Page 27 of Madness Behind the Mask
Humans are oftensacrificedinour darker magic, and the basement is our spellroom.A closeddark-mahoganycabinetthat spans to the ceilingsits along the back wall, hiding our jars of ingredients, athames stained with the souls of the dead, and candles ready to be burned in future spells.
“Leon,” I say as I enter, a single word that has his fist stilling in the air. His muscles strain beneath his control. Then his arm drops as he pivots to face me.
“Father.”
He inclines his head briefly as he steps back. He is a spitting image of me –wavy red hair, green eyes, and pale skin, so different to his darker brothers and sisters who take after their mother’s side of the family with their dark hair and brown eyes.The only difference is his lack of a beard. Clean shaven but with a well-trimmed mustache, Leonis particular about his appearance. So young,yetalready soserious.
Then again, he’s the firstborn and the one set to inherit the Shadow Domain once he marries and finally becomes a real man.Hemight not have been bornwith the weight of responsibility,buthe carries it proudlyon his tattooed shoulders.
“How is she?” he asks.
“Your focus should be onBert.” I nod athimas he hangs from the ceiling, drooling blood. “Didyou find out who he’sworkingwithbefore you knocked him out?”
“Uh...he’s not –”
“Of course he is, boy.Why wouldhehave risked death just for some pussy that doesn’t move?”
Leon frownsas I step up to the man in question.
“There’s only one reason to risk that – get her pregnant and kill off all her offspring.” Like a new male lion taking over the pack.
“Giving him the right to rule this Family,” Leon saysslowly,finally catching on.
Although Sau and I are married, if another man gets her pregnant, I will be pushed aside. The throne of the Shadow Domain can only ever be truly held by a Shadowwho has inherited the gift of their family name.
I glance at my son over my shoulder. “And doesBerthere seem capable of killing us on his own?”
Leon’s jaw tightens as his eyes drift tothe coward hanging before us. “No.”
“Exactly, my boy. So he’s working with someone.”
“I’ll find out who.”He steps up beside me, raising an arm to punch Bert back to consciousness, but I place a hand on his chest, holding him back.
“No.”I smile, my eyes on the bloody face of my enemy. “He hurt my wife. This pleasure will be mine.”
Raising my other hand, Itrace runes in the air between us, channeling my magic to turn all of Bert’s clothes into dust.
I shake him awake with a grip on his jaw, then smile as hishazeleyes firstopenslowly, then widen sharply as he sees me in front of him.
“I’m so–aaaaaaahhh!” His apologies turn into screams as Itearapart his testicles with my telekinesis.
He jerks on the hooks, ripping skin and flinging blood as he cries for a mercythatwill not come.My fingers twist in the air, lifting his detached sack up to his lips.
“The thing with torture,” I say to Leon, “is that people will tell you whatever it is you want to know regardless of whether it is true or not. You must be able to discern what’s factual and what’s desperate pleas of a dying man, told tostop the pain.”
He doesn’t respond, but I know he’s listening, ever the dutiful student.
“The trick is to only ask questions you know they have answers to. For instance, IknowBert here isn’t working alone. Isn’t that right, Bert?”
He whimpers as I take a step closer to him. His fingers have all been broken; it’s the first step anyone takes when going up against a witch; even the weakest of us can kill with a spell. Dark magic is always easy to cast; the hard part is only in controlling it so it doesn’t kill you too.
“Yes,” he cries, knowing how this works. He cleaned up many bodies for me before.
“I want a name.”
“I don’t know –” He cuts off on a gag as I press the open end of his sack to his lips and squeeze a ball free. He tries to turn his head away from me and close his mouth, but I hold him where I want him. One small ball falls onto his tongue, and he gags again.
Holding his gaze, I twirl the fingers on my free hand, pushing his testicle down his throat. I stop it halfway, blocking his air supply as his eyes bug wide and become bloodshot.
