Page 290 of Heart of Frost and Scars

His footsteps grow more frantic, the scent of his blood ripe in the air. It drives me wild. I want to dismember him, to feel his guts hot and wet on my hands, to watch him fall apart under our attack.

A few feet ahead, the bear trap snaps shut with a crunch that sends a shiver of satisfaction up my spine.

He goes down, screaming, thrashing as the metal teeth dig into his flesh, sawing through tendons and splintering bone.

Leo and I close in, circling him like predators ready to pounce on a wounded deer.

“P-please. Please, don’t do this. I…I can help you! I can give you anything you want! Money…health care…anything. Please, just let me live!” His teeth clatter, his eyes wide, bloodshot with fear.

His words turn into frantic, incoherent pleas until they’re swallowed by the pain, by the inevitability of what’s to come.

But we’re not done. Not even close.

68

Leonid

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Blood.

It’s everywhere, seeping into the snow, staining it a deep, dark red.

Rhett will bleed out eventually, but it’s not enough.

I want more. More blood. More pain.

We will drag this out and make every second a living hell for him.

The fillet knife is still buried in his shoulder. A dozen more knives stick out of his limbs, including four of Kody’s arrows.

We were careful to avoid vital organs and arteries.

I crouch beside him, my eyes locked on his. I glimpse the fear there, the plea for mercy.

Gross.

Rearing back my arm, I slam my fist into his eye socket.

He howls, blubbering and thrashing in the bear trap.

“I didn’t like the look on your face.” I shrug. “Couldn’t help myself.”

“I was…I was just trying to save you! To save all of you!” he cries.

“You can’t even save yourself.” Monty plucks the fillet knife from Rhett’s shoulder, making him cry harder. “Want the honors?” He offers it to Wolf.

“Does a bear shit in the woods?” He accepts the blade and kneels in the snow beside Rhett. “I think death by three hundred cuts is the right choice here. All in favor?”

“Why three hundred?” I ask.

“That’s how many days he kept me away from you.”

“Three hundred it is.” Monty unsheathes his knife.

Kody and I follow suit.

Together, we descend on Rhett, slowly, ruthlessly, our blades gleaming in the starlight as we count.

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