Page 34 of Deathless
“You will not be using those. Not until I or Rori give the order.”
“Consider it an extra security measure.” I rested my hands on the handles, my grip loose and relaxed as I stood. “Shall we go?”
“You’re a deadly enough motherfucker without those but fair enough.”
Torr stood and headed for the basement door while I trailed behind him. It was the same room where Nella was kept and then ultimately killed by Devin.
The door swung open and Torr had barely taken a single step down the stairs when he froze. He brought his hand up with his index and middle finger extended. I’d also heard what he had and touched my fingers to his to show that I understood.
There were two people in the basement. Voices from down below had hushed as soon as the door opened.
Torr started down and I followed, drawing one of my blades. He was a strong fucker but didn’t have a weapon. There was also no other way in or out of the basement, and they already knew we were coming. If we had more room on the stairs, I would have slid in front of Torr so my machetes would be the first things in the room. But our way down was narrow, barely containing the width of our bodies in single file.
We hit the basement floor, and I moved in front of my friend to protect him if necessary. The sight before us wasn’t entirely surprising, but it didn’t mean there was no threat.
“Saint,” I said, eyeing the man sitting on a stack of crates next to the Bull, who was cuffed and tied to the support beam in the middle of the room.
“Butcher,” the Saint returned in a bland tone. “And the Guard,” he said with a nod at Torr.
“What are you doing here?” Torr stepped around me to address the Saint head on, apparently unbothered by the dagger the other man casually twirled between his knees.
“I came looking for my old friend.” The Saint straightened, regarding the Bull with a look I couldn’t read. “When he wasn’t in the main house, I had a feeling he’d be down here. And I was right.”
The Bull ignored us, instead staring at the fighter next to him. “So, you gonna cut me loose so we can kill these assholes and go or what?”
“You two aren’t going anywhere,” I hissed, drawing my second blade and stepping in front of Torr again. He needed to grab a shovel or whatever else was down here, because no fucking way he’d be running upstairs for a gun at this rate.
“Shut the fuck up, Butcher. You’re so deep in her cunt, you don’t see what’s really happening.” He glared at Torr. “Same for you. And fuck you for putting me down here.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Torr asked with a surprising amount of calm.
“The Bull and I made a pact in the chaos at the coliseum before we left with you,” the Saint said, his eyes on the dagger twirling in front of him. “We go way back, he and I. Before the gladiator pits and the prison they dragged us from. We came up on the street together, didn’t we, Bull?”
“That’s right,” the other man said with a metallic clink of his cuffs.
“Once we were captured, we got used by the Sisterhood a few times, didn’t we? Tested out to see how well we’d breed them.”
“Yeah.” The Bull gritted his teeth. “They gave me a daughter.”
“And a beautiful girl she was.” A faint smile touched the Saint’s lips. “When was the last time you saw her?”
The Bull’s head dropped, shaking sadly. “Probably about 3 years. I wasn’t there for the birth or anything. They just let mesee her for a second; I couldn’t even hold her.” He gave a dry laugh. “She looked like a little old man.”
“But they promised you something, didn’t they?” The Saint stopped twirling the dagger, his whole body going still as a predator.
“That I could see her again, be present in her life.” The Bull’s eyes lit up with joy for the first time that I’d ever seen. “I could teach her things, you know? Be an actual fucking father.”
“In exchange for what?” the Saint pressed.
“Always remaining loyal to the Sisterhood,” the Bull said without missing a beat. “That I would deliver them any traitors of the Dark Mother, male or female.” His gaze snapped to the Saint, who had risen to his feet, the dagger gleaming next to his thigh. “And you agreed to do the same. We made a pact! I showed you a picture of my girl, and you said she was worth destroying everything for.”
“And she still is.” The Saint moved so fast, I’d barely registered what happened until I felt warm droplets of blood speckle my face.
I blinked and saw the Saint holding the Bull’s head up by the hair, the red line on the Bull’s throat weeping blood.
“Your daughter can still be saved but not by a father like you,” the Saint said calmly. “I had a child by them too, a son. You know what they did right after he was born?” He leaned in close, directly next to the dying man’s ear. “They smothered him to death. Right in front of me!”
Though he had been calm, the Saint was shouting at the top of his lungs before he was done. Torr and I could only watch as he clamped a hand over the wound he’d made in the Bull’s throat.
