Page 17 of Beauty & Corruption

“I’ve got a lovely bunch of pointy things. Diddly dee. There they are a laying in a row,” Mordy mindlessly sang to himself as he unrolled his arsenal and admired his girls. I wanted to say something to offend him but didn’t have it in me. He was a fucking nut case, but he was our nut case, I guessed.

“Mordy, just pick one. We’re on borrowed time.”

“Trust the process, Stone.”

“You don’t have time for the process.”

“The feck, I don’t.” He continued humming as his fingers grazed the tips of various weapons. “Where are you, Pookie?” he examined his weapons and then dug into the bottom of his bag, flopping the biggest purple dildo out and slapping it down onto the table just as a lady walked by, and she purred at him. “Bad kitty. That one isn’t for you,” he scolded her, and I almost lost my composure. I didn’t understand how he kept a straight face when he said some of the wildest shit to ever be spoken on this planet, but he did.

“Pookie?” I questioned him with a shake of my head. “Fuck, Mordicus. Grab it and go.”

“Ah. There she is. She was hiding,” he announced, plucking a black teddy bear out of the depths of his bag and tucked it under his arm. He rolled the rest of his girls back up and stuffed them back into his bag, leaving Bloodlust out on the table.

“A stuffed animal? You were wasting time to find a stuffed animal? Fucking really, brother?”

“How dare you, Stone.” He feigned offense and grasped at his chest with his left hand, clutching Bloodlust in his right. “She’s not just any stuffed animal. She has party favors.”

“Whatever. The thing better have laser beams that come out of its eyes or something useful. I don’t really care; let’s just find her. She might not even be here.”

“You’ll see; she’ll come in handy,” had just left his lips when Pookie dropped from beneath his arm and onto the floor. “Shite!” Mordy yelled, fumbling his bag and knife while trying to catch it. He closed his eyes tightly and waited a second before realizing his teddy bear had already landed. “Phew. You gave Daddy a scare.” He spoke in the direction of the stuffed animal, carefully picking her up and tucked her safely into the top of his bag. “You stay there and be a good girl until I need you, Pookie. No more antics.” He laughed, and his eyes connected with mine.

“What’s the big deal about a stuffed animal falling?” I knew we didn’t have time to discuss this, but I had to ask.

“Like I said, she has party favors.” I didn’t know why I expected a real answer from him, but I did. Of course, I didn’t get anything near a clarification.

“Are we good to go now?” I asked, my irritation growing with every tick of a clock.

“Aye.”

“Mordicus,” I took a breath, “I can’t lose her, and I know you can’t either. In case something happens to us on the other side of this door, I want you to take care of her. Promise me you’ll treat her…” I started to say good, but it wasn’t in Mordy’s compacityto do what I considered good. “Well, take care of her for me. Will you promise me that?”

“Deartháir, I won’t because nothing is happening to you. But I do need you to promise me something.”

“Fine. What?”

“If you hear me yellPookieat any point, you cover your fecking head, and you get Bird out of there. No questions.” He nodded as if to add emphasis to his statement.

“I…Okay.”

“Say you promise.”

“Mordicus, I don’t need to—” He glared at me. “Fine. If I hearPookie, I’ll get the fuck out of Dodge.”

“You’re a good brother, Graham.”

Chapter 19

Reggy

Idecided I wasn’t dead with the solid thought that I didn’t think I would be able to grab my shoes if I was. It didn’t make a bit of sense, but I was desperate to cling to anything that proved I was still alive and breathing. I listened for any clues that might give away my location like I had seen people do on TV. There weren’t any sounds of running water or distinct birds cawing in the distance. Not that I would know which bird it was if I heard it anyway, so it was probably good that my saving grace wasn’t a bird noise. Nothing and I meant nothing, was identifiable as something you should hear if you were outside, which kind of ruined my suspicions of being in a trunk. Well, I guess it was possible that I was in a trunk that was outside. Was that possible? Yes. Probable? No.

I huffed, aggravated that I made the worst captive in the history of captives who were supposed to save themselves. I blamed myself for ever leaving Stone. Right now, it didn’t matter how upset I was with him; none of that shit mattered if I was dead. None of it. Why didn’t I take Mordy up on his offer to stay with me? I insisted I would be fine being alone. Clearly, I was wrong. The memories were flooding back to me in double time.

Stone.

The fight.

Mordy.

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