Page 115 of What did you do?

My eyes held tight to Commander Von’s as I struggled against the guard who held me before stopping to smile at my old trainer. He scowled uncomfortably at my expression and pulled the trigger again, letting out a string of curses when nothing happened. Frustrated, the guard removed his hands from me to grab his gun.

“No, do—” the commander tried as I watched and savored as the most delicious, deep fear suddenly crawled onto his face.

I couldn’t help but smile as I reached behind my back and palmed the severed dragon’s claw, bumping the gun from the guard’s bumbling hands as I did. In the blink of an eye, I had the claw in my mouth and the gun tucked in my armpit as I grabbed the dagger from its sheath at his belt. I moved fast, slamming the blade under his chin and into his head before I stabbed three vital organs left exposed by their shitty armor. Before the guard even had a chance to drop to the ground, I threw the blade into the neck of the guard holding Walter, who quickly finished freeing himself. I shot the gun, hitting the guard on Eli’s right arm with a large orb before chucking the gun to Eli and turning back to the commander.

“You fuckin—” Commander Von began.

I slammed my fist into his nose before he could finish, shimmering gold blood pouring out. There were better ways to break his nose, but I didn’t think any of them would have been as satisfying.

He was much faster than me, landing two hard kicks to my side.

“Caly!” Eli shouted.

Using the dragon’s claw as a karambit, I sliced open his neck, then lifted his arm to stab as deep into his armpit as the claw would go.

The large fae growled angrily. “So I see you picked up a few things.”

He made a move to kick me again, but this time I swept his leg, causing him to fall. I was on him in a second, pressing the tip of the claw into the front of his brain, just enough so the point nudged into his anterior cingulate cortex.

Completely immobile now, he let out a cry of pain that made my skin shiver in excitement.

I got comfortable, sitting on his chest, my legs stretched out and relaxed.

“I did pick up a few things since our training,” I said with a grin.

I checked his pockets, moving aside his limp arms to dig around until I located a short Swiss Army knife–type gadget from his utility pouch. “This will do,” I said softly.

He didn’t care what I said though because he was too busy screaming in pain.

“This right here?” I muttered as I pressed the thin pocketknife blade into a different part of his brain—not enough to kill him, but enough to do a different kind of damage. “Well, you see, this is the primary somatosensory cortex.” The commander made a strangled sound as his body went completely still aside from his eyes rolling back in his head periodically. “I know, it’s a mouthful, isn’t it? They are the pain centers of your brain. Fascinating, right? Now hush, or you’re going to miss this next part, Commander.” I bit my lower lip, pretending to think. “Now, what was it you always used to tell me? Oh yes: one man’s pain is another man’s pleasure. Boy, are you gonna like this,” I said sarcastically as I twisted both blades into his skull.

His body jerked before it went flat, literally dying from an abundance of pain his brain couldn’t override.

I pulled the dragon’s claw free before I drove it back down into the top of his skull. Over and over again, I did this until a hand pressed lightly to my back and I turned, claw at the ready.

Eli and Walter leaped back, eyes wide.

“You—you good?” Eli asked nervously.

“Mendax is rolling over in his grave with a stiff dick somewhere right now,” Walter said, looking much more relaxed with the scene before him than Eli. “You good?” he asked, mimicking Eli.

I licked the dragon’s claw in one slow swipe as I stared at the mangled commander on the ground. Even his blood tasted bitter.

“So good,” I replied with a wink.

I took a deep inhale, smelling a hint of smoke. I whipped around, the corners of my mouth already quirked, expecting to see Mendax standing behind me.

The dark-gray wall of rock was the only thing that caught my smile. But I could have sworn I smelled him just then.

My eyes dropped to the ground behind me to see a charred tree limb had fallen on the platform.

Agh.

Eli and Walter had managed to take most of the guards on the platform, but below, the fight waged on.

Something cracked inside my chest suddenly, and I felt the blood run from me as the deep sound of a muffled thud filled my hazy head.

No!

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