Chapter 15 Ten of Swords
TEN OF SWORDS
ZAYN
Iwaited. For nearly a full day. I waited with patience and a sense of cool detachment.
Thinking of Kat only every other minute or so.
Of the feel of her mouth on mine. And I continue to wait.
Surreptitiously, I lower myself deeper into my seat as a few passersby walk past my rented sedan on the sidewalk.
Turning my head to the side, I glance down at my burner phone to check the time. It’s almost eleven o’clock at night.
This fucker hasn’t been home all day. Where the hell is he? He wouldn’t have gone to the hospital. They would have had too many questions about his injuries. Questions that he wouldn’t have been able to answer, without questions about assault and battery, and therefore involving law enforcement.
I pull out my lighter and twirl it over my knuckles and in between my fingers. I am getting antsy. And things don’t go well for my enemies when I’m antsy.
I, of course, am routinely checking the security feed on Pearson House, but being away from Kat, knowing that I am not close by her…
it makes me restless as fuck. I want this douchebag to finally come home, so I can deal with him and be done with it.
I want my attention back where it belongs: on Kat.
Finally, I spot the fucker. Josh disembarks a city bus a block away and walks quickly along the sidewalk. He glances left and right over his shoulders. His strides are short, and I notice his body moves in a jerky and unnatural kind of way. It’s unsettling as all hell.
After exiting the car, I light a cigarette and slide my free hand into my pocket to grip the silver lighter.
I walk toward him, staying on the opposite side of the street for now.
I take care to keep my head bowed down low under my black baseball cap.
Josh moves closer to me, and I can see dark purple-blue bruises that wreck his chin and nose, as well as the double black eyes.
The very start of what this asshole has coming to him, I think.
I walk past the entrance of his apartment building and pause several yards away under a broken streetlamp.
There, I inhale the last of my cigarette before stamping out the butt on the wet concrete.
Josh climbs the stairs to his building, and with a savage streak of pleasure, I notice that he moves rather gingerly up the steps.
I wait there for several more minutes until I see the lights turn on in his apartment. Second floor, three windows from the right. A tight smile spreads across my lips. As it always did, my patience was about to pay off.
We were in for quite a night, him and I.
____________________
A little less than an hour later, I’m locking the large deadbolt on the potting shed door. Taking Josh tonight was almost too easy. He hadn’t even bothered to lock the front door to his apartment.
“Ahhhhh!” a scream sounds out behind me but is muffled by a thick strip of duct tape.
“We’re going to be here for a while, Josh,” I reply turning over my shoulder, “so you might as well get comfortable and shut the fuck up.”
I glance out the window of the potting shed, knowing full well that not a soul will be out here.
Not at this hour in the rain, and not this far from the city.
I let my eyes fall for a moment on the lush garden out the window, and across the multicolor blooms that grace the small plot of land.
My mother’s garden. Her one safe haven amidst the darkness and chaos of our home.
For good measure, I check the security camera footage on my phone one last time.
Carefully, I watch the feed from both the Bronwin and Pearson front and back doors.
With an errant pang of guilt, I swipe over to the interior cameras as well.
Kat is standing in the kitchen, dressed head to toe in her usual black, bent over the stove, cooking herself some actual dinner.
Huh, I think, that’s new. She checks her phone before quickly laying it face down on the counter.
Seconds later, she picks it up and checks it again.
Waiting to hear from me, angel? I wonder.
I’m about to text her when a muffled yell sounds from the man behind me once again.
“Ahhhhh,” Josh screams in protest, this time drawing out the choked yell for as long as possible.
“That’s enough,” I bark at him, pocketing my phone and sighing. Katherine will just have to wait.
I roll my neck as I approach the man bound to the table, and I give his lower leg a hard pat. Josh yanks on the heavy silver chains binding his wrists and legs, fruitlessly.
“You know what, Josh?’ I start, “I think I actually tweaked my back dragging you into my trunk tonight. You’re such a fucking inconvenience.”
My hand grasps an old pair of pliers, with rust twinging the edges of the rubber handles. I lift them up to show the pitiful excuse for a human laying on my table.
“Now, Josh,” I drawl languidly, “I want you to tell me why you attacked Dr. Pearson the other night.”
Josh’s scrawny form writhes beneath the chains and he turns his head away from me. Without warning, I seize one of his hands and grip a fingernail with the pliers. I yank hard and the nail pops free. The muffled scream pierces the air around us. I roll my shoulders and rip the tape from his mouth.
