Page 25 of Little Sparrow

“Sit, both of you.” Father gestures at the two seats in front of his desk. Rose glides over in the tight, black revealing outfit. Her tits fill out of her top and the shorts cling to her body perfectly.Fuck, is she even wearing a bra?It’s as though her whole body is designed for men, her curves fill out the outfit, much different from how she looked two years ago. It makes me glad she doesn’t have similarities to Karalina anymore.

Her skin is deadly. I realise she dresses in less clothing for protection to herself. So much different from before. Does she need to protect herself or does she wear it for others? I fucking hope not.

Woah, where did the jealousy come from?

Franco grips my shoulder and pushes me forward but I don’t budge, he's not as strong as he used to be when I was a kid. “Don’t even think about it.” He must have noticed me admiring her. I grit my teeth and begrudgingly sit down. Father’s eyes narrow at me while he leans back on his chair. The squeak of leather is the only noise in the room while he stares at both of us.

They do not know how much I’m going to touch her. What I’m willing to take from her. I need to be nice and gain her trust before I decide whether to destroy her, but only if the old Rose is completely gone. My heart sinks and I rub over my chest. Right now the sweet innocent girl had been replaced by someone I don’t recognise, but only in others' presence. I have a hunch that she can be herself if it was just us. If not, then I’ll have to do what I came here to do, my heart sinks at my realisation.

My body's reaction isn’t following my mind with the images running through my mind. Every place I want to taste her. Would she make the sounds I had imagined? Damn, I’m beginning to sound like a horny teenage boy.

Father pulls me from my thoughts and I blink, clearing my mind of everything. “Antonio is waiting for you. Do what you must. Take Rose, show her what happens to those who betray us.” He waves his hand dismissively. Rose stands, following his instructions too easily as though she had been trained that way. “I don’t need to see anything. I have learned from my mistake.” Her voice is a little shaky, I look up at her but she still avoids eye contact. My father stands too, towering over her even from his distance. “Don’t push me. You know what will happen if you don’t do as I say. You want your mother, I want a lesson learned.”

He has her mother too?

I stay in my seat during their exchange, my eyes flickering between them both to try and figure out their bond. Did he already touch her? I fucking hope not. I’d have to break every finger that he brushed against her skin. Then I shake my head, why do I care so much?

Father opens the drawer and throws me a small black velvet box. I open it and he had given me one of those rings I had seen people wear with the gem in it. My eyebrow raises in question.

“It’s an amulet, wear it to stay protected from her. Now go, prove your loyalty to me.”

Still facing him, I put the ring on my middle finger and shove the box in my pocket. Rose stands alongside me without saying a word and we leave together, I know exactly where we need to go and it’s the last place I want to be.

We walk in the basement direction in silence. Rose follows closely, her breathing becomes heavy as we get closer to the basement, is she nervous? If she’s used to killing people, she shouldn’t be feeling this way. Maria stands outside the door and holds out a towel for me with a smile. They want it messy and once again, the towel means ‘don’t get blood on the rugs.’

Rose and I descend the stairs together. The cold breeze washes over us, the scent of death and decay fills my nose. I reach my hand behind me to guide her the last few steps into the dim lighting. No idea if she had been down here before, but I remember my last time. My eyes follow the curve of Rose’s neck, when she takes the last step. Her pulse is steady. A sick feeling washes over me when I trace the features of her face now that shadows cross over them. The woman I killed looks exactly the same.

My father’s words come back to me.She’s just as beautiful as her mother.

Rose turns to me. “Is something wrong? You look pale.” My jaw clenches, no I’m not fucking okay. I killed her mother. But I know I can’t tell her. She had already lost her father because of my family, it will bring up painful memories.

“I’m fine.” The lie passes easily and a sick feeling festers inside me. I drop her hand and turn my back on her.

Antonio’s groans fill the room as he wakes. He looks relieved to see me in his daze until his eyes glance behind me. He muffles under the fabric gag, so I jerk it out. Now is the time for answers. He sucks in a deep breath and thrashes in the chair, bound by rope. “No, get her out of here. Away from me.” his words rush out as though he doesn’t have long left. He must not think I won’t let him live.

I pass the towel to Rose without looking at her. “Hold this.”

Antonio stares at me with wide eyes and his mouth drops open as he tries to talk, but fails. So I ask my questions instead. “Tell me what I need to know about Rose. They won’t share their secrets.” My eyes meet hers from over my shoulder and I smile. She narrows her eyes.

“What?” he stutters, I turn back at him and his eyebrows crease in the middle.

“Why does my father want you dead?” I wander toward the table to the side, to make it seem as though I’m picking out a weapon. My gun is in it’s holster but the threat of torture holds more power when in need of answers.

“He wants me dead because I kissed her.” All my muscles tense, and I can’t stand the thought of another man’s lips being where mine have. Rose is the only girl I had ever truly wanted, the one who I had to eventually give up. My fucking friend got her instead.

“Anything else?” I keep a cold, calm note in my question while picking up the tools that call to me.

“She begged me to fuck her, but I didn’t! I swear. I told capo all this. Please believe me. I don’t want to die. She’s a succubus, they do that. Don’t let her touch me.” He struggles more. I remember learning about demons in my childhood, but they don’t have the beauty that my Rose does, they are horned with sharp teeth and claws.

My fingers grab his jaw to stop him. The last time I was here I didn’t want to kill someone, but now I think I could without feeling a thing. My hold is tight enough to pry his jaw open, white blotches on his skin where my fingers dig in. “Tongue or cheek?” He stares back at Rose with eyes wide as I question him, his shuddering hot breath on my hand in a rhythm of panic as he tries to yank his face away. I know the answer.

Roughly I shove the pliers into his mouth, a crack from his tooth is the only sound I hear clearly beneath his plea's for me to stop, at least that's what I think they are, it’s hard to tell with his mouth full. I clamp the metal down on his tongue and pull it out as far as I can. Rose lets out a small gasp. I turn to her. “Look what I have to do now. You don’t kiss others.”

Antonio tries to shake me off, but I clamp down tighter, his screams louder than before. My former friend. The hunting knife saws through his thick tongue. I drown out any other noise, each slice of the blade echoes in my ears until it’s completely severed. Once it’s done, I drop the piece of muscle to the floor, stalking back toward the table. I hunt for a lighter to seal the wound. Father always kept one down here.

With no emotion, I heat the same knife I had just used and hold it to the stub of his tongue to cauterise the bleeding. His blood and tears coat my fingers. I reach back to Rose for the towel to clean myself up—more undeserving blood on my hands.

Chapter twenty-six

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