10
Kane
Salvation
Rage.
Boiling hot, venomous rage courses through my blood and blocks my post-fight pain as the beautiful woman I brought home howls in my bathroom.Howls. She sobs so loudly, the sound so full of pain, she digs at my heart the way a warm spoon digs inside a tub of ice cream.
I never intended to become attached.
To create a weakness.
I never intended to feel this need to protect her, but seeing her red face, her bulging eyes, her kicking feet while she struggled for air, made the decision to kill another man as easy as breathing.
Just like that; here one second, gone the next.
A neck will snap like a dry twig if you know how to do it right. And I do. I’ve trained a long time.
I know how to kill men.
I’ve received awards and pats on the head for being so skilled at it.
I don’twantto kill, but like a debt collector might notwantto call and harass people who can’t afford their bills, they’re probablygoodat it, which is why they got the job.
Then when they succeed and wring every last penny out of the person who can least afford it, they’re rewarded with nothing more than a pat on the head by the guy who gave them the task.
I don’t want to be a killer in her eyes. I want to be worthy.
But when faced with the choice between that man’s life or hers, I made my choice.
I’m not sorry.
I’m not even sad to add to my tally.
But I’m scared of how she’ll look at me when she finishes in the shower, when she’s done crying, when clarity comes back and she remembers what she saw.
With his pants around his ankles and his fingers still inside her body, he died.
She might never recover from that, and if she looks at me the way she did when she ran away last time, I might go back and kill him again for good measure.
I told her to go away. To not come back to my world. That she doesn’t belong.
But if she fucking insists on being where she shouldn’t be, then I insist on keeping her safe.
No one fucks with me. Not a single soul on this planet.
Except Abel.
So for as long as he remains blind to her, there isn’t a person in this world she need fear…
Except me.
I can protect her from everything. From everyone. From any threat.
But I can’t protect her from me.
I already tried. I tried to tell her to leave.