Page 110 of Blood and Thorns

He coughed, almost retching as he tried to lean forward. Except the ropes kept him in place. “Please, I didn’t–”

My fist hit him in the jaw, all my anger and rage coming out in the force. Even his voice made me see red, my imagination conjuring up all the vile words he’d likely whispered to her as she’d laid there vulnerable. Unable to fight back.

The second hit knocked several teeth out, the third caused the entire chair to topple, blood spraying as his skin split from the impact.

“If you break his jaw, he won’t be able to tell us anything,” Caden said calmly, his presence anchoring as I tried to control the maelstrom inside me. It was a pressure, tightening my lungs and stiffening my muscles.

I swallowed past this black rage, nodding for him to lift Anton back up from the floor.

“Right, mate, shall we get this party started?” Caden said. “You’re going to tell us everything we want to know, otherwise it’s really going to hurt. Understood?”

As Anton opened his mouth to reply, Caden shoved in several blue pills. He gagged, but Cade kept his hand over his mouth, stroking down his throat until he swallowed.

“There you go, princess. Give them a minute to kick in, don’t be shy. Now, why don’t you start from the beginning for us?”

“I… I was paid to… hurt her.”

“Rape,” I added, my tone dangerously quiet. “You were paid to rape her.”

He licked along his bottom lip, tears and snot smearing across his face. “I was paid to rape her.”

“By who?” Caden asked.

“I don’t know… some older woman. She paid in cash and told me she’d call me with the time and day.”

“I’ll see if we can trace the call,”Caden said, nodding towards the pile of clothes on the metal table beside thewall.“But it’ll likely be a burner phone. You thinking Margot?”

“What the fuck is he saying?” Anton cried, eyes darting between us. “Please, I swear I don’t know anything else. I’ve never met her before, but she called and told me I had to be atThe Thornwithin the hour.”

He glanced at Morris, who was aggressively shaking his head and trying to escape his bonds.

“How did you get inside?” Caden asked. When Anton didn’t immediately answer, he grabbed a small hammer from the table and then brought it down on Anton’s left knee. “Don’t be a muppet, answer the fucking question.”

“The bouncer!” Anton screeched. “I was told to meet the bouncer, who let me in.”

“What about old Morris here?”

Anton let out a sob, his cock hardening despite the pain thanks to the extra strength Viagra. “Please…”

Caden brought down the hammer on his right knee, and Anton’s scream echoed around us like the greatest symphony. I was going to paint this later, this exact scene while remembering his pathetic wails.

And then I was going to carve it up because he didn’t deserve to be remembered.

“I don’t know him!” Anton’s eyes bulged, his chest rising with rapid breaths. “I’ve never seen him before!” he blubbered.

Caden clicked his tongue, stepping back with his bloodied hammer. I decided it was enough, reaching for the blade kept neatly on the table.

“Please… don’t,” Anton cried, but I’d already turned to Morris. I cut his ropes, pulling him up by his throat before thrusting the knife in his hand.

“Cut off his cock,” I growled, squeezing his fingers tightly around the handle.

“W…what?”

Cadenlaughed, even as the colour drained from Morris’s face, his movements jerky as I forced him over to where Anton was trying to pull himself free from the ropes. His legs were a mess of flesh and bone, and yet his pathetic cock stood proud between his thighs.

Still holding Morris, I guided his hand. He fought, but he was no match for me as I forced him to hold Anton’s straining cock and then slice it off. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a clean slice, so we had to repeat it a second time.

Morris wrenched himself to the side as Anton screamed, blood sprouting violently from between his legs. The sharp scent of puke erupted as Morris vomited on the concrete, and the sound of Anton’s shrieks ended suddenly when he finally passed out.