longer electrocuted or given lethal injections,” Thomson said at last.
He pinched his lips as Zain lifted an inquisitive eyebrow, leaning forward with a predatory grin.
“And what do you do with them?” Zain pressed. “Go on, Director Thomson. Your secrets are safe with me.”
Thomson looked as if he was feeling nauseous. “They are cast out in the Mist on the last day,” he admitted with reluctance.
I covered my mouth with my hand and stared at him with horror. I'd never been one to follow much about death row. Most states had abolished it over recent years.
“Feed them to me,” Zain ordered in an imperative tone.
“Zain, you can't feed on humans!” I exclaimed before turning to Thomson and looking at him with pleading eyes. “Tell him! You don't want to open that Pandora's box.”
“And what do you prefer, my mate?” Zain challenged me. “That Darryl feeds off them and gets even stronger before I can confront him? That another Nightmare in the making grows fat on them? They are dead men walking anyway. If they die, shouldn't it be so that innocents may live?”
“But they are people,” I argued pleadingly. “You're here to kill monsters, not people.”
“Was Jared not a monster?” he countered.
That robbed me of words. Jared had indeed been a monster. I didn't believe in taking someone's life as punishment for a crime. And yet, I felt no remorse, guilt, or empathy for the fate that had befell my ex-boyfriend. He had sought to murder me just for the pleasure of watching me suffer and be destroyed by abominations. With the massive judicial reforms that had taken place a few years back, mistakes that had previously occurred were no longer an issue. Only the truest, and most unredeemable monsters were now condemned to death row. Still, it was one thing to see your personal tormentor get his comeuppance, but another one altogether to coldly plan the death of a stranger, no matter how horrible he may have been.
“I do not have control over the handling of prisoners,” Thomson said, while eyeing me warily. “They are under the jurisdiction of a different branch of the government.”
“I don't give a shit,” Zain said dismissively. “Figure it out, but give them to me. Now, I'm ready for that shield training,” he said rising to his feet.
I instinctively followed suit, disturbed by the not so subtle shift in power that had just occurred. Once again, I wondered if we weren’t creating an even greater monster than Darryl.
Chapter 11
Zain
That pathetic vessel that served me as a human body once again showed its weaknesses and inconveniences. Between a full bladder, the need to pause at regular intervals to feed, and now the fatigue that demanded I turn in for the night, there was always something. Granted, the release of peeing was quite agreeable, and some of the food served to us was very tasty. Too bad I could only intake a limited amount of it. Those videos proving what a formidable killing machine this deceptively feeble body could become once shielded by ethereal energy had been thrilling. If not for them, I would have grown quite disheartened by my woman’s obsession with protecting a bunch of strangers. Were their roles reversed, those fuckers probably wouldn’t lift a finger to reciprocate.
To my annoyance, Naima escorted me back to my birth room rather than to her personal quarters. I intended to be with her in a far more intimate fashion tonight anyway. She knew something hot and passionate would happen between us the moment we lay in bed. Her avoidance was silly. But I played along and followed.
I hated how much she had closed herself off to me following my reaction to those videos and my request to feed on those to be executed. I sensed no deception in her when she said she understood why I liked the things I did. But similarly, I could sense her inner struggle with coming to terms with it. The way she went from lusting after me to fighting her fear of me was all but giving me a whiplash. Humans were too complicated. Things didn't have to be so convoluted with vague concepts of morals, compassion, and laws. The only law that really mattered was that of the strongest, of the fittest, and of the fiercest.
Naima waved me into the bathroom. I gave her a teasing nod and entered. She followed in and showed me another obnoxiously annoying hygiene step she had omitted earlier: dental care. I rolled my eyes