Page 5 of Reaper Flame

“Yes…” My voice trailed off as he spun around.

It was a princess dress, but it made me feel like a royal prisoner.

“Don’t even think about running,” Hiram warned, stepping close like he could read my thoughts. He pulled a knife from his sleeve and held it to my throat. The cool blade teased my artery. “Remember what happened last time you disobeyed my orders? People die. What was her name? Crystal?”

I flinched, then mentally kicked myself for showing him he’d bothered me. It only played into his hands.

Hiram laughed. It echoed around the cold concrete walls. “Don’t tell me you’re still mad about that whore?”

My friendship with Crystal made my last stay in Blackthorne Towers bearable. Hiram bought her to ‘service’ his men and, over time, we struck up an unlikely bond. She dreamt of becoming a make-up artist. After helping me get ready for my work as the Kitten, I persuaded Hiram to promote her as my stylist. I wanted to do her a favor, but, if I hadn’t, she might still be alive today...

I wasn’t the only person who cared about Crystal. While working for Hiram, Crystal met Q. They fell madly in love, and Q had the tech skills to make them both disappear. When they made plans to run away together, we were all stupid enough to believe happily ever afters might be possible...

Before Crystal and Q were due to leave, we snuck to a tattoo parlor to get ink to commemorate our friendship. She got a candy cane. I got a small diamond. We were careful, but it didn’t stop Hiram from finding out. The night Q and Crystal planned to skip town turned from a fairytale to a bloody disaster with a single bullet. A hit Hiram ordered. Our friendship ended Crystal’s life and changed mine forever.

You need to stay focused on the present, Candy.My survival instincts kicked in. Hiram arranging my marriage would be as good as signing a death warrant.Stay focused.

“Did you really want me to come home only to marry me off?” I asked. None of this made sense. If he’d wanted me back for so long, why give me away? “What about the work I do? You know I can help you!”

“You have no choice, Kitten,” Hiram spat, continuing to hold the knife to my throat. “You know better than to disobey.”

He flicked the blade downward with a swipe of his wrist and slashed my collarbone. The red petals of my rose tattoos cried bloody tears that Hiram caught with his finger and smeared across my skin before they stained the white fabric. The way things were going, I’d be a corpse bride.

“You’re my property,” Hiram said. “I do what I want with my property.”

I took a deep breath to regain my composure. If I wanted to survive, I needed to treat this like any other job. As long as Hiram and Zander’s hearts were still beating, then I had to live, even if it meant marrying whatever chump he’d lined up.

“Do you remember how I used to keep you hidden away from all but my closest associates? They never saw your face. But this time is going to be different,” Hiram continued, sliding the flat edge of the blade over my carotid artery. “It’s about time everyone in the underworld met the Kitten, don’t you think?”

Years ago, it would have been a privilege to be introduced to Hiram’s wider circle but now? It was a living nightmare.

“We don’t want your dress being ruined,” Hiram said, tucking his blade away. He pulled a silk handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at the blood dripping down my chest.

I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs, to squeeze his throat so tightly his evil eyes popped out of their sockets... but I met his stare with a blank glare of indifference.

“Of course not,” I agreed.

“Myarrangementwill be in everyone’s best interests,” Hiram said. Of course, this union would fulfill one of his many political ends. “The groom is happy to have you as a bride.”

“I hope he isn’t expecting a happy one,” I muttered under my breath. “Because I won’t be fucking smiling.”

“Even better,” Hiram said with an approving smirk. “Don’t all weddings come with drama?”

Other people watched trash TV to satiate their morbid fascination, but Hiram? People were nothing but his playthings.

He held out his arm for me to take like a proud father. “It’s time.”

I reluctantly took it. I didn’t know what Hiram was planning or why, but someone who had killed my friend over a tattoo would never allow me to marry someone else unless he had a good reason.

“Whatever happens today changes nothing, Kitten,” Hiram said, leading us from the workshop. “It doesn’t matter who you are married to, you will always be mine.”

* * *

A huddle of Hiram’s cronies stood awaiting our arrival in the lobby of Blackthorne Towers. It looked like he’d planned the operation with greater precision than the most expensive wedding planner. Amongst our entourage, the Blackbird caught my eye. His lips curled into a grin as he soaked in my unhappiness like an energy-zapping vampire.

“Shame about the color of the dress,” the Blackbird remarked.

I shot him my death stare. “Say something like that again, and I’ll show you why they invented the word ‘Bridezilla’.”

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