I was pretty sure any other person would be feeling a little queasy at the sight, but not me. Not while so entranced by the beautiful brutality my angel just unleashed on the man who could no longer hurt her.
* * *
Neon
I wishedI could have said I felt nothing. That the fire burning in my veins wasn’t because of the bloodlust being satiated as I watched him bleed to death. I couldn’t take my eyes off it, off the blood dripping from the gaping wound in his stomach, pieces of torn flesh protruding from the wound. It was gruesome, but I loved it. I loved that it was me who painted this grotesque picture of a man butchered and hacked like a slaughtered pig.
The warmth of his blood covering my hand soothed me. It calmed the storm and silenced the voices, the cold iron hook still tightly clasped in my grip.
“Neon.”
“I liked it,” I muttered without taking my eyes off Slither’s mangled body. “It felt good.” I scoffed, tilting my head to the side. “I would do it again. And again,” I leaned my head to the other side, “and…again.”
It came out of nowhere, like a gust of wind sweeping right through me, taking with it every last bit of strength I had left… and I fell. My legs weakened, no longer able to keep me up, and I collapsed without even realizing what was happening. My brain short-circuited right that very second, and my mind went numb as every horror this man did to me disappeared.
Warm, strong arms caught me just like they had caught me so many times before. Ink. The man who refused to leave my side, determined to be the one who would catch me every time. No. Matter. What.
Together, we sagged to the ground, my back against his chest and my body completely drained. The rage was gone, replaced with relief and extreme exhaustion. Ink wrapped his arms around me, hugging me close. I tried to keep it, tried to swallow it down, but the last remnants of my pain, of the reality of what had been done to me came out like an uproar from my throat, a scream that cut my soul in half. Sobs tore from my chest, tears pouring down my cheeks with no sign of stopping.
The room around us turned to nothing but a blur, every sound silenced. It was only me finally letting go, allowing myself to break so I could purge myself of every wrong that had been done to me.
Finally, it was all over. It was done. And he was gone.
Ink wiped hair from my face. “Neon—”
The sound of heavy boots stomping across cold cement broke through his voice, both of us turning to the door.
Onyx came storming in first with Granite and Dutch behind him. Onyx came to a screeching halt when he saw Slither hanging from the ceiling, bleeding to death.
His wild eyes masked with confusion settled on Ink. “What the fuck did you do?”
19
Ink
It was saidthat timing was everything, and Murphy was the motherfucker who made all the wrong things happen at the wrong time. Or, if he really wanted to fuck with your brain, let the right things happen at the wrong time. Let it be known, if I ever had to get my hands on Murphy, I’d cut his balls off and shove them up his ass…at the wrong motherfucking time.
“Onyx—”
“Jesus Christ, Ink. What the fuck, man?”
If it wasn’t for Neon crying and leaning against me, I’d get up and face him head on. But there was no one in this entire goddamn world who could get me to let go of her, not while she needed me like this.
With my ass firmly on the floor and my arms tightly around my woman, I looked up at Onyx. “I had to do it.” It was a simple statement—simple, yet enough to explain everything. There was nothing else that needed to be said. I had to do it. Slither had to pay for what he did to Neon, what he did to us, and I made that happen.
Onyx pulled a palm through his dirty blond hair, his face pale and eyes wide. Crouching, he kept his gaze on Slither. “You had him all this time.”
I didn’t reply because I knew it wasn’t a fucking question.
“All this time, you knew we were searching for him. The fucking Sixes…Jesus, Ink. You know Crow was looking for him.” Onyx straightened, both palms on his head, and paced. “Jesus fucking Christ!” He kicked at the corner table, and it toppled over, steel clattering against the tiles.
My guess, he was pretty fucking pissed.
Granite walked over to where Slither hung like a lifeless goat. “Dutch, help me get this fucker off. We need to get this place cleaned up, stat.”
I kept rocking back and forth, Neon still crying even though her sobs had quieted down some.
Onyx turned and glanced down at her. “She okay?”