I wait for her name to settle in the air.
“Not ringing any bells? Don’t tell me, you never askedher name before you fucked her? I suppose it would be a bother to have to remember the names of all the girls here.”
“Why do you care?” the older man asks. Sweat drips from his forehead.
I hold the tip of my knife to his throat. “Did you touch her?”
“Chloe was a problem child. She was always disobedient. Whatever she’s told you is a lie.”
I have to pull the knife away so I don’t accidentally slit his throat in a rage, and I punch him in the nose instead. The man with the beard tries to hop toward me, but all it takes is a small side step for him to land flat on his front, causing the knife to travel deeper inside him.
It must knock something important in him as blood pools out onto the floor. I nudge him onto his back, and he gasps for air, his restrained body flopping around like a dying fish. It only takes a few more seconds for the light to fade from his eyes.
“Well, that’s disappointing.” I look back up at the older man and then cast my gaze along the others. “To be honest, I really don’t care what any of you have to say. Chloe’s word is the gospel truth. She’s told me everything you did to her, and that’s why all of you will die tonight.”
“Then why drag it out? Just kill us now. Be done with it and let us pass into heaven,” the older man speaks again.
I laugh in his face. “Jeez, you’re seriously deluded if you still believe God is real after all of this. Even if he was, do you really think he’s going to want to hang out with a bunch of rapist pedos like you for eternity?”
“Blasphemy!”
“Oh, give it a rest!” I grab the knife handle sticking out of him and twist it, shutting him up for a while longer. “Ifanyone else wants to say something, it better only be congratulations.”
My phone buzzes loudly, and when I check it, my smile grows so wide it hurts my cheeks. Here comes the bride!
I clap my hands and spin on my heel. “Time’s up for you losers. My bride is on her way, and I need you all to be on your best behavior. If any of you try to ruin this, I will take my time slicing every inch of skin from your bodies and feeding it to you piece-by-piece.”
I’m a little nervous as I step back up to the altar. My palms are sweaty, and my heart is racing. I put my knife away and neaten myself up, fixing my shirt and re-buttoning my cuffs. There’s some blood on my hands and jacket, but I know that’ll only turn Chloe on more, so I leave it there.
When we scoped the place out earlier, I found a sound system in the backroom. I’ve set it up in the corner with my phone hooked up to it. I’m about to hit play when some of the men start crying out for help again.
“Seriously?” I groan over my shoulder. “Did you not hear what I just said?”
I leave the music for now so I can deal with them first.
“You’re lucky there’s not enough time for me to skin you. But I’m not having you ruin this for her like you have everything else.”
I grab the jaw of the man closest to me and pry his mouth open so I can pull his tongue out and cut it off. Everyone screams in terror. It only makes it easier for me to work my way through them and remove all their tongues. The old man I leave in tact. He’ll be needed later.
My hands are covered in blood when I take my place in front of the pulpit, and I use it to slick back the few strands of hair that the festivities have knocked loose.
“There, now everything’s perfect.”
The moonlight shines in through the stained-glass window behind me, casting the aisle in a warm red glow. I keep my eyes trained on the door, and as soon as it starts to open, I hit play on the music.
My beautiful bride makes her entrance, dressed all in black, her face covered by her veil. She’s hauntingly beautiful. I have to resist running straight up to her, dropping to my knees and kissing her feet, she’s that damn perfect.
Her heart’s been filled with so much tragedy, yet here she is with her head held high, ready to reclaim everything that was stolen from her.
Chapter 27
Chloe
Ihave to stop myself from crying as I open the chapel doors andAscensionismbySleep Tokenstarts playing. It’s the song that was playing when Zack and I made love for the first time. I always thought that wasn’t a real thing—making love.To me, sex was an emotionless act. Something done to you. But that time with Zack showed me how it feels to be truly in control of my body.
Mine and Zack’s wedding is hardly a conventional affair, so I never even considered music to walk down the aisle to. There are even rose petals scattered on the ground, and more candles lit around the hall. Zack’s really gone out of his way to make this as special as it can be.
I clutch my hands to my chest as I walk toward him. My cloak is off so he can finally see my wedding dress. It was only right that I dressed in black for the occasion.
