Page 49 of Mafie Trials

“The way you looked at me when I was done tying up that leg of yours. You know who I am. I want you to tell me how. Now.”

“I’m not telling you shit, little girl,” he spits at my feet, and I pounce like a dog receiving a new squeaky toy. My fist jolts his face to the side and a sickening crunch echoes through the room.

I thought he might break easily, but I’m glad he’s not. I miss the caress of blood as it drips down my blade and over my fingertips.

I don’t say anything in response. He made the choice to disrespect me. He can deal with the consequences. I glide my blade gently down his exposed chest, just enough to burn but not open skin. His breath comes in pants as he watches me and when our eyes connect again, I press harder and carve a large X across his chest. He grits through the pain, and my excitement must be palpable because Damien starts cheering me on.

“Hell yeah, Little Shadow, that’s hot as fuck.”

I grin and get back to work, marking him until he’s screaming. I don’t stop when he starts giving me information. He tells me he was sent by a man he didn’t know the name of to see what was happening during the break. When he reported back there was a girl with them, the man asked him to get a picture. For some reason, the asshole thought it’d be a good idea to snap one of me in the shower. Now that I’ve got the information I needed, I’m ready to play.

My blade has the time of its life slicing him up until he can no longer give me anything. He even confesses to me that he raped a woman when he was twenty and left her lifeless body in the street when he was done with her. He tells me he has a kid he’s never once visited because he didn’t want to be tied down. Every confession a man could make on death's door about his poor life choices flows out of him like a river of regret. He even tells me he once stole a candy bar when he was a child, just out of hope and desperation that I might stop my assault on his skin.

Carving off chunks of flesh next, I cut deeper and deeper until he’s flayed open for me. He’s passed out more than a few times from the pain. When Havoc tries to wake him for me a fifth time, I can see in his eyes he won’t make it through another round. I pick up another blade, discarding my dirty one. I want to make sure I’m the last thing he sees before his eyes close for eternity.

“Was it worth it?” I ask. “Going up against the Bratva? Taking orders from men who hide behind computers and phones asking others to do their dirty work for them. Was it worth it?”

He shakes his head slightly, unable to speak since I cut out his tongue, then gagged him because his screams started making my ears ring. And now that I have no more need for him and have satisfied my bloodlust, I slice his neck wide open. All the warm blood coats my fingers, painting me as the assassin I really am.

Once I’ve taken in my fill of the masterpiece I created, I turn to look at the men in the room. Boris’ face is one of utter shock, likely over my extreme methods. Damien is grinning and Lev looks worried for me. Havoc is unbothered as he begins cleaning the mess. Alexi is unreadable as usual.

Laney though, I’m actually worried about her. Havoc goes to her before I can, and they immediately leave with his hand on her back. I grab a towel from the bench and reluctantly wipe my hands until only a light coat of red stains them; then I toss it back on the bench.

“Since he never got the picture to the man in question, I assume I’m still safe here. I know you’ve been working hard on getting a secondary location ready for us, but I think I have a better idea.”

I had been thinking while I worked, trying to figure out what we were going to do next. Once I knew we still had some time, I felt some pieces click into place. But I also think these men might refuse what I have planned. Then I remember that Alexi owes me a favor. If I cash that in, they won’t be able to say no.

“I want my favor,” I say, looking Alexi in the eye. I’m sure he already suspects what I’m going to say, but I don’t think they’ve all figured it out yet.

“In order to graduate we have to come up with an idea to complete the trials. I want the three of you on my team, along with Laney and Nessa. I want to take down my uncle. I want revenge for everything he’s done to me, and I want usallsafe. I’m not running. I’m Evie fucking James, and Adrik is about to realize that he messed with the wrong girl.”

One side of Alexi’s mouth lifts in a smirk while Damien comes to scoop me in his arms, kissing me like a savage and licking blood from my face. I already know Lev agreed to anything when he confessed his love for me, but knowing they will all have my back on this…it makes hope swell in my chest more than it has in a long fucking time.

“No,” a stern voice says, snapping me out of my hope filled daze. We all turn to look at Boris. He looks annoyed.

“You don’t get to come in here and put all of them in danger. I just got you back. I just got them back, and you’re not going to throw yourselves to the wolves on some half assed plan for revenge.”

Damien sets me down, and I walk up to Boris, getting in his face and ready to show him just who I am.

“But,” he says, smirking at me before I can get a word in. “I’ll let you do this if you let me help you. I’m sure you know by now Arrow is part of our organization and he will help you plan. Havoc will help too since he knows Adrik’s tactics better than the rest of us. If you want to go in, it won’t just be about the trials. It will be about claiming everything you have here. It will be about making something for yourselves. So, what do you say, Evie fucking James?”

I tilt my head to the side at his acknowledgement of my new name. It feels strange for him not to call me Eydis, but it also feels like an acceptance. It reminds me that he really is looking out for me just like my father had asked him to. I look into the eyes of the man who I thought wanted me dead, and I can truly see his care for me on every inch of his face for the first time.

He’s not doing this to take control, he’s doing this to help set us up to be as great as we can be. To help us all forge a way in this world that isn’t ruled or destined by our past.

The room feels like it’s holding its breath as the two of us face off. I let them all sweat it out. This moment is big, and as I hear the thunder crash outside above us, it’s as if the universe feels the shift within itself.

I reach out my hand for Boris and the moment we shake, another clap of thunder roars in the distance. A smile spreads across my face. It seems the universe agrees that my big bad uncle needs to go down.

Chapter 20

I help Laney to the bathroom, knowing she’s going to vomit the second her knees hit the ground. Sure enough, she falls and empties the contents of her stomach. She starts shaking, her body clearly in shock from everything she’s seen. After spending all of this time together, it’s clear her father has shielded her from the bloody side of the business.

I get on the floor next to her and pull her into my lap. I don’t know why, but I can’t resist comforting her. I’ve never done this with anyone, not even E. When she was adjusting after her time in the prison camp, I’d sit in her room with her. But I never had this nearly painful itch to want to touch her like I do with Laney.

“I’m sorry,” she says as tears track down her face. “I just… wow that was too far for me.”

I tuck her hair behind her ear and wipe a tear away with my thumb. It’s gentle and kind, everything I’m not. They don’t call me Havoc for shits and giggles.

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