Page 142 of Tarnished Queen

“By ‘it,’ do you mean ‘die’?” I ask. “Because if so, I agree. You can do it right up there with the best of them.”

Xena lays her hand on his shoulder, drumming her long fingernails across his shirt. “Take him down, Makar. And make sure he lives up to his promise.”

Makar looks back at her. “What promise?”

Xena looks past him to me, her mouth turned up in a smile. “Cut off his cock. I want it.”

“Maybe the two of you aren’t fucking after all,” I muse thoughtfully. “I mean, if you’re that desperate for my dick, Makar is either severely lacking in that department or—”

In the end, it’s the small penis joke that pushes the last of Makar’s hesitations to the side. He charges at me with a battle roar, spit flying. I jump out of the way just as Belle screams my name.

“Who said you could take off your gag, bitch?” Xena shoves Belle back. If I wasn’t busy with Makar, I’d kill her for that alone.

“Don’t worry, Belle,” I tell her, squaring off with an already-sweating Makar. “I’ll be with you in a moment.”

“Say your goodbyes. You’ll never see each other again,” Makar growls as he charges again.

I dodge him, letting him tire himself out a bit before we get into this. “I’m almost embarrassed to admit you ever worked for me,” I say as I watch him pant and heave.

“Because I’m not a brainless sheep, following you into ruin?”

“No. Because you’re a shitty fighter. Either Xena has never seen you fight or she is knowingly sending you to your death. You don’t stand a fucking chance.”

Makar’s face turns red, anger coloring his neck and chest. “I’ve trained enough.”

“There is a big difference between punching a defenseless bag in the gym and the task in front of you here, brother. This target hits back.”

To prove my point, I fake to the right, sending Makar leaning wonkily in the other direction. I meet him there with a hard left hook. His rib crunches under my knuckles.

He groans and tries to fade back out of reach, but he stumbles.

“It’s almost too easy,” I sigh over his shoulder to Xena. I’m guessing this is her first time seeing him at work, too, because she looks pissed.

Makar doubles down, growling as he lunges. This time, he manages to get his arms around my midsection. My gun slips out of my pants and clatters across the cement. Makar actually forces me back a couple steps, but as soon as I plant my feet, I drive my knee straight up into his chest.

He wheezes, gasping for the breath I’ve just knocked out of him.

Panicking now, he tries to move towards my gun, no doubt hoping to grab it and end this before I kill him.

But no such luck. I spin around behind him and hook one arm around his neck, the other around his rib cage. I squeeze tightly, pinning one of his arms against his already-broken ribs. He cries out and tries to pry my arm away from his neck, but I squeeze tighter. More things break.

“You should have shut your mouth and fallen into line,” I growl in his ear. “And you definitely shouldn’t have put your hands on my wife. Because now, I have no choice. You made the choice for me.”

He tries to say something, but he doesn’t have the air. It comes out like a death rattle, rasping through his blue lips.

Meanwhile, Xena doesn’t do a damn thing. I choke the life out of Makar’s body, constricting around him like an anaconda while he spasms and dies, and Xena just watches with pure disgust on her face.

After a couple minutes, I lower Makar’s lifeless body to the floor and then stand up and face Xena.

“I went through Makar,” I sigh, brushing off my hands on my pants. “Now, give me my wife.”

Her eyes narrow to slits. “Do you really think I’m done?”

I sigh. “No, I suppose not. Nothing with you could ever be that easy.”

“You know me so well.” She throws a sharp-edged smirk at me and then grabs Belle by the roots of her hair. “Come on. Help me reveal my secret guests.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Belle snaps. She tries to pull away, but Xena pulls out a gun, and Belle goes perfectly still.

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