Page 96 of Chaos

It only takes me a few minutes to clear the area before I’m back inside.

“Well, at least you stopped yelling.” I look at Alexei as he is opening up the boxes.

Cellophane wrapped bundles are stacked inside. Each one has a sticker with an embellished letter “V” on it.

“Vacation. Visitor. Various,” Alexei mutters, pulling the packages out and stacking them in our duffel bags. He turns to me, his silver tooth gleaming. “I’m practicing my English before I take it out on them.” His thumb jerks over his shoulder at the two bound and gagged men kneeling on the concrete.

“Did they tell you where it came from?” I ask Nikolai.

He’s working on tying a rope over one of the old car lifts. “Niet. They seem to want Alexei to do all the babbling.” He paces over and grabs the taller of the two captured and drags him over to his makeshift noose.

He loosens the tie around the biker’s mouth and slides the lanyard beneath his chin. “I’m not going to give you many chances to talk since I have your buddy, too.” Nikolai tightens the slack on the line until the guy’s toes are just barely touching the floor and his eyes bulge manically.

I whip a chair over and straddle it so I’m leaning on the back. “So, who’s supplying you?”

Sputtering, the Reaper tries to answer. “I don’t…know.”

Alexei saunters over. “Where did you pick these up?” He waves one of the tightly wrapped kilos in front of the strung up man’s face. “No answer? Let’s start with the clues…” Alexei pulls out a long knife. “I want to teach you words. V is for violence.” He lunges forward and drags the tip of his blade from the left shoulder to the middle of the chest. Then, from the right side, to meet his mark in the middle.

The scream echoes inside the cavernous room.

“See? What other things start with the letter V?” Alexei’s voice takes on a sing-song quality as he dances in front of the sobbing man.

Blood drips down to puddle beneath his feet, struggling to keep his weight off of his neck.

Nikolai wanders to the other kneeling Reaper, brandishing a weapon that looks identical to Alexei’s. “I want to see if I can make you cry as loud. Do you think I can?” He wiggles the gleaming edge beneath the chin of the older enemy.

“Fuck you,” he spits. “Knox is going to kill you all for what you’re doing.”

“Knox is a pussy. I made him fall like a child with one teeny tiny bullet.” Nikolai leans back and thumps himself on the chest. “I’ve been shot with a bear gun and still stood and fought.”

My eyes flick to Alexei, who nods enthusiastically.

Jesus.

“I need to know who is supplying. Or I’ll ask for Alexei to assist me.” Nikolai squats and rocks forward.

“Jax? Can you soften this one up a little?” Alexei steps back from his hanging victim and gestures at the sopping belly.

“Gladly.” My first punch cracks a rib. The next hits him hard enough that he stops breathing for a moment.

He gasps like a fish as his lips turn blue.

Nikolai slices into number two, but that one doesn’t make nearly as much noise. “Alexei, I need your help. I think this guy knows more than yours.”

Alexei grins at me. “I can do that.” With a wild look, he reaches behind his unconscious mark and saws loudly with his serrated edge.

Tossing something at Nikolai, it takes me a moment to realize what he’s done.

A dismembered hand floats through the air and lands with a messy thump next to Nikolai’s foot.

The kneeling man starts to hyperventilate, fixating on the lifeless limb.

“Alexei, is this an English thing?” Nikolai raises an eyebrow as he looks down.

Giggles erupt. “I gave you a hand.” Alexei is laughing so hard he’s bent over, clutching his knees. “English is fun.”

Nikolai picks up the body part by one finger and dangles it in front of the man’s paling face. “You will end up in pieces. Do you want to be alive when it happens, or a fast death?”

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