Page 15 of Seduce & Destroy

“Father?”

“Good of you to join us for the occasion,” he spoke in an intensity of which I was not accustomed and too tired to interrogate. His eyes glued hungrily at the door. “Open it.”

An enforcer that I hadn’t noticed in the corner stepped out from the shadows and spun the wheel to open the metal door.

I looked at Neenan, uncertain. He gave me a weak smile before turning on his heel and disappearing into the shadows.

The smell made me recoil, but the sight of the man filled my mouth with bile and every bit of fatigue evaporated.

Blood ran from his eyes, fingers were severed, and the missing chair leg was wedged in his forearm, the blood of the wound pooled underneath him. We’re not the first to step in it either.

The guard walked to the table beside the bloodied man, just out of reach his him, and deposited a glistening machete on it. The dim light caught on the edge of the blade so that it shined in his eyes. He flinched.

Behind me, my father nudged me further into the room.

“Have you been a good boy?” Father gave his head a rough shove, one that the man struggled to recoil from, but when he lifted his head, I was struck by recognition—not by his face but by his uniform. Son of a bitch.

What internal crime could warrant such an extreme retaliation? Our vetting process was watertight, I personally oversaw it as such. Morale was good with the upcoming war, and while yes, tension was high this past week, it wasn’t enough to incite violence. I knew that there hadn’t been any reported physical altercations for months. No new people had arrived recently, the gates hadn’t even moved.

The gates hadn’t moved.

Father saw the moment it clicked in my head, a smirk spreading across his face.

Tears pricked my eyes, and I strained to not let a single one fall. “Which one?” I pushed out between shaky breaths.

“Straighten your back.”

“Which.” I grit. “One.” The fact that there were two disgusted me. I kept my eyes on the disgraced guard.

Father said nothing.

Drawing in a large breath, I pushed down my tears and replaced it with anger.

“Who?” I seethed.

“Till-”

Before he could finish, I threw a leg into the man’s stomach. He blubbered up a mixture of excess saliva and blood, but I hit him again. And again. And again, until Father pulled me off, grabbing my wrist.

“Enough of this nonsense, Laney.” He said. “End it. Avenge her.”

I looked him in the eye but spoke to my father, “Did he really do it?”

His hand pulled my arm back, and then I felt the cool of metal on my skin, the warmth of the leather handle. “Are you questioning me?”

I stayed silent. He was a cold leader, a colder father. To end a man’s life was easy for him. I preferred eternal suffering to death. More satisfying.

“Relax your shoulders. Feet apart.” He instructed close to my ear, while wrapping my fingers tightly on the leather and raising my arm to point at the man’s brow level. I caught his gaze as he scanned me, up and down. A smirk formed on his face. We couldn’t have that now, could we?

I drove the knife in his right shoulder. “That’s for Tilly.”

Then, I twisted the blade and pulled it out, aiming for his left shoulder. “That’s for her daughter.”

Next, I dug it into his legs.

Right. For her husband. Left. Her family.

I stepped closer to him, away from my father, and lowered the machete to be level with his dick and stabbed down hard. “That’s for the disrespect.” I spat with anger.