“Why did you attack her?” I ask again.
Josh pants in clear pain, but presses his lips together in a firm line, clearly telling me I can fuck right off. Unfortunately, that won’t do. That won’t do at all.
Pluck. I remove another nail. This time, unencumbered by the duct tape, his scream reverberates loudly throughout the shed.
“Ready?” I ask calmly.
“Fuck OFF,” he spits at me.
Pluck.
Scream. With force, I slap the duct tape back over his mouth and round the table.
“Alright I get it. I’m sure you had your reasons.
But the thing is, you really should have thought twice before attacking Dr. Pearson.
That was a really fucking stupid idea, man.
” And I let a low chuckle escape my lips as I go on.
“I mean, of all the stupid ideas you’ve had in your pathetic fucking life, that honestly might have been the worst one. ”
He moans loudly, a piteous sound muffled behind the tape.
“Well? Don’t you want to know why?” I ask in a whisper as I lean in close.
Josh’s eyes dart around my face, betraying his growing fear. He bites and spits under the tape, thrashing from his spread-eagle position. The heavy chains jangle and thud against the polished oak of the table.
I inhale deeply. It still smells of potting soil in here.
I always liked that scent. It reminds me of my mother, of her warmth and nurturing, of her gentle way of caring for the lives of those around her.
She deserved so much better than she got—than she endured.
And even after Dad was gone, and I was culpable, vulnerable, and angry—she didn’t flinch in her love for me.
She knew that darkness was bourgeoning and still she didn’t waiver.
Turning my focus back to the man in front of me, I continue.
“It was a really fucking stupid idea, Josh, because Dr. Katherine Pearson… is mine.” And without warning, I rip the tape from his mouth and use the pliers to seize his index finger and twist it upwards, breaking the bones and snapping the digit nearly in half.
As expected, he sputters and yells out in pain. Spittle flies from his mouth as he writhes and hurls a string of curses my way. I see the dark gap in his mouth from the tooth I had knocked out in the alleyway a few days ago.
“Fuck you, man! You’re crazy!” he heaves out.
“First time you’ve been right all night, Josh,” I say, “I am crazy. And you? You’re completely and utterly fucked.”
“Look man, I wasn’t even going to hurt her, okay? Just scare her is all! Fuck!” he yells again.
“I don’t believe you, Josh,” I singsong in his ear.
And he shakes his head back and forth, squeezing his eyes tightly shut. I can smell his fear on the air now. His sweat is rank with it.
“Who the fuck are you, anyway? Her boyfriend?!” He spits at me, doing a shit job of hiding the terror in his voice.
Slowly, I pull out the sharp blade from its holster on my hip and hold it up to the light bulb hanging over the center of the table.
“No, Josh,” I answer slowly, “I’m the goddamn grim reaper.”
My lips curl into a feral smile as I slowly drag one finger along the flat side of my 6-inch Bowie hunting knife. I see Josh’s eyes flit to the blade and then dart around the room searching for any possible means to escape.
Unfortunately for him, there are none.
I line my blade up perpendicular to Josh’s chest.
“I’ll ask you one more time, Josh,” I press, “why did you attack Dr. Pearson?”
Josh shakes his head back and forth, again going fucking mute.
With a surge of adrenaline and pleasure, I stab my knife in between two of his ribs.
He screams. Feeling the sharp tip penetrate his skin and slide in between the tight ribs is like a balm to the aching in my heart.
I know how painful this is. I know how much he is regretting every single life decision that has led him here to this moment with me.
How dare he touch Katherine. How dare he prey upon her, assault her.
Did he think his attack would go unanswered? No, my guy. You pay now.
Josh writhes as the sharp blade sinks deeper into his body. His agonized moans fill the dim room. I pull the knife out straight, in a surgical fashion, leaving a narrow slit in its wake. A wave of blood gushes out of the open wound, soaking his plaid shirt in a satisfying sort of way.
Grinning, I make an identical stab into the other side of his chest. Josh’s body shudders and shakes, as his voice whimpers out a wordless plea.
My hand yanks the knife out again, this time with less control.
Blood spurts onto my shirt and over my chin and lips.
My tongue darts out and I taste the coppery flavor.
Then, I spit the blood back into the fucker’s face.