Page 5 of Demon Sworn
Not bothering to hide my deranged grin, I grab my machete from where I stored it in my jacket, pull it out, and begin to swing it around wildly. Subtle? Not one fucking bit. But at least it’s smaller than the meat cleaver I wanted to bring. Unfortunately, Betty—that’s what I named her—is still back at home, pouting on my pillow after Raz called her “overkill.” I hate that word. It doesn’t even make sense. How can youoverkill something? Poor, sweet Betty. I’m gonna have to give her a lot of cuddles and kisses when I get back. Hopefully, Katrina doesn’t get jealous.
“You ready for this, big guy?” I ask Kastros, flashing my teeth. It says a lot about me that even Kastros, a man I’ve known for centuries and consider family, flinches slightly when he stares at me.
Shit. Do I have something on my face? Is there blood in my teeth?That would be fucking embarrassing, considering the fact we haven’t even started the torture yet.
And I kissed Katrina with this mouth.
Well, blood on the teeth will make the kind of impression I want now. Without waiting for Kastros to respond—because he’s fucking mute and I’m an asshole—I push open the door and pose like a runway model in the door frame.
Our target is a paunchy, middle-aged man wearing a sloppy tie that would make Zolroth cringe. He’s sitting behind his desk, as we knew he would be because of the trip we paid to his wife.
Shut up. We didn’t hurt her. Apparently, he’s been cheating on her for years, so she was more than happy to give up his location after a single question and a glance at my pretty little grenades.
Speaking of…
“Come out here, sweetheart,” I coo at the girl I can hear slurping his dick. Her head pops up, her lips swollen and her hair disheveled as I walk into the room and enjoy the shocked expression on Leonard Parks’ face as I ruin what was surely going to be a subpar orgasm.
“I’ve got something more fun we can do with your dick, Lenny,” I say as I trace a finger along the edge of my machete. The girl gasps, and whatever she sees in my face has her running as fast as she can out the door, disregarding the fact that her shirt is off and her pants are unbuttoned.
I laugh gleefully when she leaves, swerving around Kastros as he steps inside. I skip over to the door, pulling it shut and locking it behind me. We have all the time in the world right now. Van drove us, and he’s still in the parking lot of the complex, waiting. He’ll make sure that topless young woman doesn’t tattle to the pigs. That’s one of his skills, after all—he’ll breathe lust in her face until she’s desperate to do whatever he pleases. He’ll send her far, far away from us.
I turn and see the human shit stain shove up out of his chair as he tries to stuff his tiny, not-even-a-mouthful dick back into his pants. “Leonard,” I singsong as I begin to move towards him, loving the way sweat drips down his bald forehead and pudgy, bright red cheeks. He’s deliciously scared. “You’ve been a bad boy.”
Kastros snorts behind me, never one for my “dramatics,” as he so eloquently puts it, but he doesn’t stop me. This is my fucking game, and Leonard is my pawn.
“Please,” he begs, and my smile broadens. I fucking love it when they beg, when they plead for their miserable, pathetic lives. Doesn’t he realize that he has no one coming to save him? That his own wife would rather see him dead than have to put up with him another day? That his “lover” ran as soon as shit hit the fan and has no doubt already forgotten about him?
He’s not like me.
He wouldn’t know love if it nipped him in the ass.
Before Katrina, I tortured people just for the thrill of it. There was nothing more arousing than inflicting pain on the bad men and women who deserved it, who chose to be cruel of their own free will. But now…
Now, I torture and kill for her.
My hands will be stained in red so hers remain clean.
“I don’t have money!” Leonard continues in his whiny, desperate voice. Fuck, I almost want to kill him just to get him to shut the fuck up. His voice grates on my nerves like fucking sandpaper.
“We don’t want your money.” I cackle darkly as I lean over the sweaty, bald man. I note that he has his phone opened on his lap and 911 dialed, but unfortunately for him, his call has been transferred straight to Zolroth back home. The useful side of having a materialism demon in your murder is that they know all kinds of things about the latest gadgets. “We want information.”
“Please don’t hurt me!” he begs as I hold my machete to his neck. I probably could’ve used a smaller knife, but fuck it. I never do anything by halves.
“Tell me where Katrina’s parents are—” I really should learn their names instead of always referring to them as the ’rents, “—and I’ll make your death as painful as possible.”
Kastros smacks me in the arm when Leonard gives a barnyard-worthy squeal. It takes me a moment of staring at the big vengeance demon to realize why he hit me. I turn back to Leonard. “Oh, right. You probably would prefer it not to be painful.”
Leonard starts to cry, big fat tears that make his lower lashes cling to his cheeks like spider legs.
Kastros signs to me,Time is of the essence.
Ugh. Fine. No one ever lets me play as long as I want.
I go over to the wall and smash the handle of my machete into a diploma or some shit hanging up there. I reach in and rip off a corner, then carry it back over to Leonard, who’s quaking as he stares at the sparkly grenades beneath my jacket.
I smile when I scent piss on him as I slide that scrap of paper across the desk. “Lenny…oh Lenny. If you keep crying, I’m gonna get all excited. And when I get excited, I have trouble containing myself.” I let my tongue trace over the flat edge of my machete, not quite on the blade but close. “Why don’t you stay calm, so I can stay calm, huh? And maybe you can write down a few little things for me.”
Leonard sucks in his sob, choking on it as it racks his chest.
