Chapter 24
24
TATUM
I t’s not until the next morning that I decide I want to see Douglas. I’ve decided I want a turn at him. I’m irrationally angry.
“Are you sure?” Anthony asks, and I nod, rubbing my good hand across my stomach.
“What’s left of him?”
“Too much.”
I nod and swallow. “Okay. Yes. I want to see him.”
“You have to be sure. Once you see it, you can’t go back in time and unsee it.”
“I know,” I whisper and then nod resolutely. “I want to.”
Anthony leans down and kisses me swiftly before striding toward the hidden door in his office.
“Alright. Come on. Bane has been waiting for you anyways. He has a gift for you.”
“He does?” I ask, leaning against Anthony as he walks me down the tunnel.
“Yes, but I told him to wait until you were ready to see him.”
“I heard he’s the one who leaked everything.”
“He did,” Anthony grinds out, obviously still furious about it.
“We can’t blame him forever, Anthony. He didn’t do it on purpose. He’d never hurt me.”
“Yes, but it was reckless, careless, and you suffered for it. So now, he will too.”
I stop moving and turn to look up at him. “What did you do?”
His nostrils flare. “I took away his collection. Only temporarily, but something had to be done.”
“Anthony,” I say, my voice low and with warning. “That’s abnormally cruel. He loves his collection.”
“I know, which is exactly why I’ve taken it away.”
“You give it back. Give it back, please.”
Anthony’s eye twitches. “Fine.”
“Thank you,” I whisper and lean up and kiss him deeply. His hands clutch onto me, pulling me into his strong body. God, the way his cock felt earlier, stretching me.
I still feel the sting of it. It takes away from the dull throb in my finger.
It’s getting better, but it still aches and I feel the absence of it. It’s weird that sometimes I can feel it as if it’s still there.
Such an odd thing.
“You ready?” Anthony asks as we make our way toward Bane’s work room.
I nod, swallowing roughly.
I can smell it, the scent of decay and death. It’s no longer the smell of bleach like it was when I came down here with Bane that one time. Now it reeks of the copper scent of blood. I breathe through my mouth instead of my nose as we round the corner, and I see Bane leaning against the wall, listening to something in his earphones and munching on some candy.
As soon as his eyes latch onto me, he gasps and throws himself at me, pulling me into him and squeezing me so tightly I almost can’t breathe.
“You’re alive. Oh fuck, I’m so glad to see you, little snack. I made you something,” he says as he pulls away and meets my gaze.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” he runs to his right and disappears through an opening before returning with something in his hand.
“I made it just for you.”
He places it gently in my upturned palm, and I glance down and gasp when I see the finger floating in a glass vial.
“It’s his. I took it. Just for you.”
My eyes grow wet, and I fling myself at him, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you. This is so thoughtful.”
A blush bleeds across his cheeks and down his neck.
“Would you like me to put it on?”
“Okay,” I say as I turn around and let him clasp it behind my neck. As I do, I see Anthony’s lips twitching, his hands skimming along my sides, owning me even in this moment.
When I finally spin back around, I see Bane grinning at me crookedly.
“I have a matching one.”
He holds out the vial around his neck, and my eyes go to the finger sitting there.
“Oh. Is that mine?”
“For fuck’s sake, Bane,” Anthony grumbles.
Bane nods and then blinks down at me. “Is this okay?”
He looks shy and uncomfortable, and I hate it.
“Of course it is. Take care of it.”
He sighs in relief. “I will. I promise. Now, are you here because of Douglas?”
“Yes,” I say, suddenly nervous once more.
“Oh, goodie. Yes. Well, he’s still alive. Barely, but if you want a go at him, there’s still plenty left. I’d say ears and eyelids. Maybe even eyeballs. Anthony already got his tongue.”
I squeeze Bane once more and then let Anthony take hold of me and direct me forward.
I’m honestly not prepared for what I see.
Douglas is sitting tied to a chair, his body a bloody heap. He’s missing all his fingers and all his toes. Patches of skin hang from him and his head is missing bits of his scalp.
“Jesus, Anthony,” I breathe, and his fingers flex against me.
“I told you it was…a lot.”
“It is.”
“Do you want to go? You don’t have to stay.”
I turn into him and breathe in his scent. It overpowers the smell of decay. “Did you do all of this because of me?”
“I told you,” he says softly, his hands sliding through my hair. “I’d burn the world down for you.”
I sigh and then peek out and see Douglas, his chin touching his chest, his body broken beyond repair.
“What are you going to do next?” I ask, and Anthony holds me against him, giving me strength.
“Whatever else until he finally dies.”
“So…”
Bane pipes up. “I mean, I’d love to scoop out his eyes.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
I lean into Anthony, suddenly not able to do it. I wanted to make him suffer like I did, but seeing him, broken and taken apart, I no longer want it. They did enough.
“I want to end it,” I say softly, and Bane groans.
“Oh, come on, little snack. End it? There’s so much left to do.”
I nod and then peer up at Anthony. “I want to end it.”
“If that’s what you want.”
“It is.”
We look at one another and he hands me a knife.
“Will you show me what to do?”
Anthony nods and leads me forward, his hand never leaving mine, his body bracketing my back.
We step up to Douglas Kennedy, the man who hurt me, who tortured me, who tried to break me. I hear his rasping, wheezing breaths. He doesn’t have much longer. I’m putting him out of his misery.
Anthony grasps onto my hand and guides the point to his neck.
“Right here, Tatum.”
He never wavers, just guides me with a flick of his wrist. I feel the blade pierce the flesh, and then I see the blood pour out of the wound. Douglas is left gasping, his body trembling slightly and then…nothing.
His body is slumped in the chair, my hand still clutching the end of the knife that is wedged into his neck.
“Come on, let me wash your hands,” Anthony says as Bane scuttles over and grabs a tool.
“Is he mine now, Boss?”
“Whatever you want, Bane,” Anthony replies and leads me from the room. He guides me back to a small washroom and helps me wash the blood from my skin. I watch it swirl down the drain, letting my bitterness and fear leave with it.
It’s done.
Nothing can hurt me again.
“Am I safe now?” I ask as he dries my hands.
“You are, Little Light. You’re safe with me.”