Tears pour down the man’s face, and his wife looks like she’s passed out. Whatever. They weren’t sorry when they were mistreating Lucian and probably dozens of other kids. Fuck their tears and regrets now.
“Baby,” I say over my shoulder, letting their terror wash over me.
“Yes, my little psycho?” Menace wraps an arm around my waist and kisses my cheek.
“Can you turn them to their stomachs? I think it’ll be easier to lop their heads off without their chins in the way.”
“You got it.” Menace nudges against my ass, pushing the plug in a little deeper. I bite my lip, fighting back a moan.
He steps around me and flips the woman first, then the man. Menace is even so polite as to push her hair out of the way, so I don’t have any obstacles.
Before I raise the axe, I ask Lucian, “You wanna try? The axe isn’t that heavy.”
He looks thoughtful, then grins and nods. “Yeah. I’ve never used an axe either.”
I chuckle, then step over to the wife. “I would ask if you have any last words, but you can’t talk huh? I’ll make some up for you.” In a high-pitched voice, I say, “No, please don’t’ kill me, we didn’t mean it. That about sum it up?”
Lucian cackles beside me and I raise the axe and bring it down on her neck. Her head lops off cleanly, rolling over to her husband.
“Whoo!” I cheer, holding the axe over my head. “You owe me five grand” I say to Menace.
“I’m good for it,” he murmurs. “As soon as we get home, I’ll give you five grand and about eight inches.”
“Fucking barf,” Lucian says, taking the axe from me. “You two are like horny teenagers.” He hefts the axe high, testing the weight. “Fuck, this is heavy as fuck. How did you manage to get it through on one strike?”
“When you bring it down,” I explain, “let the weight work with you. Add all your weight with the heaviness.”
Lucian tries what I said, but the blade gets stuck. I have to use my foot to pull it from the man’s neck so he can try again. Lucian smiles. “I bet that hurt.”
“Oh, I’m sure,” I say. Menace just chuckles.
He chops one more time, cutting his head off.
Lucian lets out a long sigh. “That was cathartic. I think I’ll go axe throwing one day.”
We go about spreading gasoline around the house, adding paper and cardboard so a fire will catch.
Once the house is covered and we’re outside, Lucian lights a Molotov cocktail and tosses it through the living room window.
With awhoosh, fire lights up the night, flames billowing out of the broken window.
He smiles as a wave of heat rolls across his face. “Thanks for joining me, you two.”
“You’re welcome,” I whisper, wrapping my arm around his shoulder so we can watch the flames devour his past.
“Is that the last of them?” Menace asks. “If there are more, we can find them.”
“Nope,” Lu says. “That’s it. My last demons. Now I can join you and Hill if you’ll let me.”
“Always room for one more,” Menace says.
I love how they’re friends, too. I was worried that whoever I ended up with would question my friendship with Lucian and give off jealous vibes. But the two of them hit it off quickly.
Since Lucian is in the industry now, Menace has been showing him the ropes, helping him avoid any predatory photogs and deals. Sya does what she can, but she hasn’t been modeling in over thirty years. She can only do so much. But Menace still has knowledge of whom to watch out for and tells Lucian if he asks.
When we hear the sirens in the distance, we give the house one last look then take off—Lucian heading for his car, Menace following me to mine.
Every chance I get, I’ve been driving this expensive-ass European car, making sure I get Menace’s money’s worth. Evenafter a year of constant driving, it handles well and is good in the shitty snowy weather of New York.
