Page 73 of Edge of Desperation

CHAPTER 27

JAXSON

“You knowwhat I’m gonna ask you to do,” Aurora says sweetly.

Bennett and Thomas don’t think twice and begin to shred the clothes off of Oleg and Dmitri with their knives. I watch Aurora out of the corner of my eye, amazed at how fucking strong she truly is. There’s a fire burning deep within those emerald irises, and I know hell is about to be unleashed. I love having a front-row seat to her torturing these sad fucking excuses for human beings, but I want a piece of these assholes, too.

Hudson joins me. “Wonder what she’ll come up with this time?”

“I’m sure it’ll be interesting,” I muse.

Aurora whispers something in Lykos’ ear before approaching the platform. Whatever she said didn’t soothe the animal because his hackles are raised, and his growls intensify the closer she gets to the men in chains.

“Jaxson,” Aurora calls. “Can you come help me?”

“Got to go.” I rub my hands together methodically. “Duty calls.” I step onto the stage.

Aurora smirks. “I thought you could keep Oleg company so he doesn’t get lonely.”

I crack my knuckles. “Any special requests?”

She taps her chin. “I’ll leave that up to you.” She whistles and calls Lykos to her side, petting him until he settles down. “You’re such a good boy,” she coos. “Don’t worry, you’ll get your pickle.”

Lykos sits down and thumps his tail enthusiastically against the wood floor while the rest of us groan.

“What?” she asks innocently.

“Nothing, baby.” I kiss her temple. “Which one do you want?”

Without hesitation, she responds, “Dmitri.”

“No offense, Rivers,” Bennett says with a chuckle. “I’d rather be Oleg in this situation.”

“Me too,” Hudson echoes.

“Same,” Carver and Thomas say in unison.

I tend to agree with them. Even though we’ve used torture to extract information from our enemies for the good of our country, it’s not been used like this before. Not that I have any qualms about it. In fact, I’m more than happy to dole out some justice without Uncle Sam peering over my shoulder and telling me I’ve taken things too far. Aurora is uninhibited. It’s like watching an artist approach a blank canvas, the end result unknown.

“My pet won’t be able to do anything to me,” Dmitri rants. “She has to hide behind you heathens. What a shame, I would’ve liked one last go at her tight pu?—”

In a quick, fluid motion, Aurora flings her wrist and lets one of her knives fly. It embeds in the top of Dmitri’s thigh, close to his dick. He wails and shouts obscenities in Russian.

“That’s not very nice,” Bennett chastises. “We really don’t like it when assholes call our sister a whore.”

“She doesn’t have any siblings!” Dmitri yells.

I rush forward and wrap my hand around his neck, cutting off his air supply. “How the fuck do you know if she has siblingsor not, you worthless piece of shit?” I squeeze harder. “You have no idea who the fuck you grabbed.”

Aurora’s fingers brush my arm. “Jaxson,” she says soothingly. “I kinda want to kill him.” She pulls the knife from Dmitri’s thigh and stabs him in the other one, sneering at the prick. “That’s for pissing off my man.”

I release him with a shove, and he gasps for breath. I stomp over to Oleg and pound my frustrations out on him. Unlike Dmitri, Oleg’s mouth is taped shut so I don’t have to hear anything but muffled screams. Dmitri’s sadistic laughter stops my physical assault on Oleg who sags as I slam home my fist into his right temple, knocking him out.

“What’s so fucking funny?” I growl.

“You… You… You…still don’t know, do you?” he wheezes. “Fucking morons.”

Aurora rips the blade from his leg and holds the point under his chin. “Know what?”

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