Page 71 of Where Demons Hide

“I scared the shit out of me.”

“Your mom and Ryleigh are getting coffee. I’m sure one of them will kick me out soon.” She stands up and kisses my cheek. “I love you, bitch.”

I would laugh but it hurts, so I smile instead. “I love you, too.”

45

Callisto

I leave the hospital and go straight to the terminal at the port. The containers are stacked four-high, all in rows. Rust-red, yellow, green, and gray. They’re all cookie-cutter. Like Tetris pieces scattered across concrete.

Railroad tracks snake around the rows, overlapping each other in a maze of steel lines. A big, blue crane waits for the container ship to pull in, so that it can drop those colorful pieces onto the flat surface.

The sky is black velvet, interrupted only by splatters of stars and the full moon. A million eyes watching over us. The inky darkness is my comfort. This is my domain.

I walk down one of the rows to a red container. The steel doors are propped open, and a faint light spills out onto the concrete. Franco is inside with Sylvester.

A single light bulb swings from an extension cord on the roof. Sylvester is bound to a wooden chair with chains cuffed to his wrists, then extending his arms above his head. His feet are zip-tied together at the ankles. His face is covered in blood, as if Franco had already taken a turn with him. And he’s naked.

“Did you bring everything?” I ask Franco. I had texted him a list while I waited for Makenna to wake up.

He tilts his chin toward a white, plastic folding table. “It’s all there.”

I walk over to the hand winch attached to the chains holding Morano’s arms in the air. “What happened to him?”

“He fell.”

I chuckle, even though his expression and tone show no humor. “I’ll take it from here. Thank you.”

He nods, then walks out. The steel doors groan, then close with abangthat echoes loudly in the empty container. I unbutton my cuffs and roll my sleeves up my arms.

“Look who finally decided to show up.” Morano spits a mouthful of blood onto the floor. “Figures you’d let your little bitch do your dirty work.”

I crank the lever on the winch, pulling the chains and yanking his arms. “You thinkthatis my dirty work?” I turn the lever, watching, waiting until his shoulders pop out of socket.

He howls and tries to lift his lower half off the chair.

“That was foreplay.” I walk over to the table and grab a hammer. “Thought you should know Makenna is fine. There was no damage to her internal organs. Just a few stitches and she’ll be back to normal.” As if she could ever go back tonormalafter what he did. I stand in front of him. “Looks like you missed your target.”

He snickers. “Oh, I hit my target. Multiple times.”

I remember her face and the bile that rose in my throat as I cleanedhimoff of her. And I feel it as it happens—the crack in my composure. The last thread holding me together snaps. It’s a break in the dam, a rapid fissure. Fury courses through my veins, coats my heart, then slips inside my soul and takes control. The demons claim me. The darkness surrounds me. All I see is red.

He will bleed. He will hurt. He will scream. He will beg and pray.

Just like she did.

Only he won’t leave here breathing.

After I smash the tops of his feet, breaking every delicate bone and making his entire body jolt from the pain, I drop the hammer on the ground. I grab a roll of duct tape, panties and Sharpie from the table. Morano snaps at my hand as I shove the panties—notMakenna’s—inside his mouth. I tear off a strip of tape with my teeth and cover his mouth. “Let’s see how fucking cocky you are now.” I pop the cap off the marker and write on the tape.Karma’s a bitch.

I grab a fistful of his hair, yank his head backwards and break his goddamn nose. Pain shoots from my fist down my arm. Blood gushes down his face, over the silver tape and drips off his chin. “Does that make it hard to breathe?” I pinch his bloody nose, cutting off his air supply. His chest heaves. Tears spring from the corners of his eyes, mixing with the blood on his face. “Is your chest feeling tight yet? Are your lungs screaming for air? Does it feel like your very life is trying to claw its way out from the inside?” I’m nowhere near done with him. He’s only beginning to see what I’m capable of.

I walk over to the table, grab a nail, then crouch in front of him and pick up the hammer.

“Last night, my angel opened up to me so beautifully. So perfect.” I think about Makenna, about how willing and obedient she is, how she welcomes my darkness. “She offered me the very gift you tried to steal from her. It was fucking beautiful. Holy. Sacred.” I take his balls, lay them flat on the wooden seat of the chair. “And you desecrated it.” I stand in front of him, leaning down, inches from his face. “You violated her!” The roar of my words vibrates the steel around us. He pinches his eyes closed. His body convulses as I take his flaccid cock and place it on top of his balls. “She told me to make you pay.” Blood bubbles at his nostrils as he struggles to breathe. The strip of tape muffles his pleas. And all I can think about isherand her broken, battered body lying on the floor. Bleeding while she clung to our unborn child. I felt her pain and her fear all the way in my bones.

I place the tip of the nail against his dick. His eyes go wide with understanding. Then, I lift my hand, then slam the hammer as hard as I can. His head falls back. A strangled howl pierces the air. Tears stream heavily now. His whole body shakes. The wooden seat is painted in his blood. Streaks of crimson run down his bare chest. His thighs are coated in it. His face is swollen and bloody. His hair drips with sweat.

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