“Clean this up.”
Mel went back to assessing her reflection and didn’t speak again until every item was arranged just as it had been down to the smallest details. Phobetor faced every label outward to be read and each tube of lipstick down so that the color swatch was visible.
Nyx had seen a lot of terrible things in her life. Lived it every day, to be honest. But nothing compared to the ice rolling off the woman in the spotlight. She was an evil unlike anything Nyx had ever felt.
“Here’s what we need to do now, and you’d better listen. If there is one detail out of place I will slice off your dick and make you choke on it. Do you understand?”
Tor was back to kneeling in between her and the vanity, his head bowed subserviently. “Yes, mistress.”
The ghost of a smirk lifted the corner of Mel’s lip, but it was gone before Nyx could decide whether it had truly been there or not.
“Good boy,” she purred and gave a gentle pat to his hair. Anger simmered in Nyx’s veins, the mock in Mel’s tone making her eye twitch.
“You’ve delivered the invitation to him, right?”
“Yes, mistress.”
“And no one knows you were there?”
“No, mistress.”
Nyx’s breath caught as Phobetor’s words settled. He hand delivered the invitation to her. She knew he was there.
He… lied.
“Perfect. At least you did that right. We’re in a precarious position. He needs to be kept busy until I have what I want. Then we wipe the board. Did Dionysus tell you where the Freakshow tent will be set up?”
He didn’t answer immediately and, if Nyx hadn’t been watching closely, she may have missed the flash of his eyes toward her. “No, mistress.”
“Hmm,” she hummed. “Pity.”
He swallowed hard, the Adam's apple in his throat bobbing as his fists clenched at his side. Gods, he had to be drawing blood with the force of it.
Mel opened a piece of folded parchment identical to the one Tor had given Nyx, and studied it for a moment before she looked back to Tor. “Retrieve my dagger from its sheath, pet.”
Tor closed his eyes for a second before grazing his hand against her calf and slipping it under the hem of her dress.
“Slowly,” she crooned in a voice that made Nyx’s stomach curl.
The ring of steel filled the cavernous space as it pulled free from its holster. Tor handed it to Mel pommel first and the defiance written in every rigid muscle of his body filled her with dread.
If Mel killed him then… “Oh , Gods,” she whispered.
“See how easy it is when you listen like a good boy?”
“I am not a godsdamned powerless underling for you to degrade, Mel.” His face flickered between man and nightmare in a wicked display of power straining beneath its confines.
He tensed, his body preparing to launch itself toward Mel in a furious attack. Instinct flared and Nyx’s body lurched forward without her permission, her heart acting before her mind. She needed to help him. If he died, then she would follow.
It didn’t matter, though.
As soon as the toes of her boot stepped into the dimmest ring of light, Mel sprung forward, the epitome of a nightmare as she fisted his hair and swept the blade across his throat, the cut deep and precise.
Nyx slapped a hand to her mouth to muffle her scream as a line of fire ignited across her own throat. She dropped to her knees, tears blurring her vision and heart fluttering in erratic beats as if she were the one in the hands of a monster.
Arterial spray covered the malevolent beauty matching the glow of her crimson irises. She bathed in his blood, her head tilting back as she savored its warmth. Mel threw Tor to the side as if he were nothing but an inconvenience, and the thud his body made as it hit the ground made Nyx flinch. She looked down to the invitation once more before tossing it to the floor.Mel used the Devil’s back to clean her blade before tucking it into the sheath strapped to her thigh.
She straightened her dress and fluffed her hair, putting herself back together as she spoke aloud. “You’re lucky I wasn’t carrying my obsidian blade. I’ve some business to attend to and I want this mess cleaned up before I come back. Do try to be quick about it.”
