“That’s no fault of my own.”
“I never said it was.”
We sit in awkward silence for a long moment.
“Why did you have to suck the venom out of me like that?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, couldn’t you have just given me an antidote or something?”
“No, this particular kind of venom doesn’t work that way.”
“Oh?”
“You saw the way it congealed, right? Like a thick, black slime.”
“Yes, so what?”
“Once it gets like that, it has to be cut and pulled directly from the veins. An antidote might work within the first few minutes of injection … if there was one.”
“What kind of venom was it?”
“Honestly, I’m still trying to figure that out myself.”
“Then how did you know how to treat it? And why did you have to chain me up like that?”
“I’ve seen its effects before, only back then I was too late to save the girl.”
“You mean, Anna?” I ask without thinking.
Dante closes his eyes, his jaw clenching at the mention of her name. He remains silent for a long while, and I kick myself for not biting my tongue.
“Yes, it was Anna,” he finally answers, much to my surprise.
We sit quietly for a few minutes before I try again.
“But why did you have to chain me up like that?”
“Believe it or not, for both of our safety.” I blink at him, my brows knitting together in skepticism. “Trust me, unlike Seven, I find no pleasure when it comes to cutting into others ... unless they deserve it.”
“What would make someone deserve something like that?”
“You’d be surprised how many things warrant rather violent means.”
Somehow, I doubt I’d be anywhere close to surprised over what they deem as ‘deserving,’ given what I’ve seen of them … but I don’t say as much.
“I still don’t understand why you had to chain me up like that … or why you have the means to do so in the first place.”
A rather roguish grin briefly flashes across his face at this, and I wonder if I actually want to hear what he has to say about it. What am I thinking? Of course, I do.
“Tell me, Evi,” Dante says leaning forward, “did you hear any voices in your head?”
I stare at him wide-eyed, before remembering that he’s dealt with this in the past.
“Yes.”
“And did it happen to describe in great detail exactly how you were going to tear me limb from limb … most likely starting with my cock?”