Page 111 of He Who Sleeps

Was she? Not remotely. “Honestly? I don’t know. Fucker deserves everything he gets, and he needs to pay for what he did.”

Emerson walked up behind her. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Physically a little malnourished, but if you’re worrying about my mental health, I’m peaches, baby.”

The beams groaned, sending dust sifting down over the three men hauling Douritz up by his feet. He woke up just as his hips were leaving the ground and began to thrash about like a fish caught on a line.

"Don't bother," Leo told him harshly. "This is inevitable. Accept your fate."

"Fuck all of you!" Douritz screamed, his face going beetroot with his efforts.

“So, love? You going to take the final step?” she heard Rix say as they walked over to where the asshole was strung up. “Not going to lie, seeing you slice his throat is going to get me super hot.”

She giggled at her ghost-faced lover. “Is it the blood or is it me?”

“Both. You know that.”

She looked to Emerson who said, “If you don’t, it doesn’t change anything. You still belong to us.”

"And we're more than happy to do it for you," Leo told her. "You don't even have to watch. I can take you out to the car and we'll sit out there while we wait for the others to clean up."

Sit there? She giggled. She knew damn well Leo would be on her and keeping her focused on him and the things he was doing to her. And it wasn’t that she didn’t want it, she did, but this...this was important, and she wanted her guys to know she was all in with them. Killing a predator wasn’t a problem.

“We need to do this,” she said instead. “I need to do this with you.”

“One more step,” Rix said, clearly enjoying this.

“Don’t worry, love, this whole things won’t be in vain.”

Carter stepped up behind Douritz and held him still, yanking his head back so that his throat was exposed while the cop screamed and thrashed.

"Do it quickly," Finn advised her softly. "And you'll need to press harder than you think you will. No hesitation. You've got this." He squeezed her shoulder and stepped back.

She walked forward, Rix behind her now, hand on her stomach, leaning down to her. “Be a good girl, baby...send this fucker to hell.”

She stepped away from him, brandishing the knife her insane lover had given her. “See, Douritz, you fucked up picking me for your little fantasy...bringing me to this hell hole, stalking me... The only ones allowed to stalk me are my Seven.” She went to him and smiled at him. “And you won’t get a second chance to do it right.” She looked to Finn. “Is this for Him?” she asked of the God. “And is there anything I need to do to make this a devotion?”

"No, we'll do that part when we take the blood to the well," Finn told her. "You just do what you need to."

She nodded. “Of course, my Devil.” A step, and she heard the asshole whimper, realizing he was seriously in deep shit, and struck, putting more that she probably should have behind the slice. Flesh and muscle parted, Blood started to fall in a curtain as the gurgle of air left the body. It went slack, and she panted, watching the life fall, the light die in his eyes.

“Such a good girl,” she heard as Rix gathered the knife from her hand and someone pulled her into a kiss.

"Let her watch," Carter said to whoever it was. "This is important."

The blood fell into a bucket, drained quickly, the cut she made more than sufficient for the task. “Very good control,” she heard Rix murmur from her left. “Couldn’t have taught you better myself.”

Eyes still on the macabre scene, she said, “How did you guys find me?”

"We tracked him," Carter said, gesturing to the body, which had stopped twitching now and the arterial spray had slowed into a steady stream. "We caught him scouting your apartment a few times and connected the dots."

“I never expected this. He was always nice, talking to me, and others on my block. How are we going to get away with this? He’s a fucking Philly cop for fuck’s sake.”

"Leave it to us," Finn soothed her. "We have a plan. You head out with Rix and Leo and the rest of us will clean up this mess." He looked at Leo. "Make sure she eats and drinks and if she needs medical attention, you know who to call."

"Yes, boss." Leo saluted and put an arm around her shoulders, guiding her away from the body. "Let's get you out of this shit hole."