no crime. A slave would be bad enough, requiring compensation for damages. But a cast-off kill a full-fledged alpha? A death sentence, self-defense or not, Gaius could take my head.
Light glinted off the shining surface of the blade. If only I could get my hands on it.
He caressed my breast. “I’ll burn my mark here.”
I swallowed my revulsion and tried the submissive tack. “Please Dirk,” I whispered. “I’ll do whatever you want. Just promise you won’t hurt him.”
He grabbed my chin. “You’ve never shown me proper respect.”
I had laughed at the bastard, too much to be smart. It was pay back time for him in a big way.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. It was no work to look scared.
“Not good enough,” he breathed into my face. He sank down next to me on the bed, pressing the scalpel to my throat. “You understand what I’ll do to your Jew if you trick me?”
I bit my lip and nodded. He unchained me, cutting my clothes off with the scalpel, nicking me every so often until I was naked and bleeding. Finally he set the blade back down on the bed table. I cried with relief as he climbed onto me. Rape was better than death. The yellow eyes looking down were loopy with dilated pupils. When he’d bled me he must have injected himself with some of the narcotic he’d given me. Ethan told me in that in Kalidasa’s court the famed adepts of the ancient arts used hallucinogens in their erotic rituals, and other’s used recreationally, but he’d had taught me it was very dangerous as it compromised one’s reflexes. As you know Joe, it’s difficult to judge how much can be tolerated since our systems work so rapidly. It was obviously affecting his judgment or he’d never have set that knife down. I took advantage and played along, fighting the urge to rip out the slimy tongue he forced into my mouth. I urged him on, maneuvering into striking position just as he pushed my thighs apart.
Noiseless butterfly’s wings swept over to the bed table, touching cold metal. I pulled the sharp deadly little blade against my thigh just as he was poised to enter. I struck, cutting his throat in one neat movement as Ethan had taught me. His face froze in a look of surprise, the body still twitching as it collapsed on top of me. Arterial spurts of blood gushed out soaking the pillows and blankets, bathing my face and body. I hacked his head off and buried my face in the ragged stump, gulping down as much of it as I could before it grew too cold to restore me.
The entire collection of demons lurked in that abyss, all the tortured souls he had taken, pain he’d reveled in. A wasteland, inhabited by howling fiends with eyeless skulls— it had lived too long.
I had to get out fast but I was covered in blood and still flying from the narcotic. An ice-cold shower cleared my head. I found his discarded clothes, several sizes too large for me, thrown in a corner and dressed as well as I could. No time to waste on looking good. Gaius’s dogs were sniffing outside. I spied Dirk’s metal case. He was bound to keep a gun in there. I tried to open it but it was securely locked. I fished keys out of Dirk’s trousers and a wad of cash that I stuffed into my leather jacket.
I unlocked the case and opened it. A loaded Glock sat atop a small velvet bag filled with diamonds. Beneath, I found a pile of computer discs in plastic boxes. They were labeled with a picture of Romulus and Remus. The wording said: Romulus Laboratories Corp: Confidential.
I grabbed the gun and snapped the briefcase shut. I was in huge trouble. Gaius would come looking for answers and I was the first place he’d look. Grabbing the case, I made my way into the hallway, scanning for the dogs. I couldn’t smell them but heard their voices from a distance. I slipped out of the house and toward a converted carriage house that served as a garage. I ducked into the bushes and peered through the window. Three huge dogs sat inside playing cards and smoking. I had less than a second to plug all three. I held my breath and took aim, praying I could remember all Ethan had taught me. I squeezed the trigger and fired off six rounds into their heads.
In the