Page 44 of Vendetta

“What did you expect?” He says. “I like to overachieve.”

Yeah he sure does. And he’s certainly done it this time. Because I gave him a near impossible task, track down three men with no names, no descriptions, nothing.

And yet he did it. In less than half the time I mentally allocated to him.

“The photo helped.” He says.

Yeah the photo helped. And I have Eleri to thank for that. I’ve spent the best part of two years trying to work out who the fuck they were and the day she lay that photo in front of me I at least got a piece of the puzzle.

If I’d been smarter I would have chased them down, would have got surveillance footage of them following her prior to the attack, but my focus was her and I wasn’t as smart as I am now.

I pick up my phone. “Bring her.” I say as Preston picks up.

He’s the only one I’m leaving with her. Because of the bar I feel like she’s more familiar with him, more comfortable too and he won’t say or do stupid shit either.

I sit in the back of my car, flexing my hands, preparing myself for a moment I have waited so long for. When we reach the ruins Eleri is already there. Standing awkwardly beside Preston, looking confused, looking afraid too.

I walk up to her and she gives a small smile. She has no idea what’s about to happen. No idea of the gift I’m about to bestow on her.

“What is this?” She says looking around.

“You’ll see.” I say taking her hand and leading her through the murky remains of what was once a graveyard.

I guess it should be unnerving. That’s why we picked this place. A disused, bombed out wreck of what was once a majestic church. The only part that remains is under the ground.

And the fear factor of bringing your enemies here, half dragging them into the dark is what makes this place so resplendent.

She’s wearing a white dress, I couldn’t have picked it better because she looks more like an angel right now and the symbolism doesn’t escape me. That she’s here, in this place of sin, in this place of death, like a virginal sacrifice.

And a part of her will be sacrificed tonight. A part of her will be gone. Because tonight, together we will strip away the last vestiges of her innocence. She will embrace the dark, she will relish herself in it. Even if I have to drag her the entire way.

She will be reborn in the blood of the men who tried to ruin her.

I step down the stone stairs first. She stays in my shadow as if it might provide protection.

As soon as we reach the bottom we hear it. We feel it too. The water trickling from above. The sound of our shoes with each step we take and most of all the four men’s fear as they huddle, on their knees waiting.

There are only a handful of men here beside us. Two are on the doorway, both armed to ensure our playthings are obedient. The others hang back.

None of my men like coming here. No one except Blaine, though even he understands that this moment is for me and Eleri alone.

“Who are they?” She asks.

“Don’t you remember them?” I say turning to watch her because I want to pinpoint the exact moment when she realises what’s happening.

She frowns stepping nearer. One of the men in the middle mutters something incomprehensible and she turns her face to focus on him.

“They’re…” She trails off turning to look at me. “They’re…”

“Yes.” I say. “They’re a gift for you.”

Her face flits from surprise to fury. And god is she beautiful to behold. She spins back around. All her fear, all her trepidation is gone now. My queen has come to life.

“What are you going to do with them?” She asks. She’s pacing around them now. Her confidence has grown so much in the last few seconds.

“What do you want to do?” I ask her back. It’s a test though she doesn’t know it. If she says spare them I know we’ve got more work to do. That this night will be hard on her, hard on her soul. I won’t of course. I kill them all just the same. But if she says what I hope she will then I know she really has embraced the part of herself that I hunger to see.

She fixes her eye on them. Each of them one by one before looking at me.

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