32
SCOTTY
Alby whimpers as Ezla grips his nape and spins him around, crashing their mouths together. He seems to forget all about his devastating pain, the seas of which had soaked the bond through, thoroughly consumed by our Bonded in a heartbeat.
“You are so perfect, so pretty . . . so brave,” Ezla purrs between kisses, and for the love of god, now is not the motherfucking time for my cock to be getting hard as I watch her work and seduce.
She’s not at all shy with displaying her possessiveness for the world to see, and the masses are going to have a fucking field day with this one. “All mine.”
Aider snarls, wiggling about like the disgusting worm he is in my unwavering grasp. “That’s a fucking joke—”
Ezla looks exceptionally incensed as she’s forced to pull away from my brother.
Keeping a firm hold of Alby by his neck, my Bonded levels an expression sent from the most gruesome pits of hell on Aider.
Yet she doesn’t even deign to speak to him, barking at me, “Why is this insect still speaking? You must remove the tongue first.”
A strangled sound is all that makes it out of Aider this time. He’s also losing a lot of blood, especially from his shoulders where my brother first stabbed him, and I’m not sure exactly how long he’ll be with us, how long we’ll get to draw his punishment out.
It’s going to be fucking disgusting, but I’m not about to resist Ezla’s order.
Aider and his Bonded—one of whom is squirming about the same as his leader in Tate’s thick arms—and the Game Master, or anyone who fucking treats my family like crap, actually, are the only people I’d be truly fucking happy to slaughter as brutally as my woman does.
It’s not my style, but it’s what they damn well deserve.
I don’t care if that sounds sick—I’m not afraid to dole out justice where it’s due. “Of course, Love—”
“No.”
Cooper steps forwards, but before Ezla can chew up his head with her razor-sharp teeth, he continues, “Let me do it.”
Do not be silly, Cooper. You are averse to violence—
Not for you. Never in the name of vengeance for you, Ezla.
She eyes him, mismatched gaze narrowed, but she doesn’t respond to that. No doubt, she’s read his emotions and thoughts as I have through the open bond and come to the conclusion that no part of him is lying right now.
And not in the name of vengeance for my brothers, either, he adds with a meaningful look around the rest of our group.
“Off with his tongue!” Tiger announces abruptly.
Everyone freezes, and I’m just waiting for the crickets to start chirping.
I don’t think he meant for that to be funny, but . . . Please don’t tell me you just referenced Alice in Wonderland at this very moment.
What? He frowns at me, seriousness unfaltering. I was showing my enthusiasm.
Another beat.
Alby bursts out laughing.
Tiger pouts, glancing his way. But then a wide grin breaks across his face, because he’s always happy to see anyone he cares about smiling. And I just know something else is about to come now—
Tiger trots right up to Aider, turns away from him, and starts wiggling his butt in his face.
“You see this?” My brother points at his backside, and I can only stare at the scene, dumfounded. “This is an ass. It’s in your face because you’re an assface.”
Tate guffaws, and Alby laughs even harder, body shaking with the force, slapping his hands over his mouth as if that will be any help in hiding it.
I feel Aider starting to literally burn with the rage simmering inside of him, building up and up until—
“Cooper. If you please. Remove the organ before it works to assault my ears.”
“Yes, Vengeance.”
“Wait!” Aider’s tune changes before it’s even out, and he attempts to back up, but he only ends up pressing further into me. I pull the chain taut again when he tries to close his mouth, forcing him to keep it open as he struggles for breath.
Tiger’s still having a one-person disco, so Ezla strides over to him and grabs him, yanking him into her. “Well done, Puppy. I believe you have successfully traumatised our victim.”
Beaming, he makes goo-goo eyes at her. “Thank you, Ezzy. Will I be rewarded? Like . . . with an Alby-Ezla-Tiger sandwich? You’re the filling, of course.
Or I could get special treatment and we could make that an Ezla-Tiger hot dog.
” He bites his lip off. Internally, I sigh.
The pointers I wanted to give him couldn’t save him anyway.
“But this time, you’re the bread wrapped around that sausage, Wifey, baby.
” Twirling a lock of blond hair around his finger, he mutters an “ouch” under his breath as he attempts to flick his hair out of his face with a subtle movement of his head at the same time and the strands pull at his scalp.
For a moment, everyone stares at him, speechless.
And then Ezla, The Bonding Games Champion, the cruellest woman on earth, the most savage and intimidating . . . she tips her head back and laughs her head off.
