Page 135 of Deadly Knight

“Had to relive the glory days.” He scans my face, noticing the faded, barely-there bruises and it’s with a flick of his chin, the disgraced man attempts to rise back up. For my own amusement, perhaps I’ll allow him to stand.

Final request and all that.

“You’re injured and have the USB I left with two good men. I can piece together what happened.”

“They’re dead,” I announce tonelessly. “But not before attempting to trade me for you.”

He smiles so hard, it drains the last dredges of his energy, making him cough.

I slide the USB away, my plans for it already decided, and trade it for the other item in my pocket: a small, velvet box, which I flick it open to show him. A part of me despises he’s seeing it before she is, but the message will be clear and that’s what’s important.

“You’ve come to invite me to your wedding? Does this mean I’ll be a grandfather within the year as well?”

IfKatya and I have children, the thought of Ivan sharing any blood with them sickens me. He’s goading me, and I’ll be damned if I reveal the effect his words have.

“My intention was to forget about you for the next twenty years, or until you were driven mad. For what you’ve done to Katya, Vanessa, and I, you deserve nothing less. But I refuse to go into the next chapter of my life, knowing you’re drawing breath.”

“So you’ve come to kill me.” His chin lifts, accepting his death in the only way he’s been trained to be: proud.

“I’ve come to ensure Katya will be able to sleep nightmare-free. For her to embrace our future without anything from the past remaining alive.”

“Does it bother you that I fill her mind at night?”

Ignoring his taunt, I continue. “I spent the entire drive here deciding how to do it, considering death is coming for you many years sooner than planned.” I pocket the ring box and return with the third and final thing. “You need to experience a fraction of the pain she did. Crying for help that never arrives. After all, you’d know this considering you’ve relived that day nearly as much as she has.” I cross the room, my shoes dragging over the cement to crouch in front of him. “Did you enjoy it, Ivan? Enjoyed witnessing her worst moments, feeling like a fucking king as you did so?”

His eyes flicker in fear,finallyshowing a level of understanding over what’s about to happen.

“Answer me.”

His throat moves with his rough swallow. “Y-yes.”

I flick open the switchblade.

“Dimitri.” Here’s the begging. “Don’t.”

“Cry, Ivan. Cry like Katya did. Beg like I did.”

“Dimitri—”

“Beg!”

“Dimitri, please!Syn?—”

I lunge forward, his use of that title being the final blow, and stab the knife into his left eyeball, rendering him blind in one eye. Blood spurts and he bows over, his scream animalistic and desperate as he claws at his face to end the agony, but I’m not done. A hand into his shoulder forces him upright, and I pierce his right eye.

I’m more careful when pulling out the blade this time. Twisting it around until the eyeball is dislodged from the socket and remains are connected to the blade. I tug it from his body entirely, uncurl one of his hands, and slide it from the blade until it’s left in his palm.

“Sure you can figure out what you’re holding. Blame yourself, considering you made me the man I am. Proud, Papa?”

His screams are so loud, he masks my speech. He moans too, so maybe he heard some of what I said.

I tighten my hand over his, feeling his eyeball flex within his palm. It’s all kinds of gross, but satisfying too.

“Prison was for every act committed against Katya and Vanessa. Your newly minted eyesight is for rewatching the rape. But this…this is for me, so your sorry ass soul won’t taint my life when I wed her. The woman you fought so hard to keep away, so I’d be the perfect soldier you can twist to your needs. Without your ruthless training, I wouldn’t be who I am today, so thank you for that. Thank you for making it possible to protect her.”

My sarcastic, though truthful, speech is lost within screams of a dying man. It no longer matters since my speech was as much for myself as for him.

I rest the knife at his throat.