Page 11 of Shai

Had McIntyre had to suffer the incessant questions as well? If so, I was beginning to see why he’d tried to drown Elijah. I led him through the long corridors until we reached the door of my bedroom. Pushing the door open, I stood back to allow Elijah entrance. He came to a sudden halt in the doorway, his gaze riveted on the huge bed in the center of the room. Smirking, I planted a hand in the center of his back and applied pressure until he staggered forward.

I left the door open. We wouldn’t be in here long. Just long enough for a decision to be made. A decision that would drastically affect Elijah’s chances of surviving the night. “You think I would take you from one bed to another? That’s a very illogical way of thinking. You’re looking in the wrong place. I didn’t bring you in here to show you a bed.”

Elijah turned in a slow circle, his breath catching as he spied the snake tanks. I had to commend the black mamba on his timing as he chose that moment to throw himself against the glass, Elijah whipping around and staggering backward, horror etched all over his face. My lips curved into a smile. I loved that expression. I wanted to bathe in it. I wanted to fuck him while he wore it.

His next breath shuddered in his chest. “What the fuck is that?”

I was delayed from answering as Taylor swept into the room, his gaze skating briefly over Elijah before settling on me. “We caught him.”

I didn’t need to ask who. It was obvious. My men had been searching

for Isaac for weeks. “Where is he?”

“Waiting for your attention.”

“Bring him in here.”

Taylor nodded and left the room. He was gone for less than a minute

before returning, a struggling man sandwiched between himself and Wyatt. They shoved him into the room and pushed him down on his knees in front of me. Isaac raised his head, a look of resignation settling on his face when he saw me. He knew it was already too late, but he’d go through the usual rigmarole anyway. They all did. There was that tiny part of their brain determined to believe that they’d be the one to find a chink in the stone casing around my heart. And I’d let Isaac think that, because it made the end result all the sweeter.

Elijah had retreated over to the far wall, as if he sensed that whatever

was about to go down was going to be a long way from pleasant. Clever boy. He was right.

The man on his knees took in a great big gulp of air. “Shai, there’s been

a misunderstanding. We can sort this out. We can—”

“So you didn’t steal from me and then try and leave town?” A drop of sweat broke loose from his brow. I watched as it made slow

and steady progress down his cheek. Stepping forward, I stilled its progress, capturing it on my thumb and bringing it to my lips. It was warm and salty, tinged with the delicious taste of fear.

“I…” Panic flared in Isaac’s eyes. “I made some bad decisions. I can see

that now. I thought that…” Words seemed to dry up in his throat, his mouth staying open but no sound coming out.

Tipping my head to one side, I regarded him silently, letting the empty

space where words should be build—tension its companion. Only when he was visibly shaking, his limbs twitching restlessly in uncontrollable spasms, did I speak. “You thought what? That you could get away with it, that I wouldn’t hunt you down, that I wouldn’t bother with you? Or did you think you were cleverer than the ones who tried it before you? Is that it?”

He shook his head, droplets of sweat breaking free to land on the carpet,

the worst sort of pleading in his eyes, the sort that made him nothing short of pathetic in my eyes. Nyoko was getting restless, so I lifted her from around my neck and placed her back in the tank, deliberately taking my time before turning back to face the quaking mess on the floor. I let out a weary sigh. “I hate it when people force me to this point.”

“Please, Shai, I can make it up to you. I can…”

I laid a finger on his lips, the skin twitching beneath it. “Shhhh. No talking now. You’ve said enough. Done enough. Now all that’s left is for you to take your punishment.”

Isaac’s eyes bulged as I retrieved the snake hook from where it was propped up against the wall. His wide-eyed gaze followed me as I moved over to the tank that housed the black mamba. Both Taylor and Wyatt took a few steps back in anticipation of what was to come. Sliding the lid off the tank, I moved lightning fast to snare the black mamba before he could strike. Pinning the writhing body in place with the hook, I reached in, gripping the snake firmly at the back of his head. His tail thrashed as he sought to get free, but I didn’t loosen my grip, holding him firmly with one hand while I released the hook so that I could grab his tail with the other. He was as strong and determined as ever, every muscle in his body straining with the effort to twist around and sink his fangs into my skin.

I lifted him out of the tank, tucking the squirming tail beneath my armpit to hold it still and lessen the physical strength needed to restrain him. Isaac shrank back as I turned in his direction, his eyes huge in his face and the droplets of sweat now a torrent. “No, Shai, please.”

I came to a stop in front of him, the mamba’s head no more than a few feet away as I stared at him impassively. “Have you ever seen me change my mind? Have you ever seen me show mercy to anyone who has been disloyal?”

He didn’t need to answer. I could already see the truth in his eyes, that shift I’d seen a thousand times before where inevitable acceptance of his fate took over from hope. “Take your jacket off.”

His eyes widened at the order. It didn’t really make any difference. The mamba had no problem biting through any number of layers, but I liked to see it, liked to see the blood ooze out as proof that the snake had done its job. It took Isaac a while to remove his jacket, his hands trembling so much that he fumbled with every fastening for an indeterminate amount of time. But eventually it lay on the floor next to him. He wouldn’t be needing it again.