Delilah.
Sawing.
Delilah.
Sweat drips down my face, my nape, my back. My entire body is on fire as my labored breathing tunnels around me. The stupid fucking bitch isn’t happy when both my arm and sanity are hanging by a thread.
“Now taste the flesh you’ve forsaken,” she demands, humor lacing her voice.
I fall forward, throwing up a-fucking-gain at the thought of what she’s asking as she holds a stark white card between gloved fingers. The dwindling light catches the snake embellishment as she turns it. “The coordinates you require, as an extra.”
Helene’s island. All I have to do…
“Fuck!” I blow out a breath as my throat constricts at the thought of what I’m going to force down it. All my nerves have been severed, yet as I change the angle of the saw to cut a pieceof flesh, I scream out in pain as if I can still feel it. It’s not as rigid as the times I’ve warmed Sasha’s food in my hands, but I battle my churning stomach as I lift the slippery sliver of flesh from my sawn forearm and bring it to my lips. As soon as it touches my tongue, I gag, choking on my own spit—choking on my own flesh. Tipping my head back, I ignore the strange texture, how my teeth pop through it, piercing it and echoing through my skull.
Delilah.
She’s my focus. Always Delilah.
My tears fall into my open mouth, salting my own fucking flesh. I fucking swallow it on a sob, staring at the partial image of her face which was once inked into my skin. Gone. It’s gone. My pain is a roar as I abruptly cut through the last inch of sinew and skin until the unbalanced weight makes me stumble.
I fall back, hitting the stone wall behind me as the candles surrounding me burn out, submerging me into darkness. The low orange flickers of the candles further away move over my dismembered arm laying on the stone as I sit feet away from it, cradling the exposed end of my forearm.
Heels click, moving closer until she reaches a gloved hand up to take my arm, leaving a card in its place. “The Leroux girl will be transported for auction in a week. I do hope you have a speedy recovery to find the information you need, Mr. Kobalt.”
“XANDROS!”
I don’t know if it’s the candles burning out or if it’s my consciousness starting to pull away as her heels click again, moving further away this time. They continue steadily clicking, no rapid movements, no running or fear. Then the heavy doors slam closed.
I use the last bit of energy I have to snatch the card from the bloody puddle. Laying back on the dusty floor with my bleeding forearm on my chest, I close my eyes.
“Get the fuck up!”Asher shouts.“Are you going to die now that you know where she is?”
The card clings to my sticky hand as I push into my pocket, looking for my phone. Sharp edges graze my knuckles and when I pull it out, the screen is fucking cracked. I don’t know Niko’s number by heart to ask him for help, so I dial #1 for Sasha.
She answers on the second ring with sleep weighing her voice down. “Where did you go? Are you getting cake again?”
“Little one,” I croak tearfully as little shards of glass cut into my cheek. “I…I fucked up. I’m…sorry. I’m so…fucking sorry.”
Her voice hardens as something slams in the background of the call. “Where are you?”
I tell her the name of the church as my senses blur with each exhale. “I…I’m sorry. Fi-find…Delilah for…me…please.”
“Stupid house of lies.”
Hissing is the first thing I hear as I’m abruptly dropped in my body with a searing heat on my arm. The overhead lights burn my eyes, and I squint to reduce the glare.
“Don’t scare me again.” Sasha nips me. “You big fat idiot.”
“Love you, too,” I weakly murmur as she heats a knife over an open flame. I watch her gently hold my elbow so the raw stub. Sasha, crazy Sasha who’s wearing a dead person’s face as a mask and eats them, winces as she brings the heated metal to my exposed flesh.
“It’s okay,” she whispers, breaking my fucking heart. “I’ll look after you now.”
“You know I love you?” I laugh weakly with tears in my eyes. “If I had a little sister, I’d want her to be you.”
Her smile shows through the sagging mouth hole as she says, “I’d like to have you as a brother too. Stay still. I gave you drugs so you shouldn’t feel anything.”
I don’t have the wherewithal to scream as she cauterizes the wound. I just breathe, looking down at the card sticking to my bloody fingers.
