Page 98 of Victorious: Part 3
Finally, his eyes widen in fear.
Reality’s crashing in now, hey, asshole?
“You turned us into weapons…” Starling murmurs, “… and now those weapons are pointed back at you.”
Peacock steps forward like she’s strutting a runway, blood on her heels.Literally.She tosses a switchblade between her fingers and leans in, smiling her perfect pearly whites at him. “You remember me, don’t you,papi?”she sneers. “You liked making us wear pretty things. Told us we were dolls. Well, let’s play dress-up again.”
She slashes down the front of his bloodied shirt, tearing it open like a cheap gift bag. Then she drags the blade down his chest, blood splashes over her leather bodysuit, and she laughs, sliding her hands up and down like she is caressing the blood into herself. “Oh yeah, now this is an outfit I could get used to wearing.” She grins, bringing her hand up to her face and wiping a smear of Javier’s blood across her cheek.
Starling finally loosens the grip on his throat, his body jostles as he gasps for breath, the birds still circling, my eyes observing Poppy as she stands to the side, watching the kind of woman she could have become if she stayed in the Nest’s training program.
Her eyes are wide like she is inspired. Like she wishes she could jump in at any second.
I don’t know if that terrifies me or calms me knowing that she has these abilities.
Javier lets out a small scream, drawing my attention back to him as Magpie flips a set of piano wire garrotes with a gleam in her eye. “Wanna hear a tune?” She smirks. “How about the sound of your tendons snapping?”
Javier’s eyes widen as she kneels down at his feet with the wires, using them to rip through the back of his ankles. Javier screams in agony, and even I curl up my lip at the sound as Magpie melodically laughs through his pain like she’s loving it.
“Jesus Christ,” Maverick murmurs, folding his arms across his chest, the other brothers nodding in agreement as we allstand back watching these lethal women have a fucking field day.
Javier’s screams echo off the Chapel walls, shrill and desperate. But the birds keep circling, there’s a darkness in Haven’s eyes that I haven’t seen before. It doesn’t scare me. But knowing that this is inside her, that this version of her was sent to kill me when we first met, does fill me with some trepidation.
She is a hunter.
All of these women are.
Javier and the Cartel made them that way.
Kite waits, quietly, drenched in calm, and finally she finds her moment to make her move. She may be quiet, but once she moves, she is fast and violent. Kite slams her elbow into his throat, followed by a fast boot into his gut. The asshole was already having trouble breathing, now he is winded on top of it. He struggles to draw in breath, his entire body convulsing with force.
“For the women you broke.” She slams a fist into the side of his head. His face spins to the side, blood pissing from his mouth, his eyes rolling around in his head as he zones in and out. “For the silence you forced.” She slams a blade straight down between his legs, right where I imagine his cock and balls are. He convulses, letting out a God-almighty scream, while every brother in here grimaces in reaction. She holds the pressure, twisting the blade a little, glaring into his eyes as he struggles to find focus. “Your mother died because of you!” She snarls, taunting him. Letting the mental games continue, then rips the blade out, causing him to scream.
“Que os jodan, putas!”He sneers at Kite, spittle flying out of his mouth, teamed with blood.
Egret steps into view, a slender blade in her hand, trailing it along Javier’s temple. “Oh, Javier, you think calling us whores is going to offend us? And you want us to fuck off? Well, sure. We’lljust pack up and leave then, shall we?”
A small chuckle escapes him, though I can tell it takes almost all the energy he has left. “It would be nice if you would. I have an empire to rebuild… some assholes have torched it all.”
I fight back my smirk as his eyes shift to mine, and I shrug nonchalantly. “You fucked with Defiance, Javier. It took a few years, but Defiance always ends up on top.”
Javier slowly smiles, licking his swollen and bloodied lip. “You won’t kill me.”
Haven raises her brow, folding her arms across her chest. “Oh, won’t we? Why’s that?”
He turns to her, his head bobbing with his exhaustion. “Because, Blue Jay… you need me. All you birds need me. This right here is proof. You’re trained to be assassins. You women thrive in this kind of environment. I made you into the machines that you are. You can’t live any other life than to be given orders, than to be my beautiful birds.”
I swallow hard, my eyes shifting to Poppy as she walks forward, my heart rate increasing as she steps in front of Haven. “The thing about birds, Javier… is eventually they all fly the nest,” Poppy says, her voice calm, no hesitation as she stares him down. Then she pulls a blade from her boot that I didn’t even know was there. My eyes widen as I go to take a step forward, but Loki places his hand on my chest, stopping me.
My breath catches as Poppy moves in, Javier chuckling at her as she does. “Oh, little bird, what damage could youpossiblydo to me?”
She grins, holding the blade to his scalp. “Nothing compared to the emotional trauma your mother obviously did to you,” she jabs, piling on the psychological cuts, and he jerks in reaction, forcing her blade into his scalp with his own fury, not deep, but enough to make the blood run hot down his face.
“Shut up! You don’t get to talk aboutmy mother,”he screamsinto Poppy’s face. But she doesn’t react, doesn’t flinch, merely reaches his eye level and grins.
“It’s not nice when someone messes with your mother,is it?”she snaps, then steps out of the way to let Black Swan move forward. Javier breathes harshly through his nose as he stares her down, while she silently stalks him, her eyes burning with a fury few could comprehend. She leans in, brushing a finger down his bloodied cheek.
“Livvy trusted me…” she says, her voice low, “… and you used her as bait.” She doesn’t yell, doesn’t raise her voice.
