Page 96 of Deliver Us From Evil

“I should slit yer mouth open, just as you did to her. But this will do.”

With force, I jam the claw into his gum and pivot the hammer at an angle as I work it back and forth. When I feel his tooth wobble, I push down harder, laughing manically when blood trickles from Sean’s mouth. The roots of the tooth are imbedded deep, but as I use a lot more strength, it dislodges, and with a squelch, it pops free.

Reaching into his mouth, I pull out the tooth.

Sean holds back his pained whimpers, but he looks to be on the cusp of passing out.

“Shall I put this under yer pillow for the tooth fairy?” I mock, holding the tooth between my thumb and pointer finger. “Y’ll get at least five pounds for this big sucker.”

The blood spilled only encourages me to continue.

I could break his kneecaps, but he needs to walk as I’m not carrying his sorry arse. So I decide to break his elbow instead.

He can’t move as his wrists are still bound, but he’s unable to hold the weight of his arm and it flops to the side limply. He flinches as the pain would be unbearable. He wants it to fall naturally, but he can’t because he’s bound…which gives me an idea.

Dropping the hammer, I pick up the rope and swing it high, securing it over a low-hanging rafter in the ceiling. I’m suddenly very pleased they’ve taken their time with the renovations.

Turning to Cian, I gesture he’s to give me the knife he always carries. Only now do I realize he’s turned a sickly shade of green.

“What’s the matter, mate? Isn’t this who you want me to be?”

Cian doesn’t say a word as he gives me his blade.

Snatching the knife from his hand, I walk around Sean and hack through the ropes at his wrists and ankles. Before he gets any ideas to flee, I stab him in the shoulder. It’s a flesh wound as experience has taught me where to stab someone if I want to kill them—femoral artery, neck, heart.

This would merely tickle.

But as Sean sags forward, winded, I realize tickle is maybe underplaying it a wee bit.

Gripping him by the back of the neck, I walk him to where the end of the rope hangs and roughly yank his arms behind his back, not bothered that his elbow is broken and he has a knife sticking out of his shoulder.

Once his wrists are tied tight, I pick up the other end of the rope and smile. We lock eyes, and I’ll give it to him, he doesn’t beg. He simply stares at me as I pull down on the rope with all my strength, dislocating his shoulders as his arms hyperextend.

This position restricts airflow, and he wheezes, desperately gasping for air.

“This is how my mum would have felt, gaspin’ for air as you brutalized her in every way possible.”

The memory has me pulling down harder, and when I hear a snap, I know Sean’s shoulder has popped free from the socket. He sags forward, strung up with no place to go. I loosen the tension, allowing him a moment of reprieve because I don’t want him passing out yet.

Where’s the fun in that?

He greedily gulps in air, and just when he thinks I’m done, I pull down on the rope again. This time, I hear a crack, followed by a guttural scream as his feet lift off the floor.

“Yeo!”

“Puck, that’s enough,” Cian says, covering his mouth, horrified.

“Naw, it’s not enough. I’m just gettin’ started.”

Sean won’t die if I continue yanking on this rope. He’s bound to pass out from the pain, but I can wake him as I extract another tooth.

“Puck, please…stop,” Sean pants, his chin drooped to his chest.

I laugh in response. “Quit bein’ such a pussy. My mum endured a lot more than you have. Yer fucking pathetic. Cian, will ya do me a kindness and hold this rope for me?”

But Cian shakes his head. “He’s had enough.”

“It’ll never be enough,” I correct, mesmerized by the blood splatter on the floor. “This is what ya wanted, is it not? This is the person I need to be to be the ruler this country needs. I stop now and that’s showin’ mercy. Something I cannot do ’cause it will get me, get my family killed.”

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