Twisted - Esme Devlin Page 0,109

love him.

“This one,” he says, sticking his thumb behind his back and then spinning around. “They tell stories about this one throughout the island. The mainland, too. This one spends his days shunting timber. They say he killed a man with his bare hands, crushed his skull like it was a lightbulb.”

He even makes the squishing gesture with his hands.

I look behind him at the man. Tall, muscled, and with long red hair that hasn’t seen a comb since the day he grew it. Timber man grins at me, and he doesn’t have a single tooth in his mouth.

I won’t listen to this anymore. I’m doing the mantra. Don’t let it be him.

But who should it be?

I pick out the smallest one.

He’s covered in filth with fair hair and lips too big for his face. I guess I’d want it to be him, but he’ll be the first to die.

His pup steps forward, and I close my eyes and try to get inside my castle.

37

Baron

I had to cut off my hair, and I don’t know if I’m more annoyed by that or the fact that I’ve had to show my face.

I’m not used to showing my face. I practiced with Scout before we came, and the little shit said I express too much emotion. It’s no wonder. I’ve never had to think about that before, have I?

Just do nothing, he said. Don’t roll your eyes. Don’t smirk. Don’t move your eyebrows. Don’t frown.

All of that is easier said than done when I’m surrounded by idiots whose smell alone makes my face want to crawl.

The little boy in front of me steps forward, and I fix my eyes on Sapphire.

She’s had her eyes closed for a while now, which is probably for the best.

My greatest fear would be that despite never seeing my face, she would somehow recognize me. And I can’t have that.

When I win—and it is a matter of when—she will need to be perfectly realistic so as not to raise suspicions. And since she loves nothing more than being fucked by me… well, I had to take matters into my own hands—quite literally—to guarantee that there is no chance her—or her insides—will recognize me.

The boy mouths off something about finding me in the fields, and how I’ve done such-and-such a thing.

Maxim addresses me, asking if I have any final words, and I do my best to keep my expression stone.

“This one’s a mute,” the boy says.

There’s a snicker of laughter from the line.

I wish I could laugh right back at them, but that would certainly give me away and I’m trying hard not to let my pettiness get the better of me.

But my sweet little girl finally opens her eyes. She looks across at me, and I’m sure there is something there. A flash across her face. It could be recognition, but then again it could equally be terror. I’m used to her looking at me like that.

I look straight ahead, feeling her eyes on my face and hating every second of it.

Maxim moves along the line handing out chibs, and I wonder if the man has ever had a creative thought in his life. I thought of those. Me. The chibs were my idea.

He stops and hands me one, a wooden handle with a thin metal toothpick no longer than my thumbnail.

I take it out of his hand, shake my head, and throw it down into the sand.

Chibs are for stupid people.

Ever heard of someone dying from being stabbed with a toothpick? Me neither. It’s only good for unnecessary mess.

Maxim laughs and goes back to Sapphire, putting his filthy hands on her and removing the sheet she is wearing.

Stone face. Stone face. Stone fucking face.

Maxim will die tonight for this.

I can’t bring myself to look at her. Not when that’s exactly where every other pair of eyes in the ring are pointing.

They’re all going to die just for looking at her.

She fucking belongs to me.

Me.

And they will all pay.

They will all get what is coming to them.

Every single one of them, my sweet little girl included.

38

Sapphire

Bodies blur into a tangled mash of flesh and blood as I stare at the sight before me.

I’m standing on one of the eight sides, my arms crossed together and secured to a bar with chains and a padlock. Every so often someone comes crashing toward me, and there’s nothing I can do to get out of the way.

I tried closing my eyes, but that only made the sounds louder. Grunting and