Page 99 of Monsters Carve Thrones

Olesya appeared again. “Another one?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

I could do this. I could kill them all.

The next stumbled in, confused at the sight of his friend. He reached for his weapon, but he wasn’t fast enough. The blade punched into his stomach. He choked on his own scream. I twisted the knife until he collapsed.

The third put up a fight. He landed a brief punch across my jaw, and I staggered. But I’d been hurt worse. Much worse. I caught his arm and brought the knife down into the back of his neck. He twitched and went still.

By the time the fourth walked in, his face was pure shock from the dead bodies strewn about the bedroom. I didn’t waste another second, and I tackled him. We hit the floor in a sprawl, his hand reaching for his gun. I slammed the hilt of the knife into his temple, once, twice, until he stopped moving.

Four bodies. One room.

I stood up, panting, shaking, covered in crimson. The same rug I’d been dragged across, screaming, now soaked with their blood.

“Are you okay?” Olesya asked softly, her eyes widening.

“I will be.” I stepped over the last man, steadying my breath. Now, there wouldn’t be as much security for my most special target. I moved silently through the hall like a shadow. I already knew he’d be in his office with the others. Where he had spanked me in front of his partners. He had tried to embarrass me, but really, all he did was piss me off even more and solidify the death warrants of all of them.

Gunfire cracked through the walls like fireworks from hell, shaking dust loose from the chandelier above.

“What the fuck–” I muttered, crouching, eyes wide. Screams echoed down the marble hallway, Waylon’s empire crumbling in real-time, just like I’d prayed for in the dark. I heard a sudden yelp, and my gaze snagged on her.Riley. Shewas ducked low behind a tipped-over table, trembling like a fucking coward. Her perfectly straightened hair was a mess, and her designer blouse was torn at the sleeve.Pathetic. She looked nothing like the smug bitch who used to tighten my restraints or whisper orders to the guards while I cried.

She was trying to crawl away unnoticed, but I was already stalking toward her. I snatched her by the collar, yanking her up with a strength that came from somewhere feral inside me. She gasped, scratched, and tried to dig her heels into the floor, but I dragged her down the hallway like the trash she was and kicked open the door to a guest room.

“Let go of me!” she shrieked.

The door slammed shut behind us. The sounds of war faded into a muffled hum.

I threw her to the ground.

“Please, Adela–” she whimpered, holding up her hands. “It wasn’t personal, I was just following–”

“Oh,save it,” I spat. “Following orders?That’s what they all say before they meet the devil. Following orders has never excused anything. Remember the Nuremberg Trials?”

She swallowed hard.

I snorted. “Of course, you’re stupid, too. An uneducated bitch who thinks she’s all that. Newsflash, sweetie, you’re not that pretty, either. So I guess it’s fitting that you ended up being Waylon’s bitch.”

“Better than hiswhore,” she spat.

I smiled. And it was with the heat of a million fucking suns.

She tried to crawl backward, but I was already on her, straddling her chest with my knees, pinning her arms down. Her face twisted in panic. That felt good. Not enough yet, but good.

“You remember the collar?” I hissed. “The one with the embedded lock you used to tighten when Idisobeyed?”

She shook her head frantically. “I–I didn’t know what he’d do to me if I didn’t–”

“Oh, but youloved it.” I leaned down until our noses almost touched. “You liked pretending you had power. You liked hurting me, even if you had to do it through whispers and buttons. That was the only way a bitch like you could feel big.”

Her breath came in short, useless gasps. “I was just trying to survive.”

I smiled. It was cruel, real, and full of teeth. “So am I.” I reached behind me and unsheathed the knife. Her eyes widened when the blade flashed between us. “Say something clever,” I told her. “Come on. This is your big moment,snarky pants.”

She whimpered. Disappointing.

I didn’t hesitate. I shoved the knife straight into her throat. She choked and gagged on her own blood, her limbs flailing weakly as the light started to drain from her eyes.