Page 83 of Cruel Knots

“What are you talking about?”

“You’ll see,” he replies cryptically.

The corridors outside are clean now. Not a speck of blood remains on the polished floors. Only the residual smell of some kind of harsh bleach lingers in the air.

“What happened to all the bodies?” I ask as he leads me down the staircase at the end of the corridor.

“They were taken away,” he replies calmly. “Leaving them around for too long will stink up the place.” His long, slender nose screws up in an unconscious gesture.

“Where are the corpses?” I prod. “Are they being buried?”

“Ehh, the grounds and the woods are already full of rotting corpses,” he says. “We have to burn them now.”

His words remind me of the tendrils of smoke rising over the woods.

A shiver runs through me as I think of the piles of burning corpses in the woods. The world of the Volkov Pack seems surreal in every aspect.

“Step in through there,” Leon says, jerking me back to the present. He’s gesturing toward a dark, rectangular hole in the floor of a room.

I stare at him, wondering what he’s up to.

“It’s okay,” he coaxes. “I’ll be right behind you.”

I dip a toe into the rectangle in the floor which is big enough for a grown man to slide through. To my surprise, I step on solid concrete.

Soon, a flight of stairs is revealed to me.

The temperature drops the further I descend the staircase. Our movements throw dark shadows in the dimly lit space. Leon’s footsteps sound right behind me.

Did they decide to put me into a dungeon again? I wonder as fear and anxiety snake through me.

“Will you keep me here?” I ask, standing at the head of a narrow corridor.

“Don’t worry, Princess” he says. “You won’t be living down here. I just want to show you something.” Taking my hand in his, he leads me forward.

The sparsely lit space and the cold, moldy air are enough to make me wary. Sounds of soft groans and someone weeping reach my ears as I follow Leon down the narrow tunnel.

There are empty cells with barred gates on both sides of the passageway.

Leon comes to a stop beside a cell at the end of the corridor. My eyes adjust to the dimness, revealing three men hanging by chains. To add to the disturbing sight, they’re all naked.

Leon pushes the gate and drags me inside. A tripod with a camera is set up before them.

“These are the men your brother bribed to steal you back,” Leon says, glancing up at them.

The three men open their eyes, all staring at me.

I don’t want to look at them at all. Bloody cuts mar their skin and streams of blood seep down their torsos. The sight raises the sparse hair on my arms and instinctively I step back.

Leon’s fingers tighten on my arm painfully. “Don’t move,” he warns in a low, throaty growl. “You have to see what I do to them.” Releasing me, he turns around and locks the gate.

“What are you doing?” I ask as an icy chill spreads through me. “Why are you locking us in here with them?”

“I want you to see what I do to traitors,” he says, facing me. “Because once you do, Damien won’t seem like such a monster anymore.” His knife flashes between his fingers as he rotates the handle at a blinding speed.

With a sudden move, he leaps forward and attacks the older man. The stranger’s screams fill the cell as the blade slashes, slicing his skin into ribbons.

“Kill me,” shouts the man while the other two flanking him blubber like babies. “Just fucking kill me.”

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