Page 13 of Depravity

You wanna play, bitch? Then I’ll play.

My riding boots make it hard to run, but the girl is no match for me.

I race after her, again, letting her believe that she stands a chance of winning.

I can hear her desperate, ragged breathing; I can practically hear the pounding of her chest as she tries to flee. She turns off, jumping into a ditch and I’m quick to follow her. The mud swirls around my boots, and the dirt pisses me off.

She falls to her knees, crawling through it, like her body is about to give out.

“You can’t outrun me.” I taunt.

She turns her head, staring in horror at how close I am.

“Fuck you,” She hisses.

I can’t help but laugh at that. If she’d been smarter, she would have kept her mouth shut, she would have remembered her place. It was her choices that got her here.

She crawls along further, desperation forcing her on. And then we both hear the sound of horses.

She shakes her head, coming to a stop as Quinn and the others ride right up to here. One of his stewards is thankfully bringing my horse, so that spares me a walk.

“I see you caught the bitch.” He remarks. Behind his own horse, the brunette is tied off with rope. There’s an arrow right through her right eye. It’s one hell of a shot.

“Not quite.” I reply.

The girl stumbles to her feet, her hands clasped together as she faces me. “Please,” She begs. “Please, grant me mercy. I have a child, I have…”

An arrow to her throat silences that annoying wail.

Her eyes widen, her knees give way, and she falls back down onto them before me.

“Should have thought about your child before you betrayed us,” I state. Stupid fool, running a railroad, trying to help people who want to escape the Brethren. She should have realised there was no escape. There is no life outside us.

Her child will go to an orphanage, they will be trained there until they’re old enough to go to Oblivion.

A tear streaks down her cheek.

I crouch down, admiring her body as she takes one heavy breath after another. Blood trails from her neck, looking like a winding snake down her centre.

“Pity,” I mutter, taking the full weight of her breast in my hand. She had a good figure after all.

Quinn tosses a rope to me. I wrap it around her wrists, ensuring it’s tight enough to keep her secure. Keeping the end in my hand, I get back in the saddle.

“Shall we?” Quinn says, gesturing forward. I know he’s got a nice spread for lunch at the lodge, and then there’s a fresh set of birds for the afternoon.

I nod back, giving my horse a good enough kick to get moving and behind me, the bird falls over, she kicks out, trying to fight with the last bit of life she has.

Lunch is a fine thing,as is the second hunt.

By the time we return for the evening, I’m more than desperate for a wash. My jodhpurs stick to my thighs, and I can feel the trail of sweat trickling under my jacket.

We leave the horses to the stableboys.

Quinn walks on ahead, murmuring about needing to see to some business. He technically operates one of the largest manufacturing plants in the country, but I know he’s not exactly ‘hands on’. No, he prefers to leave the day-to-day operations to more capable hands, not that I can blame him. The company brings in almost a billion pounds in revenue, so why tinker with the system when it’s working so well.

I let out a sigh, heading up to my room, realising that soon enough the old codger will be dead and if he and Magnus have their way, then that entire thing falls on my shoulders. As if I don’t have enough to manage with Oblivion.

As I round the corner, I come to an abrupt stop.

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