“Does he know you came here?” Levi asks one last question before freeing him from his torture. I’m almost sorry to see it end.
“I didn’t tell him where I was going. Just that I was getting his daughter back.” Corey sneers at me one last time.
“Good.” I watch the flash of the blade as Levi goes to remove the band. But he doesn’t cut the rubber; instead, he slices through the skin below the band, and there’s a plopping sound that echoes through the room. I gasp. Corey’s face drains of color, his mouth agape. Levi skewers the remnants with the tip of his knife and tosses them into the fire.
“Not a fan of Rocky Mountain oysters then?” He looks at Corey and smirks. “I suppose they are better battered and fried, but gotta make do with what we have.” A dark chuckle emanates from Levi’s chest, and Corey passes out, from shock or pain, I don’t know.
Levi takes a bottle of water and uncaps it to splash Corey’s face. His eyes open, but there’s nothing but panic in them. He’s deliriously looking around like he can’t remember where he is—able to escape to the safer hallways of his mind for a few moments before he remembers the living hell he’s currently experiencing.
“There we go. Back with us again. You awake now?” Levi asks.
Corey nods and looks down between his legs, letting out a horrified shriek when he sees the missing piece.
“Oh, right, I was supposed to cut the elastic.” Levi hovers the knife back over the fire before he moves back into place as Corey watches in terror.
“No! Fuck! No. No. No,” Corey begs, but it’s too late, the heat does its job, and the elastic snaps, blood pouring out from the wound. “What the fuck have you done?”
I’m out of position now, jolted up as I watch the gruesome sight unfold. Levi wipes his blade on Corey’s shirt as the man screams for his life.
“A man who doesn’t have the balls to protect his wife doesn’t deserve to keep either.” Levi shoves the blade through his throat, offering him a small final mercy. Blood spurts from the wound at first, and then it seeps down the edges of the knife, rivulets of blood forming over his neck and chest, soaking his clothes. I can’t stop staring—mesmerized by the sight of it. A few moments later, his eyes shutter, and his head lolls to his chest.
Levi pulls the blade, a river of blood streaming out in its wake. He wipes it on a clean part of Corey’s shirt and lays it down on the table with the rest of his implements of torture.
He glances back at me, to make sure I’m all right before he hollers for his men. I nod to let him know I’m fine, and he lets out a sharp whistle that summons them like obedient dogs. I’m not okay. Not really. But I will be now that Corey’s dead.
“Pull his balls out of the fire and put them in a box. Send them to his father-in-law with a note that says his daughter is next unless he confesses to the murders of my parents and Kelly’s grandparents at the Governor’s Gala.” One of his men nods his understanding while another moves to extinguish the flame and extract the gift from its fiery resting place.
They move quickly, rounding up everything they brought into the barn. Levi turns back to me, crossing the room and closing the distance between us before he speaks again.
“That’s for his benefit and yours. Let him continue to think you’re a victim and not working with me. It'll help him stay motivated to do the right thing.” Levi searches every inch of me with methodical assessment as if he needs to make sure I’m still in one piece.
“Okay,” I whisper my response.
“Are you okay?” he asks, knowing my answer isn’t certain. “I know that was a lot to take in.”
A lot is the understatement of the year. My hands are still gripping the saddle stand for dear life, and my heart hasn’t come down from the adrenaline rush of watching it unfold.
“You’re a sadist.” I state the obvious so bluntly that he grins.
“Only when there’s someone who deserves it. I enjoy meting out justice.” He studies me for a moment, a sober look wiping away the vindictive smile. “Do you hate me now? I’d understand if you did.”
“No. I don’t hate you. I’ve just never met anyone with two sides quite so opposite. One so reasonable, and one so…”
“Reason never works with men like him. Not in his world. Certainly not in mine.”
I couldn’t argue with him there. I tried dozens of times to reason with Corey. It never worked. I tilt my head silently in understanding.
“It’s not an annulment, but hopefully it still gets you what you need to make the abbess happy.” There’s a wry sort of humor in his tone.
“I don’t think the abbess will ever let me become a nun if she finds out about this.”
“Your secret’s safe with me, and everyone else thinks you’re my prisoner. She can’t blame you for that, can she?”
“No. I suppose she can’t.”
“Then you’re free to do what you want.”
Free.I asked and he delivered, just like he promised.
