Page 59 of Veiled Justice
‘Impatient to kill your lover?’ Quintos quipped.
‘Oh!’ Louisa clapped her hands. ‘That isdivine!You get extra points for that, Quinty.’
He smiled. ‘Thank you, my dear. I knew you’d appreciate the elegance.’
‘Oh but I do.’ She stepped forward to look at Helga then gave the immobilised ogre a finger wave. ‘Hello, dear. Thanks for defending me earlier. I’m sorry I won’t be doing the same for you. It’s just a fact of life, darling – you’re either a shark, or a fish. And you’re a sweet little minnow. Time for you to stop swimming.’
She winked and stepped back a little, but not far. ‘I want to see the life leaving her eyes,’ she told Quintos.
‘Bloodthirsty little whore.’ His tone was affectionate and Einar realised that this whole thing was little more than a twisted foreplay for the two of them. Freaks.
Suddenly there was a commotion. Squiggins strode forward with another woman in tow. ‘I found her snooping in your office!’ he said, as he joined Quintos. He had a knife to Verona’s throat although she seemed to be giving him no trouble. ‘I gave her a little of that serum you supplied, Quinty, the one that makes them more compliant.It seems to be working. She hasn’t even tried to run away.’
Quintos sighed. ‘We can’t kill her – she’s Volderiss’s hussy. I’m going to make millions from him.’
‘Gosh,’ Louisa said throatily. ‘Listen to you talking about killing her already and you haven’t even got this one under your belt.’ She nodded at Helga.
‘You’re right. Let’s get this show on the road. An oath will deal with the vampyr. Let’s do what we came for. Kill the ogre, ogre.’ He snickered.
On cue, the fireworks started to go off. ‘Do it,’ Louisa urged Einar. ‘I want to hear her scream.’
Einar drew his military-issue dagger and started stabbing. Immobilised by the Imbarum, Helga couldn’t scream but tears fell from her eyes. Louisa leaned forward, knelt on the grass and licked one away. She straightened up, smacking her lips with delight, and fixed her gaze on Helga until the light left the young ogre’s eyes.
Einar felt a weird and alien feeling he’d rarely felt in his life: regret.
Quintos turned to Verona. ‘You will give me your oath that you will not speak or communicate in any way about anything you saw here.’
Robotically, Verona repeated, ‘I will give you my oath that I will not speak or communicate in any way about anything I saw here.’
Louisa pouted. ‘It’s not as much fun when you use magical vows. It’s not really getting away with murder if we can’t tell anyone about it.’
‘We’ll add it toPride,’ he promised with a wink.
She giggled coquettishly. ‘Just you wait for my party, Quinty! Everything is going to be bigger! Better! It is going to be so delicious. I have all sorts of plans.’
He looked at her indulgently. ‘I have no doubt. Now come on, let’s get back inside before anyone misses us.’
‘What do I do with the body?’ Einar asked.
Louisa tittered. ‘Make sure it’s found. It isn’t getting away with murder if no one knows she’s dead. Plus the drama of the Connection coming is half the fun! Oh! I want a souvenir! Katz, get me one of her fingers.’
Katz nodded, though he looked less than enthusiastic. He watched as Louisa and Quintos walked, her rubbing his tented trousers.
‘Cut off her pinky,’ Katz said to Einar. ‘Take it and yourself to Nocturne Circle. I told Squigsy he could use you inWrath.’
Einar frowned. ‘That wasn’t in my contract.’
‘For two million pounds, you’ll do anything I damn well say. You’re mine for forty-eight hours. It looks like I won’t need you for the second death, so off to Nocturne you go. Got it?’
Even though Einar wanted to rip Katz’s head off his pubescent shoulders, he nodded. ‘Got it.’
Chapter 33
I had stepped into the mind of someone like that only once before: Jingo’s enforcer, Lenny, had also been dark and depraved. But it was so much worse to be in the moment, to feel as ifIhad killed Helga, as ifIhad sliced off her finger and slid it into my pocket.
I pulled back and focused on my breathing, trying to get myself back under control. It wasn’t just Einar who had upset me, it was seeing the others standing there watching. And Louisa? She was sick. She hadn’t just been watching; she and Quintos had been getting off on it.
I was going to bring them all down and kick them into Wraithmore prison so fucking hard they’d leave a fucking imprint.
