Page 14 of All Your Deadly Truths (The Filthy Duet #2)

Kairhyse

Present

I ’ve been a man of control my entire life; even more so when I became a Vampire.

I knew that eternity would never be a rush, because when something is infinite, it doesn’t conform to time .

Even with my little demon, my restraint to not take her those first several weeks I stalked her, was a testament to that.

Some might blame what I’ve done on hyperactivity. An impulsive reaction to a mind that races in too many directions at once. But that would be an excuse because, truthfully, I’m pissed off and in pain.

Control is no longer mine. Not anymore.

That is what brought me to this very house in the early hours of the morning, when no one would be awake. The holiday home that I’m sure anyone would feel safe at, especially with the dozen or so guards that had held this place secure before I showed up.

Mundane security means nothing in our world. Their throats are too easy to slice, their hearts too fragile to resist a single blow to the chest. But I didn’t settle for simplicity. I made it bloodier than that—because vengeance and hatred are best served drenched in crimson.

A pair of brown eyes lock onto mine, bloodshot and webbed with red veins so vivid, I can almost feel their sting.

She can’t soothe them—her hands are bound tight against the cold metal of the chair she’s trapped in.

The gag stuffed in her mouth is soaked with her own drool as she lets out a muffled scream, sharp and desperate.

That scream drags me back, yanking me from the asylum my mind had retreated to.

I take a deep breath, the damp, acrid scent of musk filling my lungs. Slowly, I roll my neck to the side, the crack of vertebrae echoing in the dim, suffocating space.

Both of my hands tremble, and I flex them in and out of a fist

“It’s—” I speak for the first time since binding and gagging the woman before me—a fifty-something-year-old with a streak of defiance still lingering in her eyes.

The sound of my voice startles her, and she lets out a muffled scream against the gag.

Her body thrashes, desperate to tip the chair over, as if crashing to the floor might save her.

It won’t, the chair is bolted down. However, it’s fun to see her try.

“It’s good to see you again, Mrs. Farella.” My tone doesn’t bother to feign sincerity, though in truth, I mean every word. I am grateful to see her—the widow of the late Achille Farella, and the mother of Lars.

Marcos Lars Farella.

My chest constricts, the twitch in my head involuntary. Thinking about how close I was to him on so many occasions, and had I had just known, my girl would still be here with me.

Because he would be dead.

Fucking dead . Nothing left for anyone to bury. I’d make sure this planet wouldn’t be tainted with even a speck of his ashes.

I lean in closer, grabbing hold of the gag—a filthy rag I found in this very basement. Judging by the stench, I’d wager it had once been used to mop up cat piss.

The moment it’s taken out, she screams, and I mean shrieks , “PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP! I’M DOWN HERE!”

Clearing my throat, I lower myself to one knee in front of her.

The moment our eyes meet, she goes still, her terror freezing her in place.

The wrinkles beneath her eyes are more pronounced now, etched deeper by the hours of relentless sobbing.

It’s been at least an hour of me silently watching her writhe, consumed by fear.

“K-Kairhyse, please…” She chokes on a sob, her body trembling as her head falls forward.

Tears drip onto her bare legs, glistening against the thin pajamas I found her in—a choice she’s surely regretting now.

Upstairs, in the comfort of her warm bed, they might have felt cozy.

But here, in this cold, damp place, the chill has turned her skin pale.

Her purple veins stark and exposed beneath the surface.

“Your son took someone from me.” My voice carries a low, throaty rumble, almost like a growl.

“And you took my husband!” she grits through her teeth. “Heartless fucking Vampire?—”

The back of my hand swings so hard that I can hear the cracking of her jawbone. She screams through a howl of pain, the fur along her neck beginning to extend as her body starts to shift. “I’m going to hurt you no matter what form you are in, Shifter.”

She tears her head back to me and spits in my face. “Fuck you, Kairhyse… you know I can’t fight you. Overpowering a w?—”

“You are right, how shitty to be a dog Shifter at a time like this,” I patronize. “I can’t get to your son. He is the one I want to rip in half. So, you’ll suffer for him.”

Her nostrils flare. “Killing me won’t do anything.”

My mouth slacks open, then I drag my tongue along the upper set of my teeth. “Once again, correct. Fucking worthless bitch.” The twitching of her nose is accompanied by the long thick whiskers beginning to pull from her cheeks.

“Your son raped my girl...”

Her head begins to shake, and my eyes widen.

That’s when she recoils, shrinking back against the chair.

The trembling seems beyond her control—she tries to tense her muscles, to will herself still, but it’s useless.

This is fear; raw and pungent. I can smell it on her—the acrid stench of sweat mingling with the lingering reek of dog piss.

