Chapter Five #2
Taul’s eyes widened in horror seconds before he screamed. Veins bulged in his neck and hands, making Savage wonder if the man was going to stroke out too soon. With slow precision, he pulled back, allowing the memories to fade.
Taul’s face stared frozen, eyes hollow. His father’s murder over territory by a rival gang wasn’t pretty, making Taul Senior’s family unable to hold an open casket funeral.
“I...we never knew. I thought it was you,” he gasped, tears rolling down his cheeks unchecked.
The sight of the big man crying like a little boy should’ve brought an ache to Savage, but he only felt indifferent. On the table, Giuseppe mumbled behind his sealed lips.
“Ah, you have something you’d like to say? Have you planned my death as meticulously and as bloodthirsty as your friend Taul?” Savage asked Giuseppe.
Savage smiled at the wide-eyed fear that crossed both men’s faces. They’d come into his club with thoughts of standing toe-to-toe with him, thinking he’d respect them for their actions. The idiots were so sure they’d outmanned him but had clearly underestimated Savage and his clan. Fools.
With a thought, he removed the seal from Giuseppe’s lips, turning his nose up as the man coughed and spit as if Savage starved him of air.
“Enough of the dramatics, Giuseppe. My patience with you is wearing thin. Do you have anything worthy to say before I end your life?”
Giuseppe fought the invisible bonds holding him like a wild beast caught in a trap. If Savage were a different male, he’d have been impressed.
Once Giuseppe tired himself out, Savage moved next to Kessle near the far wall. A row of torture equipment hung, gleaming under the fluorescent lighting. “Which should we use to send them both to Hell?” he asked.
Kessle shrugged his massive shoulders. “Since that one is hanging so conveniently over the drain, you could hook him and allow his blood to seep out for nourishment for the others. As for the one that's thrashing, I suggest using a more slice-and-go method. I’m already sick of his moaning and shit.”
His friend lifted the hook from the wall, tossing the large, curved blade with the leather handle back and forth between his hands.
“I agree. If you slice the jugular vein, he’ll bleed out quickly, and as you can see, there’s a tube placed right along the side of the table that you can insert to catch the blood.
I’m not sure how pure he is, but some of our kind aren’t too.
..selective about their food sources. And as you know, we prefer not to kill our sustenance, so beggars can’t be choosers.
” Savage swept his gaze over the two men. Their fear was palpable.
“Can I kill this one, Boss? His stench is getting on my last fucking nerve,” Kessle muttered, taking a step away from the table where Giuseppe lay.
“Might as well. Neither has anything more to give us that is of value.” Savage shook his head, already thinking of who to put in their place.
“Wait. What about my family?” Taul asked.
Savage stopped near the entrance and looked back toward the man hanging by his hands.
“It is good that your last thoughts are of your family. That is at least better than your father. His only worry was of himself and the pain he feared. For that, your end will be swift. And because I’m in a giving mood, I’ll tell you this, to ease your guilt.
Your family, as long as they’re innocent in the duplicity that you were guilty of, will be given a second chance, so to speak.
What that means is they’ll leave this life behind and get a new one with no memory of any of this.
Sadly, your mother will have lost her husband and son to a tragedy.
Subsequently, she and the rest of the family will have decided to leave the city and all the reminders that it brings.
Of course, I will ensure they can start anew somewhere else.
It will be up to them whether they succeed or fail from that point. See, I can be a good male.”
Taul’s head fell forward as he let out a gust of air. “Thank you, Savage.”
Not wanting to accept the man’s thanks, Savage allowed his form to become a puff of smoke and flowed from the room.
He didn’t always do the righteous, or even the somewhat moral thing.
Hell, the only reason Taul’s family lived despite everything was because they weren’t evil to the core, and neither had he been.
He'd made poor decisions that Savage couldn’t allow to go unchecked, or others would see as him being weak.
The fact that Taul actively plotted Savage and his closest friends' demises without remorse had signed, sealed, and ultimately delivered his death warrant. Giuseppe’s duplicity might seem small in the grand scheme of things, but Savage had seen inside the bastard’s mind.
He’d loathed Savage and the others for years.
The man couldn’t be trusted, which meant he had outlived his usefulness.
Not that Savage needed the fucker. There were ten men waiting to take his place with the snap of a finger.
He rematerialized in front of the large chair made of top-grain leather and wood, overlooking the vast club below. Instead of taking a seat, he moved to the railing and eyed those below.
“They look like a bunch of ants writhing together along to a beat that makes no sense,” he murmured.
“Ah, but look closely and listen to the beating of the hearts and the flow of their blood. It’s a symphony that makes my cold, dead heartbeat, and my cock harder than steel.
I could watch them all night until I find the right tune and then swoop in to select my sweet treat for the final show,” Royer rumbled from beside him.
As the music played, Savage could feel something shifting, the air charging with anticipation. Royer’s smirk faltered, replaced by a flicker of uncertainty as he must’ve sensed Savage’s unease.
When the silence stretched between them, he held his hand up, tracking movement below them.