Epilogue
COLLINS
TWO WEEKS LATER
Slipping through the shadows, I keep my feet light and my heels from dragging along the cracked cement. In the middle of the abandoned warehouse is a singular light.
Under the light is a gurney, with a body strapped down to the table, a metal tray beside it full of instruments. All with gleaming sharp points, they reflect the light and call to me.
At one point, seeing those instruments would turn my stomach, force me to hide in my room for days on end. I would recall those memories from my father, remember what he made me do.
Now, he doesn’t get that. Ferguson made me into this—and I’ve learned, with help, that it’s alright to embrace those tarnished bits. Especially when it helps someone I love.
Covered in my heavy wool coat, I avoid looking at the reaper beside the prone body. Hayes will be here soon and I need to prepare.
“Are you sure about this?” he asks, crossing his arms over his chest. He’s in a a heavy jacket and boots, a solider of darkness looking down at the man before us.
“Of course,” I respond, placing my bag at the foot of the slab. “How did you find him so quickly?”
Killian smirks knowingly. “You have your secrets, and I have mine.”
Finley lays there, gagged, arms pinned in metal restraints, eyes wide in fear and rage. He’s naked, save for a cloth over his groin, and I shake out the cold in my hands.
The morality of this is moot. He took Hayes. He hurt someone I love. And now, I get to indulge in my darkest fantasies to avenge him.
It should scare me—how easy it is to fall back into this persona. How this darkness creeps up, holds me down and drowns me in depravities but I smile. It’s only scary if it’s not understood. I was crafted for this, made to endure it. It’s as much a part of me as my hair or my fingernails.
I can’t be terrified of who I am. I can be this and still be good at the same time.
Killian shoves his hands into his pockets, whistling. “Guess the O’Brien gene is strong.” Winking, he turns to leave. “Have fun.”
The metal door slams shut as the reaper departs, leaving me with my captive, and I exhale. He moves, urging the restraints to budge but they don’t.
I got pretty good at restraining patients under Pops’ eye. I had one nearly escape and had to spend all night dissecting him. It was gruesome and exhausting. I never made that mistake again.
“You know,” I say, removing my coat. Standing in the freezing, sparsely decorated room, my glittery bikini set shines like dozens of burning stars. “You didn’t just sign your life over to Bruno for nothing—you came after the man I love.”
Picking up a scalpel, I don’t bother to put on gloves. There’s no point—I want to feel his blood on my hands. I want to see the stains, know what I’m doing is for a reason. Bask in the evil, taste the salt of his tears and enjoy it.
Finn makes a gurgling noise and I nod, as if I understand.
“I know. It’s just business to you. But,” I wave the blade into the air, “I did some digging into you, Finn. You didn’t just agree to go with Bruno for the Hell of it.”
Twisting, I make a quick incision into his chest, a perfect line that wells with blood. He screams into the gag. “You see, I found out you visited the Bruno home. Frequently.”
It was only a few clicks of a button. Finn, caught on camera, and the bodies left behind from his ruthlessness. He never just used the women—he killed them. Made them suffer.
Another incision on the other side, as if I’m carving up a cadaver. He shakes, yelling so loudly, he’s convulsing on my table. I have no sympathy for him.
“And you apparently knew about the red rooms. Knew who was down there. Visited them and made them get on their knees.” I draw straight down the middle, the edges slicing his skin apart. It takes a bit of pressure to hold him still, screams disrupting my pattern.
But I know how to work around this. It’s not my first time.
It is the first time I don’t want to throw up. I want to keep going, push him until he can’t breathe without pain lacing every jolt of his pitiful lungs.
Leaning into his face, I glare, my glasses splattered in blood. “I might be a monster, born from cruelty and necessity, and I’m alright with that. But you, Finn? You’re a depraved soul who doesn’t deserve the life you were given.”
Rivers of blood drip off his metal bed, covering the floor and my bare legs. I don’t feel the cold now, heated from rage and retribution. This feels good—right.
Finn screams into the gag again and I cut it away. “Have something to say?”
“You think our family is perfect?” He gasps, the light in his eyes fading.
His chest shudders, breaths rapid and shallow.
He’s going to die soon. Not an ounce of care wells within me.
“You don’t know the shit Ferguson did—what Maeve did.
I know their wickedness. I’m just picking a side that will help me. ”
“And that side endangered my future husband.” I shrug, holding the bloody scalpel back up. I make a few more cuts, the body cavity fully opened now.
