22. Chapter 22
Chapter 22
Maddox
A few hours ago.
“Where is he keeping her?”
My voice is deceptively calm. It’s unnerving when I’m the craziest motherfucker here and also the calmest. Dax’s pep talk did me wonders. Raena needs me to keep a level head. I’m not going to fuck this up for us or her by losing my mind on this spineless piece of shit. Raena will have the final blow to wipe this stain off the earth. And I will be right by her side when she does.
Jackson keeps his mouth shut. He hasn’t told us a single thing yet, and we’ve been at this for hours. The sun will be up soon, and I need answers now.
His torso is a mess– ribbons of flesh and blood decorate his chest like my own personal paint-by-number. I’ve tried really hard to save the best for my Bloody Queen, but I’m sure she will understand if he’s a little more messed up than I intended when it's her turn. We need the information now.
“Maybe he needs a little more persuasion,” Dax says as he steps up beside me. His face is a picture of cool indifference and I realize maybe he is more like me than I thought. He masks his crazy well.
“I think you’re right.” My blade twirls between my fingers as I look at our captive.
Decisions, decisions.
He’s suspended from the beams in this shed. It’s not my ‘Playroom’ by any means, but it’ll do for now. I wish I had him back on my turf, with endless options to play with him, but we just don’t have that kind of time.
“Take off his pants.”
Dax does as I say, cutting them right up the crotch. By the little bitch boy screaming Jackson is doing, I’d say he nicked an important bit or two. My face splits into a maniacal grin.
“What? You don’t like it when someone else holds the blade? You had no problem cutting my girl up. I saw the scars. She told me exactly which ones you gave her. Did it make you feel like a big man? Did it get your shriveled-up dick hard to cut into a helpless girl?”
“The little bitch earned everything she got,” he sneers, spittle flying from his twisted mouth.
My feet move on their own accord in a flash, my blade in his flesh before I can blink. With his pants pooled around his ankles, his flaccid–and tiny– cock hangs unimpressively between his legs. The tip of my knife digs into his left inner thigh, and I slowly drag it up his leg to his saggy balls, letting it slice ever so slightly through the delicate skin.
My blade moves up his other thigh, repeating the process. Gently, I dig my finger under the skin of the tiny incisions, and the flesh opens up beautifully. It’s like peeling the skin off a peach without puncturing the fruity meat inside. It’s not enough to do major damage, but it makes him sound like a dying pig.
Almost instantly, a pungent ammonia smell fills the air in this small shed and I jerk my now wet hand back from him in disgust.
“Dude. Did you seriously just fucking piss on me?” My lips curl back on their own, as I look at my hand like I want to chop the offending appendage off.
I look at Dax, and my expression must be fucking hilarious. He is barely holding in his amusement.
“Spineless piece of shit,” I spit at the useless bastard who’s squealing louder with the burn his own urine is causing. It’s glorious. “You can beat, cut, and rape defenseless girls but piss yourself when the blade turns on you. Fucking pathetic.”
“Maybe we should bring his mother in and see how well she handles the blade,” Dax says coldly.
“Do it,” I bluff.
Jackson starts thrashing around like a fish out of water. His mother is back home, safely in her bed, none the wiser of our presence in her home today. Helen called me after she brought her back and got her settled in. I’m not a complete monster. I don’t torture innocent old ladies with the memory of a goldfish. But I will let him think I will.
“No. No. No. Don’t you fucking touch her!” He half screams, half mumbles.
“No?” I ask as Dax pauses by the doorway, one foot outside. “If you want to protect your mother, then answer the fucking questions, Jackson. Where is King keeping her?”
“Fuck! Fine! His house. She’s at his fucking house,” he sputters in defeat. I’m a little disappointed he caved so easily– fucking pussy. I didn’t even really get to get my hands dirty– other than his piss, and I’m desperately trying to forget that ever happened in the first place.
Dax stares at me for silent confirmation before nodding and stepping outside.
“Wait! Where is he going?! Come back here! You said you wouldn’t hurt her if I told you.”
Turning back to him, I calmly flip my blade around in my hands. Cocking my head to the side, I stare into his eyes and try to steady myself.
Stay calm.
Don’t kill him.
Keep his innards inside him for now.
This is her kill.
“And I’ll keep my word if you keep yours. Keep talking. You’re going to tell me exactly how to get her out of there.”
Present
When I finally stepped out of the makeshift ‘playroom’ covered in blood and piss, I was so proud. I actually fucking did it. I didn’t lose my head. I somehow managed to stay calm and get the information we needed. Now we have everything to rescue our woman and kill our bastard ‘father’, once and for all.
I had taken the quickest shower of my life, then filled everyone in on everything I’d gotten out of Jackson. Now it was their turn to keep their emotions in check because the more I told them about where she was and what King and his men had done to her, the more they wanted to march right back outside to the shed and slit his throat for touching what was ours. For hurting her more than she’s already been. Thankfully, Snow was the voice of reason that calms everyone down.
Apparently, King has kept her in his private quarters of the mansion under lock and key. Jackson insinuated the kingsmen fucked with her, though we won’t know the truth or extent until we find her. They're all dead men anyway, but they just better hope we find her alive. If not, death will be the least of their worries.
Anxiety snakes through my entire body, injecting its crippling venom into my veins, but I flush it out. We don’t have time for fear or emotional baggage to cloud this mission. It’s too important.
She’s too important.
“Bound in blood,” Royal says, clasping mine and Alek’s forearms and pulling us to him to press our heads together.
“Bound in blood,” we whisper back, emotion thick and heavy before Royal turns and addresses everyone, Shadows and outsiders alike.
“The Shadows have been waiting for this moment for a long time. But I want you to remember, killing King is now the secondary mission. Finding Raena and getting her out is our number one priority…”
His speech to our people doesn’t last long. We’ve already strategized with everyone and we have a plan, thanks to Jackson’s ‘willingness’ to share his secrets with me. It’s finally time to get this show on the road.