Page 84 of Anathema Codex

“Gee, thought you’d be better than that, Pops,” I say, taking a swipe at him, but he brushes it off as he goes back to the chair and sits down. Casting a glance at Daphne who’s perched on the table again watching him with her adoring, groupie eyes, he sucks his teeth and shakes his head.

“Ever fucked someone in the ass?” he asks as he pulls a cigarette out of his pack of smokes. “It’s like a vacuum. Sucks the dick right in and hugs it the entire time.”

I’m almost unaware of Allisandra on top of me until she whimpers. I shove her off and sit up, moving the knife from one hand to the other, thoughts of revenge swelling inside me.

“You’d have to be a lot faster than I am,” Lakyn tells me with a pleasant smile. He blows out a ring of smoke before resting his elbow on the table and rubbing the side of his face with his thumb. “Think you can make a move I won’t be able to stop? Try me, little boy. I’m getting bored again as it is.”

I turn my face away for a moment before I shake my head and he chuckles.

“Didn’t think so. Now finish your meal then clean this shit up. I’m gonna take a shower and when I get back out here, I expect to have a nice, tidy spot to sleep on. Oh, and you two get the floor.”

Lakyn stubs his cigarette out in the plastic ashtray that sits in the middle of the table, then picks up one of the bags that Daphne brought in, ruffles my hair on the way by, then slams the bathroom door shut.

And now I’m left with a choice.

Let Allisandra go and kill Daphne.

Or kill them both.

SIXTEEN

No More Pretending

DAPHNE

I’m turned on and frustrated that I didn’t get to play with them. The bitch on the bed is just lying there, limp and pathetic, and I don’t understand why she doesn’t see how lucky she is. So many people go their entire lives without ever meeting anyone worth the oxygen they use—and Lakyn actually fucked her.

But he pushed me away.

I rub at the spot on my ribs where I know I earned a bruise by falling into the table, but it’s my own fault. I shouldn’t have interfered with his attempt to bond with Aftyn.

Not like Aftyn is actually putting any effort in. He just sits there and watches Lakyn walk into the bathroom then stares at the door while the girl whimpers.

“Going to make Daddy proud?” I ask and his head whips around to glare at me. Turning on my sweetest smile, I lean back on the table and swing my legs back and forth. “What’s the problem, pretty boy? Can’t finish without him?”

“Fuck off,” he snarls and grabs the priestess by the throat, yanking her back to the middle of the bed. When he shoves her legs apart, I get a look at the mess between her thighs and I don't think she'll be too upset when they finally decide to kill her. Aftyn keeps his hand wrapped tight around her neck as he shoves his dick inside her again. She sputters, trying to twist under him to get her hands free, but I watched Lakyn tie her up and I know she's not going anywhere.

The bed is cheap, old, and the headboard smacks against the wall as the mattress springs creak in time with every rough thrust. Aftyn has a nice body, and I don’t mind watching him, but he keeps crying. I can see the shine on his cheeks where he's tried to wipe them away, but it just proves how pathetic he is. I'm sure he's next on Lakyn's list. Maybe after we meet this Beatrix chick that Lakyn is so fixated on.

"You're nothing, you're fucking nothing," Aftyn growls just before he thrusts hard and stills, a low groan rolling out of him as he comes deep inside her while the muscles on his back twitch.

Apparently he can finish something after all.

I hop off the table and grab my backpack, dropping it in the chair to dig out one of my knives. I've got so many pretty ones, each with their own little memory connected to them, but I need to choose one quickly because I know I'm going to have to finish off the Satanic bitch since—

A choked cry yanks my attention, and I'm mesmerized by the sight of Aftyn plunging the knife into the girl's chest over and over. He's still got her pinned under him, dick buried to the hilt, hand on her throat to keep her quiet, and I can't move at all for a moment. It's vicious and raw, and I sit back on the edge of the table just to enjoy the show.Thisis who Aftyn is under the mask, and I don't know why he clings to the fiction of who he tried to be for Willa when he could be this free all the time.

When he sits up, breathing hard, he releases her throat but there's no breath left in that corpse to make a noise anyway. She's painted in brilliant slashes of red, a deeper crimson pooling on her stomach, and I give in to the temptation to step closer for a better look. Aftyn's staring down at her, and I wonder what he's thinking.

Is this his first time letting that side out?

Did I get to see him pop that cherry?

Tilting my head I let my gaze slide down his blood-spattered abs, and I'm distracted by the way his dick slides out of her so I don't catch the fact that he's brought the knife back up until he plunges it into her stomach and drags it down.

Dumbass.I wrinkle my nose, knowing how bad she's going to stink, and we can’t just toss her out the door. Plus, she’s already soaking the bed. "This isn't exactly nice and tidy."

"You bitch…" he growls, and I just smile at him when he turns that feral expression on me. His eyes are empty right now, pretty blue voids just like his daddy's, and with all that blood dripping down his skin, I've never been more attracted to him. I've always liked seeing who people really are, deep down under all the masks they wear, and I think that's why I don't react fast enough when he lunges at me.

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