But–
She never called the cops. He was a respected professor now. He spent his days around impressionable college girls. No one ever made him pay for his crimes.
“I’m so grateful. Daddy. Thank you.” My tiny voice after being locked in a closet all night. “I’m sorry I made you mad.”
I wasn’t a little girl anymore.
I went still, releasing the tension from my body. Not because I was out of the fight. Because he was more predictable than he thought he was. It was easier to intimidate a child.
The need to breathe burned my lungs with a deep ache that only air would fill, but I didn’t let the panic set in. It hurt, but I knew I could hold my breath for much longer than this.
Once I stopped fighting, his hold on my head became gentler, almost unsure.
He knew it shouldn’t have been time yet, but my body language said otherwise. Maybe I hadn’t gotten a decent breath to hold. He wouldn’t know.
I fought the urge to smirk when he pulled out, remaining limp as he flipped me over and slapped my face. “Talia!”
The panic in his voice was delicious. This was real fear. Let him get his taste.
“Sweetheart, this–” He swallowed loudly. “This isn’t funny.”
He moved over me to listen to my breathing, but I continued holding my breath. He leaned over, resting his hands on my chest. Ready to do chest compressions.
He was weak with fear and not thinking straight, exactly how he’d kept me.
I kicked him in the nuts, making him grunt. The splashing water he hadn’t noticed was close enough to reach out and touch Rot.
I grabbed his shirt pulling him close to whisper in his ear. “You’re finally going to get yours.”
I dug in my pocket, pulling out my knife, opening it with a snick. His eyes grew wide when he heard it. I jabbed the blade into the side of his throat. Blood coated my face and chest as the carotid artery sprayed over me.
He moved away, grabbing his throat, trying to staunch the bleeding.
Finally, it was him on the ground as I stood over him. He stumbled away from me, closer to the edge.
His throat gargled out sounds that couldn’t be called words. I’d been too efficient. He’d die too fast.
Rot came out of the water, chomping on Gale’s ankles, forcing him down on the ground. Once he was down, Rot grabbed his foot, slowly dragging him into the swamp. His fury an entity that filled the air.Scream for my mate, human.
Gale attempted to yell in terror, but couldn’t get his throat to work. He slid across the mud, clawing desperately at the ground with one hand. Unsure of which threat he should be more worried about. Bleeding out or drowning.
I stepped forward as he reached for me to save him. The same way I did when I’d been dropped on his doorstep with a trash bag of belongings. Defenseless and sinking.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” I whispered, mimicking the calm facade he always gave me. “I’ll make it better.”
He was too panicked to appreciate the irony.
That he’d made his own special monster, no black magic required.
The realization filled his disgusting gray eyes right as his face sank beneath the surface. Water churned and red filled the brown water.
I waited for Gale to break the surface, but he never did.
As if Rot would allow him to escape. Not while he was fulfilling my wish for suffering.
The rage seeped out of me as seconds passed. I wanted to blame it all on Rot. That it was his rage that pushed me to take a life.
But it’d be a fucking lie.
