Page 95 of Monsters Carve Thrones

“You’re scared,” I said, crouching in front of her. “Huh. Not so smug now, are you?”

“Fuck you,” she spat, but her voice cracked at the edges. Her gaze flicked to the dead men on the floor, to Laura standing behind me with a knife gripped in her hand like she might actually use it again. Her breathing sped up.

Good.

I stood slowly, towering over her. “Give me your phone.”

She hesitated.

Wrong move.

I hit her, just once, a backhand that split her lip and made her cry out. She went limp enough to stop fighting and reached into her pocket, handing it over with shaking fingers.

“Thanks,” I said, unlocking it with her face while she was dazed. “Smile.” I changed the passcode without hesitation. Swiped to silent mode. Looked through her apps until I found the one Waylon used to send those encrypted messages.

She tried to scoff. “He’ll kill you before you even get close to her.”

I smiled. A slow, wolfish smile that made her flinch. “You really don’t know me at all.” I turned to Laura. She was still pale from everything that happened, but her eyes met mine with unwavering focus. “Hold this,” I said, handing her the phone. “I’ll use it in a minute.”

Waleria hissed through her teeth. “You’re all dead. You think he won’t see this coming? You’re not the monster he is. You can’t do what needs to be done.”

I leaned down, cupping her chin so hard she whimpered. “You’re right,” I whispered. “I’m worse.” I let go and cracked myknuckles. “Now. Where is he? I’ll kill you quicker if you just tell me.”

She hesitated.

I didn’t.The knife Kieran had tossed me earlier found its way to her thigh. I drove it in slow, twisting just enough to hear her scream. “WHERE. IS. HE?”

“FUCK–okay! He’s just outside of Moscow! The address is the recent one in my maps. The old lodge–he’s been keeping her there. Eastern wing, third floor, it’s reinforced–JesusFUCK–”

“Thank you,” I said, breathless with fury. I stepped back, motioning for Laura. “Phone.”

She handed it to me. My thumb shook as I pressed record. The red light blinked to life. I raised the phone, staring into the camera with blood crusted along my jaw, my shirt soaked, and my eyes cracked open like a man who hadn’t slept in weeks.

“Hey, Waylon,” I said, voice low. Dead. “Remember me?” I turned the phone, showing Waleria. “Your bitch of a cousin says hi.”

Her scream as I turned it back on me sent chills through the room. I smiled. Eerily calm.

“I’m coming for my wife. By the time you see this, I likely already have you right where I fucking want you. In front of me, bloody, and seconds from death.”

Laura reached out silently, and I handed the phone to her without a word. Still recording.

Then I turned back to Waleria.

She whimpered. “Wait–Rafe, please–”

I drove the knife into her stomach. Deep. Her mouth opened in shock. Gurgling.

Another. Again.

I gripped her chin and stared into her eyes. I wanted to watch this. I wanted my psychotic gaze to be the last thing she saw. “You should’ve killed me when you had the fucking chance.” I twisted the blade, and her body jerked. The light left her eyes, and her head slumped forward.

I stood there, breathing hard, coated in her blood, surrounded by the aftermath of war.

And for thefirsttime since I saw that video, I felt a little closer to Adela.A little closer to home.

***

We stumbled upstairs like soldiers crawling out of a trench, reeking of blood and smoke and death. The kitchen looked almost untouched. Polished granite, fruit in a bowl, bread still soft on the counter. It felt wrong. Like the house hadn’t noticed all the bodies downstairs.