“You know what I hate? Rapists. They’re pieces of shit. Say it. Say ‘I’m a piece of shit, Ash.’”
“I’m a piece of shit.”
“And a rapist.”
“And a fucking rapist! Now please! Let me go!”
K stepped up and stood over all of us.
Fuck K was a scary bastard. He was 6 foot 5, with muscles everywhere, his hair cropped short. Those eyes, if you caught that look in his eyes. You were dead.
No fucking question.
That’s why I liked him so much.
“I don’t think you’ve learned your lesson very well at all today Eddie.” He said pleasantly. “Tell me, what happened to Kate the other day?”
Eddie started sobbing. “I’m sorry. I don’t know – I’m sorry!” He was blubbering everywhere.
It was getting on my feet.
“Ew, fucking gross.” I kicked his nose, drawing blood. I wiped my foot on his shirt.
“You’re sorry? Well, so am I. Because ‘sorry’ doesn’t really cut it around here. You were warned weren’t you?” K’s voice still held that pleasant tone.
“Yes,” Eddie sobbed.
“And you didn’t listen did you?” he shook his head as if disappointed.
“K, please. Please.”
K reached out and slapped his face. “Be a man about this Eddie. Have some dignity, yeah?”
“K…”
K nodded to Dev who grinned like Christmas had come early.
“I’m going to enjoy this.” Dev said.
The screams, oh the screams.
Music to my ears.
Finally—something interesting.
I let my gift slip free, a lazy twist of air that spun through the room. The sound of pain broke apart, carried away by the wind until nothing but a faint hum was left. Wouldn’t want the guards getting curious. Not that they cared. They let us do whatever the hell we wanted, as long as it didn’t spill into the corridors.
But when my own wind curled back toward me, it brought a scent.
Vanilla. Cinnamon. Smoke.
It hit like a drug. Sweet and sharp and wrong.
My grin faded.
“What the fuck is that?” I muttered.
The air shimmered, just faintly. The scent lingered, threading through blood and iron and rot like somethingclean.
