Page 57 of Queen of Madness

“Liar,” I whisper.

Onyx slices across his abdomen twice.

“I swear it!”

Two more gashes.

More screams.

She won’t ask again, and when he realizes it, he relents. “All of them. It’s our job as scouters to make sure their shit is good.”

Onyx sneers, looking over to me briefly, and I know I’m about to have a lot to clean up. “To make sure their shit is good,” she repeats. “So, how many have you raped? Give me an estimate.”

“I don’t know! A few fucking dozen. Maybe more. Maybe less. How am I supposed to know?”

Her voice becomes low, filled with venom even I can feel. “The same way I know I’ve killed forty-two of the vile pieces of shit on your side. The same way I know I’ve rescued over five thousand one hundred of the women you tried to pass through my city. And the same way I know you won’t be able to use that limp worm between your legs ever again.”

“What do you want?” he bellows, tears and snot running down his face and into his mouth.

Onyx lets him go, walking around and standing in front of him. She tilts her head and runs a nail down his jaw. “I don’t need anything from you. Your screams are enough to give me orgasms for weeks.”

“I think you should enjoy Ezekiel while you have him; fuck him, then kill him.” I shrug, scratching behind my ear. “I don’t see what you’re stressed about.”

She ignores the man’s sudden pleas as she trades the scissors for pliers. “You think me a masochist?”

“So you like him?” This forces my spine straight. Onyx doesn’t like anyone. Hell, I don’t even think she likes us, so I’m glad we’re family.

Wails of agony bounce off the walls as she shoves the tool down his pants. Not once does she look before twisting and ripping his member off in one fell swoop. She tosses it to the ground and backs away in time for his vomit to splash to the floor. It’s rancid and brown, and I’m pretty sure he’d need to go to a hospital if we weren’t about to kill him.

Once his bowels are thoroughly empty, he passes out. I stand slowly, carefully stepping through the growing puddle of bodily fluid for my cauterization kit on the side. It’s nothing more than a wide flat branding tool and a small butane kit.

“Answer me, Onyx.”

A muscle in her jaw twitches, but she knows she’s already said too much. Might as well finish. “He makes me feel less in control. But still safe.”

A hearty laugh vibrates my stomach muscles. “And how is that a bad thing? That means he’s a damn good bodyguard. And maybe good foryou. Why do you want to kill him?”

She yanks the driver’s pants down and holds his hips steady, watching me warily as I hit the tool until it begins to bloom red. “Because once I take care of the Murphys, who’s to say he won’t try and take over what we have here. Perhaps he becomes comfortable with this life and wants more.”

“And if he doesn’t?” I touch the metal to the driver’s new hole. It takes a moment but when he comes to, the screams are piercing.

Onyx moves next to me, and together we watch as his body forces him unconscious again. “He will.”

“Then we kill him. But for now, live a little. We allwantyou to live, Boss. Otherwise, your entire existence, yoursurvival,is only to avenge them. Then what after? I’m afraid we’d lose you.”

She sighs, brushing me off. “You don’t think someone else will rise and take over the Murphys? There’s always going to be someone.”

Though she makes my worries seem superficial, I see the thoughts working through her mind. The pain, her loss, her desires, and fears. All of it works across her face in tandem, darkening her eyes, forming creases at her forehead, and pursing her lips. She’s so conflicted and I’m not even sure she is ready for what comes after.

I mean, how could you be when it makes up your whole persona?

“Is that why we’re here? So you can feel in control again?”

Her head lifts, the words evident on her face without the need for her to confirm. I nod and walk back around to the table to grab the bat and a bit of smelling salts from my bag. “Then let’s have some fun.”

My butt slams against the mat for the tenth time. The bruise I already feel forming around my tailbone is doubling in size, and I wonder if the possibility of a blood clot should have me worried. Even if it does, I can’t complain. I wanted this.

I asked for it.

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