And standing in the doorway is my uncle, red faced and sweaty as his eyes narrow in on me.
4
Eth’tak
Irecognize her uncle’s presence just before she does, and I turn, ready to tear through him just as he lays on her. In his hand, he holds some kind of crude weapon with three spikes that look like they will break easily against my tough skin.
I sneer at him, daring him to try as I bare my fangs. I’ve seen what a waste of space he is, how overweight he’s become while he lets Piper starve. The poor girl looked like she was going to blow over when I swept down from the rafters.
How could he let that happen?
Not only that, but he berates the girl that does everything for her. I’ve seen zonak and even dark elf slaves treated better in Ti’lith than he treats her. It makes me sick, and right now, as he charges at me like he’s protecting her fromme, I lose my temper.
Not that I ever have much of a grip on it, after all.
I am known for my brutality; hence, this mission.
“Get away from her–”
His words are cut off as I grip his throat, lifting him in the air as his precious weapon falls from his fingertips. I grin up at him, but unlike the soft smile I gave Piper, there’s malicious intent behind it.
“You aren’t worthy of her.” I grab the hand he used to try and attack me and twist it back until I wrench his arm from his sock. I let the bones break without severing the skin. I’d hate for him to bleed out and miss the rest of this party.
“You aren’t worthy of speaking to me.” I do the same to the leg on the right side of his body. It hangs limply as I squeeze his throat harder so he can’t scream, no matter how his face contorts.
“You aren’t worthy of the beasts I drained.” I make a mistake with his other leg, ripping through the skin, but I don’t think he’ll miss out on the last bit of pain I have to inflict so I let him bleed.
“You aren’t worthy of the food you kept from her.” I’m less careful with this arm, ripping it clean off and chunking it away. This time a gurgle makes it past my tight grip, and his eyes start to roll back into his head.
I shake him violently, rousing him no matter how much his body wants to give in. His gluttonous weight is giving me extra time to torture him for he has a lot to bleed.
“Almost done,” I promise him. “Though, I’d rather have taken my time breaking each bone of yours before I let you finally be swept away by the release of death to be tormented for all of eternity. But alas, I have other things to do today.”
Digging my fingers tighter into his throat, I add, “And you aren’t worthy of the air she breathes.” I land a solid kick against his torso as I jerk my hand back, and his body flies against the wall while his throat column remains in my hand, nothing more than shatter pieces.
He falls to the ground, gurgling as he suffocates and drowns in his own blood. I sigh. “He didn’t deserve a death that quick, either.”
But I had to give it to him, so I toss his blood slick bone shards at his shattered body and turn back around, satisfied that I have handled that threat to Piper.
She’s no longer standing behind me, though. In fact, I don’t see her, and I have to come around the cloak-formed table to find her cowering half beneath it, her small frame shaking.
I frown, my stomach twisting. Regret finds me, a feeling I know so little about it takes me a moment to place it. I don’t like seeing her like this- which is odd because I usually love seeing humans cower.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” I assure, crouching down so that we are eye to eye. She tenses, but her eyes dart to look at me. For the first time ever in my life, I try to make myself look smaller, less intimidating. “I shouldn’t have made you watch that. For that, I’m sorry, but I cannot apologize for giving him what he had coming.”
She starts to unclench a little, turning to look at me fully now. “And why did he have it coming?”
“Because he was terrible to you.” I reach out without thinking and pat her knee. To my surprise, she doesn’t shrug me off or cringe. She looks down at my hand and then back up at me with a tired sort of expectation. “You should be treated better. I can feed you and give you a proper home.”
Sucking a deep breath, I feel a little nervous as I ask, “Will you come with me.”
I know that I have to take her no matter what, but I need her tochooseme. I’m not sure what it is, but I want to protect her at all costs. Despite being human, I don’t see her as frail or useless. She has a strength brimming in her I admire, and she’s so gorgeous… I’ve never met anyone like this.
But she’s not yours,I remind myself.
Piper nods, coming closer so that our knees are nearly brushing. “I’ll go with you.”
“Come, then.” I feel no need to waste more time.