“He enjoys this,” I murmured, unable to look away, drawn in by his intensity.
“He does,” Knox said, his gaze fixed on his brother, something hard settling into his expression.
Then he looked at me.
“Does that bother you?”
I considered it.
It should have. A violent alpha, one who understood pain so intimately, who could wield it like a tool, should have terrified me. If I had known before… I would have run.
But I searched myself for fear now, and it was nowhere to be found.
I knew him.
And more importantly…
I knew he wouldn’t turn that on me.
“No,” I said, giving a small shake of my head.
Knox studied me for a moment, then nodded once.
“Good,” he said. “Because this is what we do, Lena. I meant it when I said we’re brutal men.”
A faint sense of satisfaction settled in my chest.
“You’remybrutal men,” I said with certainty.
Knox’s gaze dropped to me, something shifting in his expression, something deeper than approval. Pride, maybe. Or something closer to awe.
Then I noticed how still the room went.
No more movement.
No more sound.
Luca's begging had stopped.
Knox’s attention shifted to the body on the ground.
“He’s dead, Silas,” he said, gesturing toward what remained of Luca.
Silas let out a quiet breath. “Shame,” he muttered. “I was hoping he’d last for the final touch.”
He crouched, gripping Luca’s jaw and forcing his mouth open. His fingers hooked inside, tugging the man's limp tongue forward.
“Oh well.”
The blade sliced once with clean precision.
Blood spurted as Silas severed Luca's tongue at the base.
He rose to his feet, tucking the severed tongue into his pocket like it was nothing more than change. He stilled, looking down at the body with a strange reverence.
“Times up. We have to move,” Knox said, already pulling me toward the exit. But his brother didn't even acknowledge him, eyes still fixed on Luca's corpse.
“Silas,” I called urgently.
