Page 50 of Cruelest Kiss and Fairest Blood
My pulse races. “What happened?”
Harrow is deadly still as a wicked smirk curls up on the right side of his face. “I found them.”
Chills stretch across my skin as I think back to the last few moments before Harrow vanished. Surely he isn’t talking aboutthem. He was inside my mind, sorting through memories and staring at the faces of my captors. A hard lump forms in my throat. “They were still alive?”
“They were.”
I toy with my fingertips, scratching at a rough piece of cuticle until it lifts. “I thought you weren’t supposed to kill if it wasn’t their time.”
“I’m not. I had to compromise.” He reaches for me, turns my hand over, and drops three items into my palm.
There’s so much blood it’s hard to tell what he handed me. They’re similar in shape and size, with a stretchy, smooth texture that reminds me of?—
I drop them to the floor.
“You cut off their cocks?” My voice hikes up in pitch.
He smiles smugly. “Yes.”
“And then… killed them?” I blink.
Madness enters his voice. “Oh no, they’ll live. I want them to waddle in pain and anguish, wishing for death. My ravens will be watching, doing all they can to prolong their miserable lives. Just when they think death has granted them relief, they’ll drop intomydomain.” Black swirls reappear in his eyes. “I have such plans for them, and none involve any relief.”
Harrow
From what I’ve seen and heard, appropriate gifts for the woman you’re courting are some variation of flowers, chocolates, orjewelry. I happen to think bringing her the severed cocks of her tormentors is far more romantic.
“Oh my god.” Lenore’s eyes haven’t left the cocks since she dropped them. Blood now coats her fair-skinned palm. The urge to slaughter her enemies and paint that milky skin red with their blood tugs at my inner demon.
Speaking of enemies.
“Where is your prince?” I eye the room. I wouldn’t mind adding his cock to the heap.
Lenore finally pulls her gaze away from the pile of chopped-off dicks. “No. Don’t even think about it. He’s gone, and please avoid cutting off any more appendages this evening.”
She scans my body, stopping to stare at the pool of blood accumulating around my boots. I am a monster and such things do not bother me. It now occurs to me that my raven may find it distasteful to be covered in the blood of cowards.
With a swipe of my hand, the blood vanishes, leaving me pristine and the floor as clean as it was before I arrived.
The severed cocks still festoon the floor. “Would you like me to remove them?”
“As opposed to leaving them there? I’m curious to know what you thought I was going to do with them long term?”
“Use your imagination, Roseheart.”
She arches a dark brow.
“They would look quite fetching on your mantle. Or maybe a necklace? That’s sure to scare away any new middle-aged suitors. We could make a chandelier. That way we have room for new additions in the future. People are sure to stay on their best behavior once word gets around that you’re collecting dismembered cocks.”
She cracks a smile and a fit of laughter follows soon after. My insides turn warm as I watch her laugh, as if my organs areliquifying. I feel such strange new sensations whenever I’m with her.
She tilts her head, and my attention turns to the frilly lace collar of her velvet robe. I now realize the purpose of such atrocious attire. It hides the scar on her throat.
The laughter abruptly falls silent. Lenore raises a nail-bitten hand to cover the area.
“No.” The word growls out of me. “Don’t hide it. Not from me.”
Approaching her as I would a small, frightened animal, I reach up and lay my palm over hers. “You don’t need to hide the parts of yourself that you deem unworthy from me.”
