Page 28 of Vendetta

I make muffins next. And then I remember that I hate making muffins, so I scrap it half way and repurpose the dough into a sort of cake thing that again I offer to the guards when it’s cool enough. I think I might be fattening them up to much but they don’t object.

When I’m bored of that I go and sit out one of the balconies, and let the warmth of the spring sun soak into my skin while Sarpedon stretches out clearly enjoying it too. I’m half tempted to swim. But I don’t have the nerve to show so much skin without Nico here.

Since being here I think my confidence has grown. I’m no longer draping my body in baggy clothes. Hiding myself from everyone’s gaze. Nico likes dresses, judging by all the slinky things he’s stuffed my wardrobe with. He likes me to wear things that show off my body, accentuate my curves. Clothes that even a month ago I would have shied away from for fear of the repercussions.

But with Nico I’m not so afraid. No one would dare touch me while I’m with him. No one dare lay a finger on me and that thought alone makes me feel things I shouldn’t.

I know he won’t hurt me. At least not like that. Because I’ve asked him to fuck me so many times now, practically begged the man and yet he won’t. Not that he’s adverse to touching me, hell he practically worships my body but as yet he still hasn’t given me the pleasure of his cock inside me and I’m actually aching with the constant want for it.

Perhaps that’s his plan. To get me so wet, to get me so desperate that when he does finally do it I fall head over heels, lost in everything he is bestowing on me. It certainly wouldn’t be a bad plan.

Hell, I think I’m already falling head over heels for him and it still feels like we’ve only just gotten started.

I sigh getting to my feet and delicately pick Sarpedon up , carrying him back to his ginormous enclosure. Nico wasn’t lying when he said he’d had a bigger one made, it’s enough for a snake twice Sarpedon’s size. And I’ll admit I feel a burst of something every time I see it. Sarpedon slithers away, over the rocks, to a new favourite hiding space. If I could I would have left him to sunbathe but the creature is an escape artist worthy of Houdini himself and though I know he’s not necessarily looking for a life of freedom, I doubt he’d turn down the opportunity if it presented itself.

I watch him for a few moments more. He’s due to shed soon. I used to collect his old skin, turn it into bits of art. I wonder what Nico would think if I started doing that again. Would he think me mad? Would he change his mind entirely?

He’ll be back soon I tell myself and I want to make sure I’m ready and waiting for him. But as I make my way through the house something feels different. Something feels off.

I pause, feeling the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. It’s like a sixth sense, a premonition of some shit that’s about to happen and I turn around to grab my phone wanting, needing to speak to Nico.

Only something grabs me. Someone grabs me.

I cry out as I’m pushed to the ground. Someone is wrenching my arms behind my back, tying them so tightly with something that half rips into my skin.

And then I’m dragged, through the house, through the front door and thrown into the back of a van before it speeds away.

Him

The front door is open. The house is empty. Half my men are dead but more than that, all I can focus on is the fact that Eleri is not here.

“What the fuck happened?” I ask.

“Apparently while we were busy making moves your brother made a few of his own.” Preston says like it’s not fucking obvious.

I walk into the house. There’s a strange mix of death and cookies in the air. I wrinkle my nose in confusion.

“Down here.” Someone calls I move, down into the lower recesses, seeing my men, seeing them piled up, one on top of the other. All dead, or as close to it as one can be.

“Get the medics in here.” I say. If there’s any chance these men will live then I’m willing to pay. They’re loyal to me. They risk their lives for me. It’s only right I do the same for them too.

I turn around and take the stairs two at a time. I can smell more baking. I think it’s Eleri. She seems to enjoy cooking more than I realised and the smell of it in the air is like a constant reminder that I haven’t found her. That she’s not in my arms.

I walk into our room. Our bedroom. I’m met with nothing but silence. Stale. Stagnant silence.

“Eleri.” I call her name. I don’t expect a reply but some small part of me is wanting it anyway.

They’ve trashed my place, sprayed it with graffiti. Smeared excrement on the walls. Most of our clothes have been thrown into the bath and burnt. If Eleri wasn’t gone and my men weren’t dead it would be comical.

It’s like a five year old having a paddy. But that’s my brother all over.

Preston appears and I realise he’s got her snake in his arms. He looks uncomfortable, as if the creature might turn around and bite him but Sarpedon looks mellow enough. I feel a fleeting sense of relief that they hadn’t killed it but it’s another reminder of who is missing.

“We’ve got new footage.” Blaine says storming up to me. We knew before we got here that some shit had gone down. I just didn’t realise to what extent.

“Show me.” I say.

Blaine passes the tablet over and I stare at the screen. It’s the same van’s we caught on the hidden surveillance cameras. They’re driving so boringly no one would even notice them. They’re in the city. The industrial part.

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