Page 32 of PortCity Killers

??E L E V E N??

“That was not your first kill, was it?”

I watched as Don closed the door, locking it and made his way past me. I didn’t answer, just picked at a spot on the ground and watched from the periphery as his dress shoes carried him across the white carpet.

“Do not feel embarrassed. You did well, my love.” Valentina’s body was lithe as she let Collin’s body fall to the floor less than gracefully. His head made a loud thunk across the carpet as she leaned against the hardwood of her desk. Don sat beside her in the chair to the right, reserved for guests, “It was beautiful to see your lust for blood. There is nothing shameful in it.”

I swallowed hard, mortified that apparently everyone in the fucking county saw the desire I’d tried so hard to keep in check all my life.

“Look at us, Alex.” Don’s voice was rough and heavier than Valentina’s, the accent dragging across my shoulders.

I don’t know what made me drag my eyes to Don’s. Maybe it was because he wasn’t the one who shoved his tongue halfway down my damn throat while I was plunging a blade through a man like I was fucking him.

Maybe it was because of the soft way he said my name like he was asking a question instead of giving me a demand, or maybe I was just a brat like Bryce always accused me of being, and I just couldn’t help myself but to provoke Valentina.

And she was very provoked by the looks of it. Her jaw tightened, nails clicking on the wood framing as she waterfalled her fingers down with her irritation. Don gave a small shake of his head: warning me? Pitying me? But it wasn’t him who spoke next.

“Come here.”

I hated how my body tensed, how it ached to follow her instructions like a lost puppy looking for its master, but I took a steadying breath as I pushed my hands to the floor, intent on doing exactly that. Valentina tutted at me, making me look up.

“On your knees. Crawl to me.”

My eyes fell back down, fingers gripping into the plush, white carpet. If I looked to where they were I wouldn’t be able to move and there was a part of me, no matter how fucked and irrational that wanted to do exactly that.

I hazarded a glance, a quick peek at them through my lashes and thought, they really could be twins.

The two of them there like avenging gods, all brown skin and green eyes glistening. Between us Collin’s body lay twisted, his eyes raised wide to the ceiling as if he was counting each one of the tiles.

I sniffed, reining in every errant thought that galloped through my wayward brain as I pushed through the panic, stamping it down with an iron boot past my throat and down my stomach.

I shifted on my knees, crawling towards them where they set themselves. Don sat back in his chair; legs wide as he watched me. Valentina stood to its edge, close enough to touch the back of the chair behind his neck.

My body shook as I approached them with each step closer. When I got to it, I debated crawling around Collin’s lifeless body. I could feel the leftover warmth wafting off of him, like a slip of his soul hadn’t yet recognized he was no longer in working condition.

I didn’t though.

I hesitated, looking into Valentina’s penetrating gaze as she shook her head gently. Her eyes narrowed on me until I began to crawl over him. Her smirk came back full force then, that dark gleam twinkling like a million stars as she watched me clamber over him.

The blood that had pooled underneath his chest was slick, filling the fibers of the white carpet as my fingers tried to grip down at them, trying to find purchase. My legs dragged over his body as I stepped my hands over him.

My fingers and shins took most of the blood, the thick, cool liquid squelching under my weight. Somehow it seemed less...appealing when it was cold like this. There was no warmth to it, no throbbing lifeforce to keep it flowing.

I held my breath, biting down at my lip and hoping I wouldn’t be able to see the blood in my head later when I washed it off. When I was close enough, I sat back on my haunches, staring up into Valentina’s eyes.

She smiled, her full red lips a little less shiny, but equally striking against the coloring of her face, and the full brightness of her eyes. She took a step towards me, her hand resting gently at the back of my head as she petted the curls down.

I flinched slightly, and she chuckled: “Look at her, Don. Trembling and we haven’t even gotten a chance to touch her properly.”

My head snapped up, but she gripped the back of it, her long, soft fingers tangling in the thick mass of my hair. She walked over to Don,one, two, threesteps dragging me along with her.

I hissed at the pin pricking of my scalp before she rubbed it just enough to send shivers down my spine.

I tried to fight it, tried to fight the growing wetness I felt between my legs again, but there was nothing for it.

I’d always loved it when someone pushed the line, when they got a little too rough or said something a little too mean. It was one of the things Bryce knew how to play up perfectly for me, one of the things we both loved.

This? This was a whole new game of viper and mouse, one that I wasn’t sure I would survive in a way that I didn’t know I wanted.

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