31. Draven

T he piercing whistle startles Troy, making him flinch as if he was about to throw an uppercut. His round green eyes widen in shock. "You could have warned me, holy fuck."

I shake my head, stepping from the metal stairway onto solid ground. The fresh air feels nice, and to say my adrenaline is finally coming down is an understatement. My intention when bringing Max back here was not to fuck her, and I truly hope she actually wanted what I gave her. I know she asked for it, but she still had the drugs in her system.

Satan himself, my weakness for that woman is dangerous.

I don't mean dangerous for her, or me, but for anyone who dares to question the validity of she's mine . Anyone—absolutely anyone—who questions that, will meet the same fate as Midnight.

"You kissed Max." I stop a foot before him, adjusting the cuff of my sweater.

He quickly throws his hands up and steps back. "Woah, woah, she was in the way of me kissing Sasha." The nervous laugh that rolls from his throat makes me narrow my eyes. "Sorry, it's not funny. No, look, I didn't want to kiss her, I—"

My tone is dry when I say, "Is she not good enough to kiss?"

"I… No she is, I would—"

"You would what… Troy…" The low growl from Shade comes as he makes it to my side. Troy is maybe thirty pounds heavier than Shade is, but nothing compares to the strength of his mighty bite.

"Tell me," I urge of him.

A bead of sweat rolls down his temple.

A moment passes, and I can smell his fear coming from his pores. Salt from his sweaty palms as he opens and closes them, and the light trickle of piss he couldn't hold in, it was all telling even though we were friends , he still fears me.

Good boy.

"Just fucking with you," I raise my hand, causing him to jump, and slap his shoulder. "Don't do it again." Squeezing at the place my hand is at, he once again laughs anxiously.

"You got it, Big Guy."

I groan, but don't retort. "Do you know where Marcella is?"

He gives me a quizzical look. Last we talked about her; he thought I was on my way to go fuck her for her obedience. "I saw her and Jun heading toward her trailer." Fucking perfect. "She's pissed, I wouldn't try… whatever it is you are going there for."

I tilt my head down to Shade, whistling for his attention. "Stay with Max." I point toward the door. " Protégez-la et mangez l'inconnu. " He rounds me and plants himself right beside the stairs.

I turn from Troy, but he charges in front of me. "What are you going to do?"

"Stay with Shade and the girls." As I was making my way around him, he grabs my bicep. "I killed Midnight, I'll let you determine what I'm about to do." His expression of shock accompanies a shake of his head. "I will admit I lost control, but he deserved it. You know he did."

"None of us are good people here, Draven, we all deserve death, but shit… Jarvus is going—"

"I will snap his neck too if I so much as smell his musty ass near my Max."

He releases a breath. "Yours, huh?"

I look over my shoulder, seeing the trailer slightly shift as the girls move about. "Yes. Monday cannot come fast enough so I can show her how wrong she is for thinking I'm ever letting her go."

I don't remember my first kill, at least, not like it was yesterday. Sure, I recall the action of breaking the beer bottle against the bar top, gripping it, and thrusting the jagged points straight into the man's neck. The feelings and thoughts surrounding it don't swim about, nor does the aftermath.

Self-defense is what I claimed, but everyone knew it was bullshit. My parents had amazing lawyers who got me out of that and several other criminal charges in my youth. Little good me staying out of prison did for my sister.

I hesitate to call myself worthless, because I've taken scum as equal as those that would be deemed ‘good' in some eyes. It doesn't matter because I was worthless to Alyson .

What's important now, is I don't fail Max like I did my sister. It's not even been two full days since my heart started beating again, and I know if it stops again, I'll be joining Alyson beyond this existence.

The moment her life support was cut, so was mine. But, the moment Max called me Big Guy, it was like I had been shocked back to the land of the living.

Now, I just need to give the reason for that a fighting chance. She's here for a reason. No one runs through the mazes for nothing.

Max doesn't strike me as the kind to need or want money, she gave me Troy's pot of gold— I hate myself for referring to it in that way —indication enough she could care less. She sees Troy as my friend, and risked me giving it back to him.

I take a deep breath to center myself. All I want is for Max to talk to me the way I need her to. She needs to tell me why she's here. Tell me who to kill. Who to bring to her, so they can crawl at her feet. Make them beg for their lives, only for her to take them. If I know my Little Sheep like I think I do—she has no forgiveness left.

Which is good, because neither do I.

Killing is probably the most natural thing to me, and as I look at this blonde-headed bitch through her blindless window, I'm itching to start. She's got her voice raised so loud that staff had gathered close by, both in concern, and curiosity. I'd shooed them away, ordering them to keep the place clear. Since her trailer is far enough from mine, I won't need to worry about the increase volume that will soon come with my arrival.

Without hesitation, I step over to the closed door, which causes the stairs to retract inward, and thrust it open. It is locked, but under my strength, that means nothing. Marcella's loud scream of surprise only intensifies my desire to grasp her throat and shut her up.

