Page 22 of Death God

My blade-like claws slashed off her nose from the bottom to the top in one clean sweep.

Blood poured out of the big hole where her nose used to be, and she screamed and screamed.

I let out a low chuckle. “A good girl screams. Thanks for teaching me.”

I looked around the room. The maids and the guards were so stunned that they froze like statues, their mouths hanging open to let flies in. I didn’t think they were shocked at the violence but that I had maimed the mistress of the castle.

Then the maids blinked back to life, glee in their eyes atop their worries and fear.

As they noticed my gaze lingering on them, they turned as one, pressing themselves against the wall and holding their breath, hoping this predator wouldn’t have a piece of them.

I swept my predatory gaze back to the black witch.

“You like to inflict pain on others, don’t you, Lady Harper, or Lady No-Nose?” I asked. “You made me think of Nose-Too-Flat. Others called her Sara. I bet she was your pal. I slew her hound with the claws that did a nose job on you when it hunted me. I put Nose-Too-Flat in a dungeon, and your dark lord possessed her, and poof, she went up in flames.”

I shook my head, a smile on my lips as I watched the Harper witch howl while pressing a towel on her hole to stop the bleeding. I wasn’t done with her. Coming back to this place evoked an inconsolable rage in me.

“Sorry, but this is a private show,” I said to the guards and kicked the door shut in their faces, which also prevented the witch from fleeing and seeking help.

I grabbed the Harper witch’s hair and dragged her back.

She couldn’t throw nasty spells at me now, but my whole body still buzzed with pain from her former spells.

“You whipped me to teach me to be a good girl,” I said. “I appreciate it. Now I must return the favor.”

“No!” she wailed.

“Oh, yes.” I smiled.

I was still not as cruel as the horseman and his minions, but I had plenty of rage after suffering at the hands of their kind for a century.

I pushed up the sleeves of my jacket, revealing a band on my forearm, right above the horseman’s cuffs. Other than my hidden dagger, I had brought a lot of cool stuff given to me by the good mages, hidden here and there. They didn’t charge me, but I wondered if they had sent a big bill to Marlowe.

I unwrapped the band from my arm, and it snapped into a whip. I slashed it across the witch’s back and ass.

“Say, ‘yes, Daddy, yes,’” I coached her. “Be a sport. And don’t rely on others. You can harvest your own pain now.”

The heavy door was kicked open.

Going-gray, the killjoy, framed the doorway. Four guards stood behind him proudly.

“What the fucking hell?” the commander bellowed, his eyes searing with rage. “I stepped out for only a minute to report to the Alpha King, and you turned into a psycho. Maybe you should be chained in the dungeon if you’re out of control like this!”

I wheeled toward him, meeting his glare, my eyes on fire.

“Have your guards told you what this vile witch came here to do?” I demanded. “I never attack without being provoked or assaulted first. She came here to shave me. Then she whipped me with her spells when I told her to shave her own ass. No one shaves me. You can’t even see the wounds she inflicted upon me, and she said that was the beauty of it. So I shaved her nose off. She wanted to make me a good girl by whipping me, so I made her scream like a good girl, only with a real whip.”

“Enough, Pip girl!” Going-gray snarled. “I’ll deal with you later!” He turned to bark at the shifter guards. “Get her to the infirmary and have a healer take a look at her. No need to alert the king. I’ll handle it.”

Two guards came forward and carted out the witch. Everyone avoided looking at me except Going-gray.

“Sir,” the maid who had tried to help me offered, “we can testify that Lady Pip was attacked brutally first. Mistress Harper threw many spells at the lady and didn’t stop even when the lady could barely stand. When I told the mistress that we needed to get the lady ready for the king, Mistress also punished me for speaking out of turn. Lady Pip took the spell meant for me and finally started to defend herself.”

Going-gray looked between the maid and me.

The other maids also nodded. “We’ll also testify that it’s true,” they said meekly, wringing their hands in front of them.

“I’ll take your testimony later,” Going-gray barked. “Right now, just clean up the mess and get Lady Pip ready.” Turning to me, he narrowed his eyes. “To my suite, now. I want to have a word with you.”

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