Bringing the blade back to the flame, I watch it burn red. “Spell it out for me, asshole.”
“Spell…” His eyes roll around in his head. “Spell what?”
“Rapist. I want you to spell it out. Slowly. One letter at a time.”
“Please stop.” His head drops forward, almost into my flame, and I have to step back or watch his hair go up. “Please stop.”
“No. I won’t stop. Not until the day you die.” With a knife in one hand and the torch in the other, I turn to the guys, but I don’t have to ask.
Kane steps forward and slams Graham’s head back against the wood, threading his fingers into his hair and holding him still, he presents me with the perfect canvas. “R.” When Kane’s eyes meet mine, I find myself inducted into that brotherhood he spoke of. The trust that guys like Kane and Spence forge on the battlefield. His jaw ticks with rage. “Rapist starts with R.”
“No!”
I ignore Graham’s screams and the rattling chains, and instead focus as I bring my fiery hot blade to his forehead and press the tip in to start my work.
“You should thank me.” I speak over Graham’s screams and dig in until I feel the bone. “I disinfected this knife, Garry. And the heat makes it so your skin melts. It’s like butter.” Blood spills over my hands, but not a lot, since the hot blade cauterizes the wound as I go. “There will be no infections today. Think of it like a tattoo.”
“A.” Kane snaps when I finish the first letter. “A for asshole.”
“A for anus.” Spence prowls behind us. “Ever had a blowtorch shoved up your anus before, Garett?” He stops and flashes an evil grin. “No? Me neither. But one of us is gonna know what that feels like before this is done.”
“Not it!” Kane shouts with a playful grin.
I stare into Graham’s eyes and whisper, “Not it.”
“No…” Snot bubbles over his lips and joins the blood on my hands. “Please stop.”
“Sorry.” I grit my teeth and work on the next line of the A. “This ain’t my house. Our host is saying this is what’s happening, and everyone except you said not it. Next time you’ll be faster.”
“I’ll give you all my hard drives,” he bargains. “Every picture. Every video. I’ll give you all my passwords and help you take all the stuff off the internet.”
“P!” Kane’s hand presses over mine until the tip of my blade snaps against bone. “You think we don’t already have it taken down, motherfucker? You think I didn’t take care of that?”
I ignore Graham’s screaming and turn to Kane. “You got it all?”I didn’t even fucking know there were images.
“I got everything. What else do you think I did every night I watched that pussy sleep? I wasn’t whacking off. I searched every room, every inch of that house. I collected and wiped every last piece of technology he owns. There is not a single image left on this planet for anyone to look at.” His eyes meet mine. “She looks just like mine; you think I left it out there?”
“No.” I turn back and slap Graham’s face when his eyes wheel to the back of his head. “I’m not done, Gabe. I. Then S. Then T. Then you sleep.”
“I don’t wanna.” His words garble, like his tongue is too thick. “No more.”
“Next time you hear a girl say that, you might listen.” I slide the blade along his forehead and cut into his brow – similarly to how Spence’s brow is marked. “The next time a girl says no, you might think of me. That oughtta slow those rapey urges. Hold onto something, because this S is gonna suck.”
“No!” The chains rattle against the stand, and when he pushes back with enough strength, Spence moves around to hold it in place.
My hands don’t shake as I mark this man.
Thisrat.
My heart barely pumps faster than it does at rest.
This is his payment for what he did. It’s not enough. It’ll never be enough. But short of killing him, it’s the best we can do.
“That T’s a little wonky, Riggs.”
I shrug and finish it up with an exclamation point. “It reads just fine.” I slap Graham’s face again. “Don’t you dare pass out. You don’t get out of this so easily.”
“I want to go home.”