Taking the large step up with ease, I watch as Jun stands from his seated position on the couch. Marcella is staring at me with wide eyes, but forces a smile, in an attempt to feign the calm she doesn't have. "Oh—Draven. C-Could have just knocked."

She had no pants on which isn't surprising, Jun was wrapping up her wound that Max caused on her thigh. I'll praise her for that later.

"Jun." I drag my dark gaze to him. "Sit down. If you interfere, I will kill you."

His chest heaves as he clenches his fists at his sides. He was a martial arts teacher in his previous life, but took advantage of his position, and would hurt his students until nearly putting them into the hospital.

One day he took it too far, killing a twelve-year-old boy and fleeing before the police could get him. Standing nearly nine-inches or so shorter than me, he may be quick but the moment I get my arms around him, he is dead; and he knows that.

"It's fine, Jun," Marcella purrs. "He doesn't mind watching, Draven." When I drag my attention back to her, she is slowly spreading her leg outward. "Are you done fighting it?"

What Jun sees in her, I'll never understand. I'm thankful she has her underwear on. Actually, she should be grateful, because the thought of shoving my knife straight up her cunt crosses my mind.

"Marcella," I step to her when Jun sits down onto the couch, his back straight, hands in his lap. "You fucked with what is mine, which is Max, and I gave you plenty of warning."

I'm not sure exactly what she thinks I'm doing here, but the moment I say Max's name, I can see the disgust gripping her expression.

"That bitch—" In the span of her finishing that word, I'm straddling the entire rocking chair, her neck in my grip. "D-D—" I squeeze so tight that when she releases an outward breath, she spits at the intensity of its release.

"Draven!" Jun screams and as he is about to stand, I grab hold of my knife and point it straight at him .

"Watch your fucking tongue Marcella. Tell me what you said to her, I want you to repeat it." I watch as a blood vessel pops in her eye, making me smirk.

Slowly I release her from my grip, and instead of moving away, I push down on the plush seat, leaning her back as she fights to breathe. "Every…" Her eyes round so wide I can see the vessel I popped slowly creeping up toward her blue iris. "Single…" The tremble in her lip starts, and her breathing catches as she attempts to hold back her sob. "Word."

With a rasp in her voice, she whimpers, "N-Nothing… she l-lied!"

"Marcella…" Jun warns.

The involuntary twitch of my head makes her shrink further into the cushion. " That, " I slowly leaned down toward her, "is a lie. Speak, or I will remove your nails individually until you find the will to speak, salope stupide ."

Then, she rushes through her words without stopping. "I was going to punish her for touching you. That when I was done with her, you wouldn't want her, which is true! I told her she was disgusting and that you could never love or want someone like her, I mean who would?! You deserve better than that! She can't give you want you need—what you want! I can—I can give you a family—She's wasted fucking goods."

Being blinded by rage is dangerous, but that is what I am: dangerous .

I don't even remember bringing my fist back and punching her, but when I blink, her entire nose is sunken inward. She's screaming even if I can't quite hear it, as it sounds more like a mouse with its tail trapped under my boot. Her hands are shaking around her face, fearful of touching it to exacerbate the pain.

When I drag my gaze to Jun, he is shaking, his gaze dragging from Marcella, straight to me. "You will watch or die with her," I seethe, and whatever he sees in my eyes keeps him frozen in terror.

"Please don't do this—" when she begins begging, I return my attention to her. "Choose me, I'm better—"

"Better off dead." When the words slip from my mouth, her eyes filled with tears, round, and she's shaking her head so ferociously I can hear the soft pops in her neck that accompanies it.

I sit heavily on top of her, grasp one of her wrists, and tuck it under my leg, pinning it between me and the armrest. She's fighting but it's useless, just as she is to this world. The air mother nature will get back from her death will be more meaningful than her.

With my free hand that isn't holding my blade, I put three fingers into her mouth and pull up on the top of her jaw. She closes, her teeth biting into my skin. The sharp canine piercing into it, and as she grinds to get to the bone, I sigh through a groan.

I grab hold of the bottom of her mouth, and in an action that makes Jun gasp, I separate her jaw, breaking the joint where the top and bottom connect. I'm not surprised when I begin hearing Jun begin to vomit, his heaving more disgusting than what I'm looking at now.

Her eyes roll back, and her entire body goes into a vibration. Her scream not as ear piercing as before, her mouth slacked open. "That's better," I murmur, and dive into my pocket.

Am I sick for still holding onto Max's undies from our first encounter in the Hall of Mirrors? No, I don't think so.

Wrapping the fabric around my fingers, I grab at the tip of her tongue. I slice at the frenulum, cutting it back and releasing it so I can get a better grip. Her muffled cries as I shove my hand into her mouth is music to my ears.

"Any last words?"

