Fortune Favors the Cruel - Kel Carpenter Page 0,100

then. In the corner of his eye, Lazarus saw a flash of metal and shifted to escape it, knowing that he wouldn’t. He’d been too distracted by her.

Then she did the unthinkable.

Her hand twisted and darkness shot forward. Lazarus froze, taking a step away to see the inky tendrils coiled around the man’s arm. The dagger he held falling uselessly to the ground as those tendrils tightened, and a sharp crack filled the clearing as the bones of his wrist snapped.

Quinn tsked softly as she kept moving at a slow, meandering pace. “You go into the night to kill a man, not knowing what awaited you.”

Lazarus stepped back, unable to look away just as much as he was too enthralled to stop it. He had no idea what Quinn planned to do. She was far too unpredictable, but something about that gleam in her eye told him that a piece of her was shifting—falling into place.

Her lavender hair reflected silver again in the moonlight as she came to stand beside him. Quinn squatted down, leaning forward so that her face was only inches from the mercenary’s and Lazarus got the impression that, despite the pain that flushed his cheeks and the way he was biting his lip, he might very well be just a tiny bit hypnotized by her as well.

“Lazarus, I don’t know if you should let her—” Dominicus broke off when Lazarus lifted his hand to silence him. He had this burning need to see what exactly she would do.

This torturous desire that was so perverted and wrong in every sense and yet he couldn’t find it in him to care.

“Tell me,” she whispered, “what is it that you fear?” There was a haunting edge to her voice. As if something else were riding her, but Lazarus knew that wasn’t the case. He’d seen her in this place only once before. It was what drew him to her then, at the market.

“I-I…” the man on his knees started. “I…” He was trying to hold those words in. Those secrets. Quinn smiled like she knew it, and a pale hand caressed the man’s dirty cheek.

“It’s alright,” she whispered softly. “I’ll find out all the same.”

Her fingers twisted a fraction and the tangible tendrils of fear snaked up his arm. The mercenary froze, whether in horror or shock, Lazarus wasn’t sure, but it took great effort for him to look away from Quinn and stare at the tendrils slowly slithering over his shoulder.

“What dark magic is this?” the would-be assassin whispered. The peals of a soft laugh, tinkling like windchimes filtered through the air. It should have frozen Lazarus’ blood instead of heating it. The tendrils crept over the man’s collar and up his neck. A real terror began to root itself.

Quinn clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “You should have asked more questions before coming after me and my friends, and now you’ll pay the price.” The coils of fear twined together as they skated over the delicate flesh between his neck and ear.

The mercenary’s chest rose and fell with great exertion as he tried and failed to calm himself as the darkened strands slowly crept into his ear and continued to burrow.

“No,” he said as his shoulder twitched. “Please don’t—” His chest spasmed as his eyes began to roll back in his head before screwing shut. “No, no,” he moaned.

“Shhhh,” Quinn whispered, her fingers curling around his chin. “You didn’t want to talk to me before. It’s too late now.” And it was, judging by the blood that dripped and then ran from his nostrils. He let out something between a groan and a scream, the noise born of unspeakable pain. Quinn only blinked, not phased in the slightest.

“Ahhh,” she murmured. “You’ve been a very bad boy, Gadmor. So bad.”

His lips parted and the mewling sound that came out only made her laugh more.

“Sto—” He couldn’t even finish the word before the thrashing started. Quinn’s nails pierced the flesh of his chin, forcing his head to remain still.

“Would you like to tell them?” she asked. “Or shall I?” The only response he could give was a broken gagging sound as blood began to leak from his ears.

“They’ll—kill—th-them,” he choked out as his body convulsed.

Quinn rolled her eyes and released her grip. His entire frame veered away and fell back into a twitching pile of limbs. “I know,” she murmured, the first hints of clarity entering her voice. “But you made your bed when you chose