Page 39 of The Kiss Of Death
She had called me beautiful twice.
She wasn’t like Patrice when she was drunk.
I snapped the idea out of my head, then took my computer, left my bedroom, and headed to the computer lab.Her mother had died just before we first met.I needed to dissect every part of Dalia, which meant taking an interest in Los Calaveras. Each bit of information was a piece of the puzzle that was Dalia and a step closer to making Mercier fall.
I’d never chased anyone, but tonight I did, and on top of that, I’d just kicked myself out of my own bedroom.
“See, I promised I’d find you.” I lounged, one leg draped lazily over the other, in front of the two cowards who hadn’t respected my orders about my broken doll.
Kay fumbled to secure the door of the Tacticians common room, as Cillian remained unmoving behind them.
“We thought we’d bring her to you. We were all hammered,” the liar uttered straight to my face.
He and his friend fidgeted in their seats, their eyes darting around the room as if searching for an escape route. Beads of sweat formed on their foreheads. Eyes bulged out of their sockets.
“Sure,” I said, mustering a semblance of a smile. “You wanted a taste of that pussy, am I right? Did you get hard looking at her? Did you touch yourself that night thinking of her lips wrapped around your small dick?”
Obviously, those were rhetorical questions. One of them dared to offer a feeble smile, mistaking my apparent friendliness with how pissed I was on the inside. My blood boiled. It pounded against my temples like a relentless drumbeat. They all stared at each other, like fucking carps, hunching further into their seats.
“Please, Levi, we’re sorry. It was Hazing Night, and we just wanted to have fun.”
Have fun. Just this simple word was enough to dredge up the demons I had buried in my graveyard of fucked-up memories.Those bullies deserved to be wiped from this fucking earth. Them. Patrice. All of them.
“I think your time at this school and as Tacticians has ended. You’ll both leave today, or I’ll expose your darkest secrets: how you record and post your disgusting dicks online, getting inside all types of holes of your drunk victims, to how one of you cheated on the exam last year by taking performance-enhancing drugs, or how the most perverted of you jerked off by indulging in human-animal sex,” I threatened.
“You know who my dad is? If we’re expelled, he could close Pantheon!” the less depraved—the son of a five-star hotel chain mogul—complained.
I chuckled darkly. Everything leaves a digital trace, and despite this, they all seemed to think their electronic devices protected them. “Oh, I also know all about your daddy’s little gambling addiction and all the underage girls he fucks.”
His face turned ghastly white.
“I want you both out today,” I asserted.
Both of them lowered their heads, as they should. “What are we going to tell our parents?”
“Be creative,” I hissed and fixed my gaze on the worst of them—the one who drugs his victims and revels in animal sex. I slid Kay’s leather glove onto my hand. “You touched what was mine. I hope this will serve as a lesson.”
“I didn’t! We were doing this for you.” And here this pig was lying again.
“You had your disgusting hand all over her.” I closed in on him from behind, my breath against the nape of his shivering neck as I reached for his hand. “Ssh, don’t be afraid. Was it this one? I hope you’re not right-handed.”
What do I have to put myself through to finally make someone listen?Though the mere thought of touching him repulsed me—hence the glove—I steeled myself and seizedhis hand, twisting his fingers in a single, brutal snap. The satisfying crunch of his bones echoed through the air, sending a shiver coursing down my spine. His face contorted in agony, his screams muffled against my hand, his complexion flushing crimson.
“Levi, man, what are you doing?” Cillian let his conscience get the best of him.
“It wasn’t enough,” I growled through gritted teeth, allowing my darkness to take over.
My pupils dilated as my veins pulsated beneath my skin. I could feel it, the freak inside me thirsting to retaliate against the bullies I once felt powerless against. I prided myself on my emotional control, but an unsettled monster existed within me, a dark urge that hungered for violence and justice served on my terms.
Tears streamed down my victim’s face. He made no effort to conceal his anguish. He forewent any pretense of dignity, clutching his broken fingers in a futile attempt to alleviate the pain as his sobs echoed in the room. “Can we go now?”
“Yes.” Kay’s voice reverberated from the back as he forcefully swung the door open, allowing the second one to depart unscathed. “Pack your bags, fast.”
The two assholes bolted, and I slammed my fist on the wooden table like an idiot.
“You know we always have your back, but you lost your shit over here. What was that?” Cillian roared at me.
Even he had never seen my true face. But he was right. Only an imbecile would use his fist because physical violence was traceable. I’d never lost control that badly before.
