Page 74 of Blood

When I told her I’m hers, just as thoroughly as she’s mine.

I lower my gaze to the copper handle and then to the keen blade, which has traced almost every inch of my mate’s perfect flesh.

I’m not a sentimental man, but if I were to have a favorite weapon, it would be this one.

Which is why it’s cosmic justice for me to use it to torture her enemies.

“Please! Let me go!” The pathetic excuse for a monster begins to sob, his chin dropping forward and his sweaty gray hair falling in front of his face.

I haven’t even started cutting his flesh yet. I can’t imagine the annoying sobs that’ll escape him when I do.

This creature is supposed to be one of Zeus’s top officials?

The prospect is almost comical.

It took me far too long to uncover this bastard’s name and find his location. I tortured and killed over twenty of Zeus’s loyal men in my quest to find him.

Redcap—the only creature of its type in existence.

A malevolent, murderous, wicked goblin with talons that resemble that of an eagle, large eyes the color of fire, and grisly gray hair that streams down his back. And, of course, his signature cap, which perches on the top of his head. According to legend, he gained his name by dipping the cap in the blood of his victims and stealing a tiny portion of their magic. It’s no wonder Zeus has him on his payroll—they both relish taking what doesn’t belong to them.

Redcap continues to cry and thrash against his bindings, but there’ll be no escape for this pathetic excuse for a monster.

“It took me a long time to track you down,” I confess as I once again lower my gaze to the blade in my hand. It shimmers in the fluorescent lighting of my torture chamber. “I’ve been away from my mate for an entire fucking week. Do you know what it’s like to be away from your mate for that long?” I don’t wait for him to respond. “I can’t imagine you do, considering you don’t have a mate. But it’s been torture.” I chuckle dryly and take a step closer, causing his screams to increase and ricochet off the walls. “It’s funny, if you think about it. I denied my feelings for Violet Dracula for too damn long, and the second I confess the truth to her? The second I fully give myself to her, body and soul? I’m forced to leave. Then again, my prolonged absence will be worth it if I can provide my mate with the information she desires.”

Abruptly, I crouch down in front of the bulbous goblin and stab the knife into his hand. A howl of agony escapes him as he whips his head from side to side, tears cascading down his wart-filled face.

“My sources say you’re one of the few monsters who knows where Zeus is keeping Hera, Lucifer, and Dracula. Where are they?”

Anger momentarily flares to life in Redcap’s eyes, eclipsing the pain and fear from only a few seconds ago. I have to hold back my chuckle.

Apparently, this little monster has a backbone.

“Fuck you!” Redcap hisses, though his voice still trembles with barely suppressed terror.

I click my tongue disapprovingly. “I’m sorry. I’m afraid I have my mate for that. Thank you for your offer, but I’m going to have to decline.” I tug the blade out of his hand and then drop it into his thigh, precariously close to his cock. If there’s one thing I’ve found that terrifies both monster and man alike, it’s a threat against their nether regions.

“Tell me where they are.” The cocksure smile slips from my face, replaced by the stone-cold calm I always feel before I make a kill. This is the Dimitri Gray Violet should fear—the one who lurks in the shadows, blade in hand, and stabs the unsuspecting foe in the back. I’m a demon disguised as an angel, hell-bent on death and destruction.

“Fuck you!” Redcap screams again.

“Wrong answer.”

Retreating to the place deep inside of me—the one where the shadows rule supreme and the light cowers away—I slide the dagger out of his flesh.

And then, to the soundtrack of his screams, I begin to cut.

CHAPTER 26

VIOLET

I throw my head back in laughter as Jack finishes his story, utilizing over-the-top hand gestures and exaggerated impressions.

“You can imagine my surprise when I woke up the next morning to see my own face in the newspaper,” he continues, his eyes glimmering with mirth behind his wire-framed glasses. “And to discover it’s because I was caught streaking through New York City?” He chuckles as he takes another sip of his wine. “This was 1923, Violet. Even saying the word penis got you locked up in prison.”

“I can’t believe Hux did that!” I place a hand over my mouth to smother my incessant giggles.

“In his defense, he didn’t realize that clothes were mandatory,” Jack says with a sigh. He reaches across the glass coffee table and grabs the bottle of wine he procured for this meal. “More wine, m’lady?”

---