I gape, eyes bugged out of my head, jaw dropped to the floor—everything.
It’s not even fucking evil—though it should probably be cause for concern that I love those demonic cackles of hers—it’s just pure amusement.
The kind where you can feel nothing but joy, where the laugh pulled from you hurts your belly, but you just can’t stop.
We’re staring and staring, and I think I’d be laughing too if I weren’t so absolutely blown away by her never-heard-before notes.
This is . . . Fuck, this is what we’ve been waiting for.
And it’s the most obscene time to have this significant moment—my emotions have been thrown across every one possible in the span of five minutes—but it’s .
. . it’s here. And I’m just . . . I’m fucking tearing up.
The laugh is just so ridiculously beautiful, so stunning, its meaning so special—
It suddenly cuts off, and I think the abrupt switch is the scariest thing I’ve ever witnessed from my Bonded. “Cut off his tongue,” she snaps.
Jolting out of his frozen state, Cooper whips around without warning, armoury stick manifested into a dagger and ready to go.
After this, I think I’ll need to go and lie down for a bit to process everything. I’ll just need some time to step back and figure out what the fuck happened here and try to make sense of all the information.
Aider’s mouth slams shut, and after holding his nose and realising he would rather take the coward’s way out and escape from lack of oxygen, I drop the chain and grab his mouth, yanking it open.
Cooper wastes no time—grabbing his tongue, he slices it clean off with a grimace.
While Aider cries out, my nose wrinkles as my brother tosses the bloody lump away, where it lands on the taalk with a wet slap.
Glancing over at Ezla, Tiger, and Alby, I see both my brothers looking nauseous, but they don’t look away from the morbid sight before them as Aider groans weakly while his eyes start to fall closed.
Ezla watches the two of them closely, and it seems like she was debating covering their eyes but decided they deserve to see this just as much as the rest of us, even if it’s turning their stomachs the most violently from what I can tell.
“Very good,” she says levelly. “Now, he is minutes from dying, so I do believe this is your moment, Alby. However . . .”
Everyone makes way for the Champion as she prowls forwards.
Aider moans again, seemingly jolted a little back into consciousness from the sheer terror of the developing situation. My hands are back on the chain, securing it around his neck once more while he quivers like a leaf in a storm, head flopping as he shakes it as much as he can.
“Come, Alby. You will have to be prepared for how you would like to end him, as this will surely have him out in moments.”
Eyes humungous, he quickly rushes after her.
The moment Alby reaches her, Ezla crouches down, and she reaches for the sinthine encasing Aider’s junk. I know exactly what’s about to happen.
The dickhead’s useless begging grows more vigorous, as frenzied as it can be when he’s in such a state, but my Bonded pays no mind to it, and I keep him as still as possible for her as the dagger she’s manifested in an inky-crimson luminance moves towards his groin.
Leaning in, she whispers something in his ear. It’s too low to make out, but the impact of the words has the piece of shit in my grip swaying.
Then she pulls back.
Lethally sharp tip finding the place just before the sinthe becomes sinthine, Ezla slices her dagger slowly through.
The sound that leaves Aider isn’t human.
Ezla takes her time until she can see how fast he’s fading, and then she slashes downwards quickly, tossing the severed dick she collects over her shoulder, where it smacks into the Exot in Tate’s arms. Screaming an ear-splitting scream, Player 84’s eyes roll back in his head as he passes out.
Scowling, my brother drops him in disgust, and he hits the floor like a sack of potatoes.
“Quickly, Alby. Take your revenge.” Ezla rises and pushes him closer to Aider with a hand on his lower back.
Clenching his fists around the batons in them, Alby doesn’t hesitate.
He doesn’t use any technique, just lets out a spine-chilling war cry and starts slashing and stabbing at every part he can of the man who’s bullied him for years.
Ezla watches him with pride, but there’s also an intensity there that I know means she’s observing him closely, as if ensuring he doesn’t lose himself.
And as he keeps stabbing and stabbing and swinging and then sobbing, I know he almost has. Or maybe already has, because I’m quite certain the body I’m holding up no longer contains an ounce of life. Then I’m completely sure in the next second as that feminine robotic voice sounds out:
“Player 22: Eliminated.”
“Come here, my shy boy.” Ezla slots her armoury stick back on her shoulder blade and steps up to him, catching his arcing arm by the wrist before it can drive his dagger home again.