“Your son killed what is MINE! ” I deliver the last word with such force, it makes her scream. “Took what is mine ! I don’t give a fuck what you think I took from you . You do not matter! Nothing matters but her !”

Fresh tears stream down her cheeks. “Tell me what you want…”

“I want to know why your son is doing this and who he’s working with?!”

Her eyes narrow, different parts of her face twitching, as she searches for what, I’m unsure. “I know nothing.”

I scoff. “Clearly.” Heat rises in my chest, a surge of anger and pain, like molten lava boiling beneath my skin.

“Then why am I?—”

“I need you to think beyond what you know, Sarah!” I elevate my voice as I scream her name. “What have you seen?! He hurt my girl ten years ago, for months ! Ten years ago, where was he?!”

“I don’t know! College?—”

“Where?!”

“Sidence U?—”

“BULLSHIT!” Standing, I smash my foot into the bottom of her chair, sending it flying backward.

The crack of her head against the concrete floor is followed by a loud shriek of pain.

“Your son, on paper, attended Sidence University, but I’ve spent the last seventy-two hours looking into him.

I found no evidence he ever stepped foot into that damn school.

Where the fuck was he ten years ago, Sarah? ! ”

She cries, “Silper! I don’t know why! I don’t—” Her body begins to shift, and I can see that her feet are turning into paws, padded and rough like a canine’s. I grit my teeth and take two long strides.

“If you think shifting into some dog will keep me from hurting you, you are wrong. I’ll string you up by your paws and skin you.” My hand grabs at the collar of her shirt, tearing her back upright. “I won’t kill you, either. I’ll make you suffer until we can finish this conversation .”

Her lips press into a strong, fine line as she whimpers and moans.

“Had he ever brought anyone around before he left?!”

“That is too long ag?—”

My grip tightens around her throat, causing her eyes to widen, nearly bulging from their sockets. “Dogs have incredible memories. Think, bitch.”

Her shoulders jerk from side to side, her hips lifting as she tries to escape, the chair rattling against the floor.

The moment I release her throat she gasps, choking out a whine.

“He had a friend—” she wheezes, cutting herself off as she spits out saliva across her lap.

“In Eldritch. A woman. Spent a year with her ten years ago. Then moved to Silper for a few months, and…” None of this was in his file, however I can’t ignore the place…

Eldritch… “Then he moved back here, to Sidence.”

“What was the woman’s name?”

“I … I don’t know.”

My teeth grind together.

“Did your son ever show you a picture of her? Bring her around?” I knew those fingers that were holding my girl in place didn’t belong to a man. The nails were sharpened to a fine point, and the fingers themselves were thin, dainty.

She shakes her head. “No. He…” she cuts herself off and my nose twitches involuntarily. “He hasn’t—I can’t, I’m sorry, I don’t know!”

My head falls back as I draw in a deep, intoxicating breath, filling lungs that no longer need the air.

“Sarah,” I seethe. “I will peel your fingernails off one… by fucking one!” When I turn my head back down, she sucks the snot dripping down her lip right back into her nose.

“Then, I will grab your stomach through your cunt”—her body violently shakes as she lets out a deafening scream— “find your sister, and feed it to her! SPEAK !”

Through bated breath and shaky words, she barely manages to get out, “He was obsessed with someone after returning from Eldritch and Silper. When he came back, he always talked about her . How she left him! I don’t know who! I have no idea WHO! ”

Marcos has an obsession with my little demon. It’s obvious who he was referring to.

My jaw tightens. No one is allowed to obsess over what’s mine—especially when it comes to Xeraphine.

“My Marcos wouldn’t have ever done anything like that…” Her murmur tells me she knows it’s a lie, but he’s her son—of course she’d try to defend him.

The raw clearing of her throat draws my attention back to her. She is staring up at me. “Please… I know I’m a dead woman. But please… I’ll do anything, don’t hurt my son!”

I’m dragged into a flashback of that moment—begging Lars not to do what I knew he would. I pleaded with him, desperate, not to take my girl. I would have done anything to stop what felt inevitable in that instant.

He didn’t care, nor did the one who had held my girl in their grasp. They took her from me, and with her, they took the man I once was. I am no longer a man of sympathy, no longer a man of jokes or playful banter.

I am angry .

“Fuck you, Sarah, and fuck your entire family.”

The action is too fast for her to even get a final scream out.

Warmth blankets my hand as I feel the pulsing of her heart in my gripped fist. Her eyes are complete circles, blood splattered across her face as I tear out her heart, the snapping of tendons and muscle mixing a symphony with her high-pitched release of what air is left in her lungs.

She’s near death; that last moment where the brain functions, so I leave her with a haunting afterthought as she falls into the Beyond. “I’m going to paint the town red with your son. That… is a promise.”