Page 168 of Cain

She doesn’t wait. She grabs the gun from his holster like she’s done it a hundred times.

“Let him go!” She points the gun at Vincent.

My eyes drift back to where Grayson was, but he’s vanished.

“Put that down, princess. Unless you want to watch me gut your boyfriend like I did his lapdog.”

I whip my head back and feel Vincent’s nose shatter. He stumbles. I take his knife and open his throat without a second thought.

I watch him bleed out with wide eyes. His mouth twitches like he’s still trying to speak.

I lean in close over his soon-to-be-dead body.

“If Grayson’s dead, I’ll crawl through hell to find you, and I’ll make you wish the devil took you first.”

I look right back at her. Wade lunges at her, but she shoots him like it’s second nature.

My breath catches. I hope she didn’t kill him.

Quickly, I search Vincent’s blood-soaked clothes and find a knife.

Jackpot.

As I march towards him, from the corner of my eyes, I see someone running towards me.

I grab the fucker by the neck like an animal and drive my knee into his ribcage. He barely gets a breath before I jam the blade up under his jaw, hard enough to crack teeth.

His blood splashes all over me, but that gives me so much satisfaction. He’s dead already, but I don’t give a shit.

I slam him against the wall and keep stabbing, grunting with each strike like I’m beating the hate out of myself. His face splits, his teeth scatter across the floor, and still, I don’t stop.

But this isn’t the main course. He’s nothing—just a warm-up. Wade’s next. And I’m going to make him scream until his fucking soul begs to crawl out of his skin.

He’s on his knees from the shot, but he’s still alive.

“You bastard,” he mutters right before my boot meets his jaw, spraying his blood around him.

Katerina gasps next to me, but I don’t stop. Not until I’m sure he’s dead, this time for good.

“You never shut the fuck up, do you?” I sneer, breath jagged. “You’re just noise now … miserable, useless fucking noise.” I kick him again, on the wound of the bullet, this time making him groan louder. “And frankly, you repeat yourself so fucking much it’s just pathetic.” I lean lower, grab his silver hair tightly in my hand, and hoist his head upwards. “But now it’smyturn to talk.”

God, it’s so tempting to slit his throat and be over with him. But I promised myself that when I see him again, I’ll take my time with him. I want him to feel every breath like a curse, every second drenched with dread. I want to watch the horror bloom in his eyes as he realizes there’s no way out. Make him beg me to spare his miserable existence.

He rolls to his side, grunting with agony. “Come on, Manson. Do it. Kill me like the savage you are.”

I chuckle, taking the cigarette I brought with me out of my pocket. “You’ll beg, honey, but that’s not the kind of begging I want to hear from your lips.” I light up the cigarette and inhale it deeply.

“I want your begging to be graceful enough to let you live.” I exhale the smoke and kick his face again, scattering bloody teeth all over the floor. “I want you to feel the way I felt. The way your precious son felt right before I chopped off his fucking head.”

Someone lunges at Katerina, snarling, holding a knife in his hand. A shot cracks out. He drops mid-step with a hole in his head, blood spraying across her face and chest. She doesn’t move. She just stands there shocked, soaked in it.

Behind her, Adam lowers the gun, calm as ever, raises two fingers to his temple, and gives me that casual salute. He saved my girl. I meet his gaze and give the slightest nod.

From the other side of the room, I see Grayson—limping, wounded, but still alive—watching me as if giving me his permission to move ahead. I know he didn’t kill him for a reason. I know he wanted to slow him down, to give me the satisfaction of killing him myself.

I’m getting impatient. I want this over already.

I scan the place, and through the chaos, the broken benches, and the shattered glasses, I see it.