Page 183 of Awakened by Sin

“I thought you’d be happy to see this visitor,” Eli said.

She spotted five bodies floating in the pool. A quick glance around the room told her that Angel had been at this for a while. There were spectacular red splatters around the room that she was sure hadn’t been done by an artist. What the hell was going on?

“You think she’s going to stop me? I’ve been waiting for this,” Angel said with relish.

To punctuate his point, he tossed another dagger without looking at his target. The dagger landed in the man’s shoulder. His piercing cry made the hairs on the nape of her hair rise.

“I’m sorry, Carmen.” Angel spread his arms wide. “As you can see, I’m entertaining tonight. You should have called.”

“What did he do?” She was proud that she sounded calm despite the circumstances. Maybe her upbringing in the underworld was good for something after all.

“Does it matter?” Angel asked.

“Yes.” She knew Angel was dangerous. He was a Roman, after all, but nothing could have prepared her for this. She felt as if she was coming out of her own skin. Everything in her demanded she turn around, walk out of the house, and act as if she never saw anything. Instead, she stood there like an idiot, waiting to hear his reason for torturing a man to death.

“This is Theodore,” Angel said politely. “Say hello to Carmen, Theodore.”

When the man didn’t speak, Angel threw another dagger. This one skimmed his calf. Despite the fact that the blade cut to the bone, the man didn’t move. Apparently, he was beyond feeling anything at this point. She felt a burst of relief before Angel threw another dagger. This one landed right over his belly button. The man jumped, maiming his body even more as he struggled against the swords holding him in place. Rivulets of blood ran down his body before he sagged dejectedly against the swords, which shuddered under his weight.

“Hi.”

Theodore’s resigned greeting sent chills down her spine. She fought the compulsion to rush to the man’s aid. She wanted to believe that Angel wasn’t a psychopath, so she waited.

“Theodore here likes to drug, rape and mutilate girls,” Angel said as he flipped a dagger through the air. “His father is a powerful drug lord who manipulates the police and judicial system. He’s gotten Theodore out of a lot of charges. No one can stick anything to him. Yesterday, another body turned up. I decided to save the cops the trouble and take care of Theodore.”

Angel indicated a camera on a tripod she hadn’t noticed until then.

“I’m taking some shots for his father to remember him by. He’s the one who taught Theodore how it’s done. It appears the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Angel shrugged. “They’re into torture porn. I thought it would be poetic justice for him to go out the way his victims have. Our families go way back. Unfortunately for Theodore, his father’s in a maximum prison right now, so he won’t be able to able to help.”

Angel walked up to Theodore, who began to whimper. He placed his elbow on the hilt of one of the swords protruding from Theo’s chest. The man let out a god-awful scream that covered her body in goose bumps.

“I think Lucifer’s onto something with ancient weapons. Gavin ran Steven Vega through with swords. It inspired me, so I got some of my own.” He scanned her. “You look fancy. Hot date?”

She swallowed hard. “Not anymore.”

He shook his head ruefully. “You took your sweet time coming to me. It’s been almost a week.”

Angel called to one of his men who had a camera. Angel directed the shots from different angles and asked Theodore to turn his head this way and that for lighting and effect. The sound of Theodore’s whimpers made her feel as if she was going crazy. Theodore was a rapist and killer who was getting his just desserts, but … but it wasn’t right. She shivered and found Eli watching her. She remembered his comment when she entered—I hope you know what to do. He didn’t agree with what Angel was doing, but he didn’t stop it. Did he think she could?

“Angel!” Carmen snapped.

“What?”

His dagger landed in Theo’s eye socket, which knocked his head into the wall with a sickening thud. Theo’s head flopped forward. Blood slid from his mouth and pooled on the floor in front of him.

“I’m sure he’ll die any second now. I have some other guests, but I can postpone it if you want to do something?”

She averted her face. “End it, Angel.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ve made your point.”

She turned back to see that he had even more daggers.

“Finish it and we can do whatever you want.”

Angel paused with the cluster of knives in his hand like a steel bouquet of death. “Whatever I want?”

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