Her nostrils flare. “Killing me won’t do anything.”
My mouth slacks open, then I drag my tongue along the upper set of my teeth. “Once again, correct. Fucking worthless bitch.” The twitching of her nose is accompanied by the long thick whiskers beginning to pull from her cheeks.
“Your son raped my girl...”
Her head begins to shake, and my eyes widen. That’s when she recoils, shrinking back against the chair. The trembling seems beyond her control—she tries to tense her muscles, to will herself still, but it’s useless. This is fear; raw and pungent. I can smell it on her—the acrid stench of sweat mingling with the lingering reek of dog piss.
“Your sonkilledwhat isMINE!” I deliver the last word with such force, it makes her scream. “Took what ismine! I don’t give afuckwhat you think I took fromyou. You do not matter! Nothing matters buther!”
Fresh tears stream down her cheeks. “Tell me what you want…”
“I want to knowwhyyour son is doing this andwhohe’s working with?!”
Her eyes narrow, different parts of her face twitching, as she searches for what, I’m unsure. “I know nothing.”
I scoff. “Clearly.” Heat rises in my chest, a surge of anger and pain, like molten lava boiling beneath my skin.
“Then why am I?—”
“I need you to think beyond what you know, Sarah!” I elevate my voice as I scream her name. “What have you seen?! He hurt my girl ten years ago, formonths! Ten years ago, where was he?!”
“I don’t know! College?—”
“Where?!”
“Sidence U?—”
“BULLSHIT!” Standing, I smash my foot into the bottom of her chair, sending it flying backward. The crack of her head against the concrete floor is followed by a loud shriek of pain. “Your son, on paper, attended Sidence University, but I’ve spent the last seventy-two hours looking into him. I found no evidence he ever steppedfootinto that damn school. Where the fuck was he ten years ago, Sarah?!”
She cries, “Silper! I don’t know why! I don’t—” Her body begins to shift, and I can see that her feet are turning into paws, padded and rough like a canine’s. I grit my teeth and take two long strides.
“If you think shifting into some dog will keep me from hurting you, you are wrong. I’ll string you up by your paws and skin you.” My hand grabs at the collar of her shirt, tearing her back upright. “I won’t kill you, either. I’ll make you suffer until we can finish thisconversation.”
Her lips press into a strong, fine line as she whimpers and moans.
“Had he ever brought anyone around before he left?!”
“That is too long ag?—”
My grip tightens around her throat, causing her eyes to widen, nearly bulging from their sockets. “Dogs have incredible memories. Think, bitch.”
Her shoulders jerk from side to side, her hips lifting as she tries to escape, the chair rattling against the floor.
The moment I release her throat she gasps, choking out a whine. “He had a friend—” she wheezes, cutting herself off as she spits out saliva across her lap. “In Eldritch. A woman. Spent a year with her ten years ago. Then moved to Silper for a few months, and…”Noneof this was in his file, however I can’t ignore the place…Eldritch…“Then he moved back here, to Sidence.”
“What was the woman’s name?”
“I … I don’t know.”
My teeth grind together.
“Did your son ever show you a picture of her? Bring her around?” Iknewthose fingers that were holding my girl in place didn’t belong to a man. The nails were sharpened to a fine point, and the fingers themselves were thin, dainty.
She shakes her head. “No. He…” she cuts herself off and my nose twitches involuntarily. “He hasn’t—I can’t, I’m sorry, I don’t know!”
My head falls back as I draw in a deep, intoxicating breath, filling lungs that no longer need the air.
“Sarah,” I seethe. “I will peel your fingernails off one… by fucking one!” When I turn my head back down, she sucks the snot dripping down her lip right back into her nose. “Then, I will grab your stomach through your cunt”—her body violently shakes as she lets out a deafening scream— “find your sister, and feed it to her!SPEAK!”