He yells, legs shaking violently. Usually, patients pass out at this point or expire. I’m surprised he’s still with it.
“Viper,” Hayes calls, strolling over to me. His hungry eyes see my body, covered in red and dazzling gems, and then the man beside me. “New project?”
Wiping my brow, I jerk my chin to Finn. “Killian found him. I wanted to teach him a lesson. For you.”
“Me?” He pouts slightly, rubbing his beard. “Are you avenging me, baby?”
My cheeks flush and I smile, palms up. “I’ve been told I’m emotionally stunted. So I thought this could be a way to show you how much I love you. How far I’d go to protect you.”
His blue eyes darken. “Are you killing for me, viper?”
I cock an eyebrow. “I thought that was obvious.”
Pulling me away a little bit, he blocks the gurney, peering into my eyes. His thumb strokes my bottom lip, smearing my lipstick. “You’re doing this for me, but are you alright?” He taps my head. “In there?”
He’s worried about me. His abductor, the man responsible for his healing injuries and he still worries about me.
How could I not love him?
My smile is wide as I say, “Better than good. Because of you, I’ve come to understand that this side of me,” I wave a hand over my body, “doesn’t have to be hidden. Just understood.”
Licking his bottom lip, he nods. “I have to say, you look good when you’re being devious, viper. Covered in blood. Hungry for more. It suits you.”
Returning to my patient, I see the signs of fading life easily.
His pale skin is tacky to the touch, and his heart rattles in his chest, out for all to see.
The open cavity fills with fluid and blood, with the organs exposed, covered in white pleura.
Holding the knife out to Hayes, I gesture to an artery.
“Honors is yours, if you want it.”
When he cuts the artery, Finn gasps, then expires without much fuss. His body deflates, the shock leaving him and then, Hayes is grabbing my hair, twisting it so our lips are forced together.
It’s a meshing of tongue and lips, teeth biting as we fight to get closer. We’re two wild animals, clawing for closeness, and I shove him down onto the stool.
Fuck. My body burns with need so intensely, I could withstand a tidal wave on the shores.
“Now what, viper?” he asks, looking up at me, lips red, hair skewed. “What do you need?”
“You,” I say simply, going back for another kiss. “Just you.”
I shed my bottoms as he unzips his jeans. Forcing him back, I straddle his lap and I feel him at my entrance. Pushing his forehead to mine, he laughs.
“Fuck. I’ve dreamed of being one of your fuck boys. Used just like this.”
Gripping his hair back, I run my fingers over his beard. “So, you did watch me.”
Winking, he grabs my hips, lifting me. “Trust me. There wasn’t anything to really watch.” His teeth nip at my neck, my collar bone, hands crushing my sides and thighs. He is long and thick against me, and I whimper as he moves.
“This is always what I wanted,” he murmurs. “You, dirty, wild, riding my cock. Completely mine.”
“Yours,” I breathe, sliding down until he’s fully inside me. At this angle, I gasp, feeling so full that my body bows.
Slowly, I move my hips, using his chest as an anchor, and I pump against him. His head falls back, eyes half open as he watches his cock disappear inside and out.
God, this feels good. To know I protected Hayes, that we’re both stained, two lost souls finding their other half in the light. We can be dirty together—and still be perfect.
“That’s it, baby,” he coaxes, body tight as I use him. “Take all of me. You look so good with my cock inside you.”
A climax crests and I falter, body unraveling around him. Hayes laughs, grabbing me close, letting me grind my pussy against him still. He holds firm, a boulder to my fury, and lets me take everything I need.
Soon, his hips are bucking under me, following my movements. We’re drenched in sweat, the cold of the room doing nothing for us. I slam against him, chasing my high, stool falling back against the gurney.
With the corpse of Hayes’ enemy in front of me, I ride my fiancé harder, legs shaking. One, two, there. Combustion explodes behind my eyes, and I shout out as Hayes yells, gripping my hair to hold me still. He floods my pussy, filling me up and I shudder, core fluttering.
Dropping against him, I curl my head under his chin, heartbeats so hard they rock us back and forth.
“Thank you,” he whispers, kissing my temple. “Thank you for this, Collins.”
“Forever and a day,” I whisper, our promise. The promise that feels like home.
He smiles, relaxed. “Forever and a day.”
THE END