Page 12

Daemon

W hen Kael, Lilith, and Leli leave, Callum and I go to my car so we can go to the guard shack at the A3 train line. It is almost time for a shift change, so we should catch everyone. Callum already got ahold of the site manager, so he knows why we are coming. Not that we need it, but we have his full support to purge anyone who is abusing their power. I plan on finding each and every low-life son of a bitch rapist and ripping them apart. If not for Lilith, for every other survivor.

It’s hard to come to terms with the fact that I played a massive role in letting things get as bad as they have. I know it’s a generational issue, but it’s our job to break that cycle of complacency and do right by everyone. Just because this is how it’s always been doesn’t mean this is how it should stay. Our first step to fixing this issue is admitting we are contributors. Next is making real steps toward change, that means changing policies and laws. After that, it is sticking with our expectations of inclusivity and holding those accountable who fail to conform and adapt. There is no reasonable argument for inequality when it comes to this.

Watching Lilith handle Zypher today, and even Morwen, I know she will make an amazing queen. She is personable but firm in her beliefs. She refuses to submit but can still adapt when necessary. She is strong and confident in herself, even though she is still finding out who she is. Lilith has taken everything in stride and never complained unnecessarily. Is it possible to fall in love with someone you’ve only known for a few days? Maybe it’s the fact that we are destined mates, but I can’t imagine my life without her.

We pull up to the guard shack, and the site manager, Paul, immediately comes out to meet us. “Your Majesties,” he says with a slight nod. “I have all of the men from that line on the day you provided me. There are only three men who were on the overnight run that day, so we have those three in the office for you to speak with.”

“Thank you. We appreciate your cooperation,” I say. “Any that you suspect?”

“Yeah. Bertolf,” he grumbles. “I’ve gotten complaints, but I can’t ever get any solid proof so I can fire him.”

“What does he look like?” Callum asks.

“Black hair. Kinda big,” he says. “Always looks like he needs a shower.”

“Yeah. Bring him out for us,” I say.

“Not a problem,” he says. He goes back inside and comes back not even a minute later with a man in tow. Lilith’s description is spot on with this guy. He looks like he hasn’t showered in three months.

“Bertolf, King Daemon, and King Callum wish to speak with you about a passenger,” Paul says.

“I’ll do the best I can. I see a lot of people,” he shrugs.

“Let’s go for a drive and talk, Bertolf,” Callum says. He shrugs again and walks with us to the car. Even Paul knows he won’t see him again, but Bertolf doesn’t have the first clue. I open the back door and let him enter before shutting him in. We have the locks on so he can’t get out unless we open it. I get back into the driver’s seat and start driving toward the lake.

He’s drumming his fingers on his leg and looking around as I drive. He’s nervous.

Good. He should be.

“So, Bertolf. The other day, did you have an encounter with a fox shifter? She has long black hair?” I ask.

“Sounds familiar,” he says after a second. “Why?”

“What about her do you remember?” Callum asks.

“She was a hot little thing,” he chuckles. I tighten my grip on the steering wheel.

“What else? Hang out?” Callum continues, setting him up to tell the truth.

“Yeah, we hung out all right. You guys go through maidens all the time. You know how eager those girls get,” he says, almost proud of himself.

“Oh yeah?” Callum asks as he turns back to him and smirks. “How eager was she?”

“Let’s just say that girl could suck a watermelon through a straw,” he says, chuckling.

“Oh?” I say, raising an eyebrow. “She just approached you?”

“She didn’t say no,” he says with a shrug.

“Did you give her a chance to say no before you forced yourself down her throat?” I ask as my anger starts to break free.

“Well, she didn’t fight me, and she sucked dick like a champ,” he says. “You can tell she’s done it a lot. She swallowed me down like she was starving.”

“What was her name?” Callum asks. He sounds calm, but his hands are balled into tight fists. He is pissed .

“Her mouth was a little too full to tell me her name,” he laughs.

“Too full to tell you no?” I ask.

“What is this about?” he asks. “She get in trouble?”

“Not at all,” I say as I put the car in park. I drove us to a secluded lake outside the city called Heartless Loch. No one comes here, and it’s not for the public anyhow. Soon, this will be his final resting place. The creature that lurks in the lake hasn’t had fresh meat in a while. It will appreciate our offering.

“Then what’s this about?” he asks again.

“Do you watch the news, Bertolf?” I ask.

“Sometimes,” he says slowly. I pull out my phone and bring up the clip of me announcing Lilith. I hold my phone up and hit play while I watch his face in the rearview mirror. When her face comes on the screen, his face turns sheet white. He pulls on the handle to get out, but of course, he can’t. “Listen. I didn’t know she was anyone’s mate. I wouldn’t have touched her if I had known.”

“You mean you would’ve just raped somebody else?” Callum asks.

“I didn’t….” He goes to say, but he stops when I open my door. I grab what I need before I go to his door and drag him out while Callum stands beside me.

“You did. You forced her to suck your dick. You didn’t give her a chance to say no. She woke up to you touching her, just for you to shove yourself down her throat. Now you’re blaming her?”

“If she wasn’t willing, why did she get into it?”

“ To get you to go away, ” I scream at him. “ She did what she had to do to get your sick ass away from her. That doesn’t make her willing. It makes her a survivor of you and your assault.”

“ I’m sorry, man. I wasn’t thinking. I…” Callum punches him in the jaw, causing him to stumble back onto the dock.

“On your knees,” Callum growls.

“W-what?” he stammers

“Get. On. Your. Knees,” Callum growls. Bertolf gets down on his knees, and I hand Callum the phallic-shaped gag. “I think you should know what it is you did to her on that train.”

“No, no, no. I’m sorry. I swear to the gods, I won’t do it again,” he says.

“It’s too late for that,” Callum says. “Open your mouth.”

“No,” he frowns.

“It’s either going down your throat or up your ass. Take your pick,” I say.

He reluctantly opens his mouth. Callum grabs him by the jaw and shoves the 7-inch silicone dick down his throat. He violently gags as Callum face-fucks him with it.

“Not so fun, is it?” Callum yells at him. “You’d do anything to get me to stop. Wouldn’t you?” Bertolf makes muffled noises like a plea for him to stop, but Callum continues. I thought I was the angrier one, but apparently, it’s him.

Eventually, Callum shoves it all the way down his throat and ties the straps of the gag around his head. Bertolf pulls at it, but Callum has a small padlock keeping it in place.

“Crawl,” Callum says, pointing to the end of the dock. Bertolf is a creep, but he’s not an idiot. He knows what’s coming. He drops his head and slowly crawls to the end of the dock. When he gets there, I grab him by the hair and yank his head back before Callum hands me a knife.

“No one touches our mate,” I say quietly in his ear, and I absolutely mean it. I will kill anyone who puts their hands on her without her permission. Past, present, or future.

I draw the blade across his throat, splitting it open for blood to spray out. His rapidly beating heart is allowing the blood to flow quicker from his open neck. I bend him forward so that the blood starts to turn the water red. I want to bring the creature to the surface so we can see him take Bertolf under.

I sense a disturbance in the water, just as I see a shadow come up from the bottom. He smells the blood in the water. Just before he reaches the surface, I shove Bertolf forward into the water. He starts thrashing but is quickly dragged under when the creature gets a hold of him. We don’t know much about the creature, but he comes in handy to get rid of people who are deserving of death. We feed him the evil, and he remains unnoticed at the bottom of the lake. I’d like to think that he understands that we will continue feeding him the evil that we want to rid the world of. Zypher and Morwen should be in this lake right now, but it would have caused problems if they disappeared. It is only a matter of time before they become a problem again.