Page 125 of Cruel Knots

A moment later, he’s surveying the floor. “Let’s go,” he whispers, giving me a light push on the back. “Take me to him.”

I lead the way to the women’s bathroom and sneak him inside.

Leon is bent over the woman inside the stall while Casey remains unconscious on the floor.

“Hey, assface,” Mikhail calls out. “What the fuck’s happening here?”

“Casey was assaulting this woman,” I say, gesturing toward the stall. “When I tried to stop him, he hurt me too. Thank Goddess, Leon was right outside and came in to help or he’d have smashed my head to pieces.”

“What?” Mikhail growls.

Leon covers the woman with Casey’s jacket and lays her on the floor before coming toward us.

“We were right about the creep,” Leon says. “He roofied that other chick’s drink and was trying to rape her. I heard Lucia screaming in here and came to check on her. Found the bastard grabbing her hair and hurting her.”

“Is he dead?” Mikhail asks, nudging Casey’s body with his toe.

“Not yet,” Leon replies.

“What are you waiting for?”

“Nothing.” Leon’s knife appears in his hand.

The blade flashes before my eyes. Next moment, two thick crimson slashes appear in Casey’s throat. His eyes flicker open momentarily, followed by a strange gurgling noise. He clutches the wound but blood continues to gush through the gaps in his fingers.

“Come here,” Mikail says, completely ignoring the gasping, thrashing man on the floor.

When I move toward him, he presses a wet napkin on the wound on my forehead. His silvery eyes focus on me as he dabs the sore spot.

“Is the bruise prominent?” Mikhail murmurs.

“Yep,” Leon answers in a grave tone. “Damien’s going to have a fit.”

“Don’t worry,” I say, smiling. “I’ll tell Damien I tripped and hurt myself in the ladies’ room. He can’t blame you for my clumsiness.”

“You’ll do that for us?” Leon asks, his amber eyes wide with surprise. “You don’t want to get even with us for treating you like crap?”

“I hate what you did to me after kidnapping me from that sham wedding,” I confess in a grim tone. “You guys were horrible to me during my heat and left me in that dark basement. I understand the reason you treated me that way but I’ll never forget the pain and trauma I went through. I wish there was a way to avenge myself but doing that would hurt you, and that’s something I’ll never do.”

Sober expressions descend on both their faces.

“Callum’s the only monster in our story,” Mikhail says with a somber look in his eyes. “Don’t worry, darling.” Leaning in, he kisses my cheek. “We’ll destroy him until he’s begging us for death.”

“Let’s get out of here before someone sees us,” Leon mutters, glancing at the rivulets of blood streaming toward us.

And just like that, I walk away with Leon and Mikhail, never looking back to see whether Casey is still alive or not.

34

Damien

Sweat drips down my neck as I prowl down the corridor. After the three-hour workout session, my body is screaming for food. A steak sandwich and a protein shake are what I need right now.

Soft cluttering sounds reach my ears as I get near the kitchen. It’s not noon yet and still early for Dora to start preparing for lunch. Slowing my footsteps, I peer through the door.

To my surprise, I find Lucia. She’s whisking something in a large copper bowl while Dora is nowhere in sight.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, striding inside the room.

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