Page 33 of The Colour of Revenge

Daddy Death:No time like the present.

Queen Carina:Text me the address.

An hour later, there’s a knock at the cabin door.

I open it to find Carina standing there, dressed in all black—save for some bright pink trainers. Her sharp gaze scans the space before she steps inside.

"What is this place?" she asks, almost like she’s afraid of the answer.

The cabin is small, tucked away near Epping Forest—untraceable, unregistered. Necessary space for my…work.

"This is where the magic happens, Princess." I waggle my eyebrows at her.

She rolls her eyes, but the laugh that escapes her isreal—light and unrestrained, a sound so out of place here that it almost makes the room feellesscold.

The tiled walls and floor are stark and clinical—designed for easy cleanup. A steel table lines one side, neatly arranged with my instruments. And in the centre, slumped in his chair, is…Daniel?

His eyes darted between us, the terror already taking root.

I haven't touched him yet. Not since I asked Carina to come.

I wanted him to sit with its weight. To feel the inevitability settling into his bones.

Carina's gaze flicks to him, assessing. "What did he do?"

I lean against the table, arms crossed. "Raped at least twenty women in the past year."

A flicker of something raw crosses her face. The kind of emotion people eitherburyorlet consume them whole.

She draws in a slow breath. When she speaks again, her voice is steady and unshaken.

"So… how do we make him pay?"

A slow, dark grin spreads across my face.

This is what Ido.

"We make it hurt."

I show her. The best places to cut. How to keep them alive butbleeding. How we can make it hurt without making them scream—at least, not loud enough to be a problem.

Declan(turns out I was right the first time)is a canvas, and my blade moves with practised precision. Carina watches, rapt, as I carve pain into flesh.

"This room," I say, motioning to the soundproof walls, "is built for moments like these. No one can hear him scream."

I meet her gaze, letting my words settle.

"But out there?" My voice drops lower. "Screams attractcomplications."

Her head tilts, a sly smile creeping onto her blood-smeared face. "Why do I feel like that's a personal jab?"

I rub the back of my neck, smirking. "Maybe because Kai's still pissed about covering up your last little experiment."

A flicker of surprise crosses her face—brief but there. "Oh. I didn't think—damn it. I knew he was being too loud."

I shrug, dragging my blade across a cloth, wiping away the remnants of Declan's existence. "All good, Princess. We all start somewhere."

Something in her relaxes at that. Just a little. Then, softer, almost hesitant, she asks, "Why did you start?"