knew I’d never agree to this.
So I’ll just take it straight to the man himself.
