Page 49 of Eternal

“Do you know who I am?” I question, circling him like he’s a predator.

He tries to talk through his gag, but it’s gargled.

“Derek.” Derek stands straight at his name, waiting for his command, “Take his gag off, please. We want to make our guest more comfortable, right?”

Derek’s eyes glimmer with excitement as he takes the gag out. He knows what tactic I’m using. Calm to berserk. A classic for cases like his.

“Ah, that’s much better. Thank you, Derek,” I say, my hands clasped behind my back, and I stay in front of him now. “I’ll repeat my--”

“I don’t know who the fuck you are or what you want, but I didn’t do anything, and I don’t have any money. Please let me go!” He wails.

I clench my jaw. I’m half tempted to shove the gag he was wearing half down his throat to just shut him the fuck up.

“Okay, I’ll introduce myself. I’m Soren, and this is Derek. But you probably already know him. Let me clarify, in case you’re confused. I’m not interested in getting any money from you. I’m interested in something else of yours, though, because youdiddo something. Any ideas at all? Perhaps a few years ago?”

This shuts him up. Thank fuck.

“Um, nothing comes to mind. Just please let me go.” He whispers, turning his head away.

He fucking remembers what he did. The fucking coward.

“You’re sure you don’t remember?” I question him again as I round his cart for the second time.

“Yes, I’m sure I did not do anything.” He won’t meet my soulless gaze.

I draw in a breath. This motherfucker thinks he did nothing wrong to my Freya. But I beg to differ; Freya does too.

“Alright, if you say so. I’ll teach you. But for now, would you like to sit? However, you’ll still have to be shackled down until we sort out this misunderstanding. I would choose to rest those legs if I were you. This could take a while.” I suggest stopping in front of him again.

“What do you want from me? I told you I didn’t do anything.”

Is this motherfucker so ignorant to think he did nothing? Did he think it’s normal to beat a woman, especially one like Freya? Rage flies through me, and I can’t control myself anymore. I lunge at him, toppling him over, and as we hit the floor, his head bounces back off the ground. He lets out a groan, and a pool of blood starts to form.

“You did something, motherfucker! You almost killed my wife. You raped her. You beat her. And for what? What was the point of all of it?” I roar at him, my hand gripping his hair so tight that my knuckles turn white.

It takes every fiber of my being to not just kill the motherfucker right here, right now. But I can’t. Freya already told me she wanted to be the one to do it, and I don’t want to take that from her like I’ve taken everything else.

He starts laughing hysterically. “Freya? That’s your wife?”

He can’t stop laughing, and for the first time in my life, I’m in the presence of someone much, much more evil than myself.

I stand and look at Derek, whose face is pressed like he’s been eating sour candy. I didn’t disclose to him how personal this was for my wife and me, so I can imagine it comes as a shock to him. He just figured it was any other regular case, someone who wronged me from the business world. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve killed someone who got in my way. It was almost standard practice through my early twenties.

I gesture for him to help me get him into the chair. The motherfucker fought us the whole time, but we managed to get him into the chair. Derek had to break a couple of fingers in the process to get him to hold still. Derek starts to work on his head wound, so we can keep him around longer. The sound of the staple gun and his yelps permeate the room, filling my soul with peace.

“Freya is my wife. And she will be your reckoning. Tristan, you are being sentenced to death. But I need an answer from you. What was the point of all of it?” I bend to look him directly in the eye.

“You’re an amateur. If I never tell you, then I’ll live. And guess what, Soren. I’ll never tell you.” A smirk plays at his mouth.

I smirk as well. “You know, I love when I get that response because they never know what they’re about to go through. I mean, they don’t know they’re in the presence of someone trained to torture and kill since they were thirteen years old. I have many years of experience, so believe me, by the time I’m done with you, you’ll be begging for death. But we will start small and work our way up. I will be telling Freya the same thing, but of course, I’m referring to fucking her ass.”

“I already did that.” The bastard spits out at me.

And before I can even think through how I’ll react, my fist flies out, connecting to his eyebrow bone. Mental images of him doing heinous things tomy Freyafill my head, turning into blinding white-hot rage. My knuckle splits from the force, and he lets out a groan.

“She’s not worth a fucking thing. She’s just a whore, who claims to have been raped, but she came just the same as she does for you.”

Again, I lose control and don’t stop; a tooth ends up at my feet, blood splatters my arms, and my knuckles are split, bruises forming on my own hands.

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