The crazed smile that comes over me as I see tears spilling from her distant eyes, makes me thrive. I won't have to deal with this piece of filth ever again, and even better, Max's name will never come from her mouth .

While the irony of having Max's underwear in her mouth is nearly as perfect as she is, I need the solid grip on her wet tongue, because with it, I pull with such force I can see her neck curve at the back. It takes nearly all my strength, but as soon as I hear the first tear, I push passed the uncomfortable strain on my muscles.

I stand, and as if she is some feral beast, I place my boot onto her chest and yank.

Her fight was minimal, I think I put her in shock with the breaking of her jaw.

Silence fills the space as I move back, her entire tongue gripped in my grasp. The rocker slowly comes back to a seated position. Blood pools into her mouth, her body still moving at random. She's dead, but as a result of her chemicals, she twitches in her eternal sleep.

Turning my gaze to Jun who is hunched over the couch, vomit everywhere. I roll my eyes, weak, for fuck sakes. "Get yourself together Jun." He slowly shifts his head toward me. "I'm getting you a spoon. You will peel her eyes out, or I'm taking yours. Comprendre? "

"I'm not sure what I was expecting," Troy comments as I walk up to him. His head turns down, looking at his watch, before coming back to me. "Twenty-two minutes, no blood—oh, well never mind, you've got some—" His eyes round, "A-Are those eyes?"

In a Ziplock bag, two eyeballs roll around as I raise it. "Yes, they're for Shade." It's only then I don't see said wolf, I ask, "Where is he?" I swear I'm about to put him back into training if he walked away after my clear instructions.

Troy laughs and gestures toward my trailer.

Oh, for fuck sakes .

As I'm about to go in, he grabs my attention, "Hey… real quick." I give him the moment. "I was eavesdropping, nothing else to do while I freeze my ass off out here." My brow cocks, not saying anything but edging him with a head nod to continue. "Tell her."

I narrow my eyes, "Tell her what?"

"Everything. She thinks you'll let her go when the weekend ends."

What does everything mean? I've already confessed in the way I know how. Love is a placeholder when you don't know how to express to someone you care about them more than anything else. I heard Sasha on the phone tell Max she loved her, and my Little Sheep didn't say it back.

That isn't what she wants to hear, so I'll show her what she deserves. I don't need to say them for her to understand.

Do I?

"Don't eavesdrop, fucking leprechaun."

He bellows out a laugh and falls into step behind me.

As I open the door, I swear my sigh is as long as my dick is.

"Oh—" I've never had Shade in my trailer, and there is a reason for that. He is nearly as tall as I am on his hindlegs.

Currently, he is sprawled across the couch, Max laying on his belly while Sasha half-nervously pets at his tail.

"You're back. That was kind of quick."

Troy pats my back. "Looks like she has both of you in a chokehold, brother."

My gaze meets Shade's. "Really?" I honestly can't believe he lets out a huff at me. "Here I brought you something, and you are snuggled up against my Little Sheep."

A gentle growl rumbles from his stomach, and I see Sasha jump up as if afraid he will attack.

Max only smiles, unworried about the beast that could easily tear her to shreds—but, honestly, if I were her I wouldn't be fearful of him. She may as well put a leash on him at this point.

I whistle gently, and Shade begins to move, causing Max to lean back and come to a standing position.

"Sasha," I call to her and she straightens her back as if coming to attention. "Come here." This space is too small for four people and a fucking wolf. She does come to me, but has to maneuver around Max and Shade. "Take these outside." The moment I put the plastic Ziplock bag into her hand with Marcella's eyes, she throws her hand up and screams.

"Oh my GOD!" I'm utterly taken aback by her reaction. I could swear she would have enjoyed this as much as Max is. My Little Sheep has widened eyes and a smile on her face. "Are those real?!"

I groan, "Yes, they are real."

Sasha has her arms around Troy's neck, and he looks pleased with himself. "Don't worry lass—"

"Stop with the accent." I command, and he immediately clears his throat.

"Don't worry," he croons. "They won't bite."

With a deep roll of my eyes, I bend over and grab the bag Shade has his nose brushing against. "Troy, take her outside with these. Sasha, feed them to Shade." While he may never listen to her, at least he will come to recognize her as a friend, and the more he is around Max, the familiarity of those whom are around her will seep into him.

It's why Troy is basically safe with Shade.

After some coaxing from Max, Sasha departs with Troy and Shade, leaving us alone—a key reason for having them step outside.

A sheepish expression wraps her when I turn my gaze from the door to her. "My gift?"

"Of course, Petit Mouton , I couldn't forget you."

"Also… I've got a second pair of eyes to be removed if you are interested."

With a wink, I reach into my pocket and pull-out Marcella's tongue. Carved right on top is: ‘Max'.

Taking her chin into my hand, I bring her gaze up to mine before she can take the tongue. "A reminder to you, and warning to those that will hurt you, even with their words. Death is all that awaits them."