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Just when I thought I couldn’t be more miserable, I made the mistake of looking down to see my insides spilling out of my chest and stomach. No one should have to see a thing like that. Really. It was a whole new kind of wrong.

“—about the rest of her parts?” a male British voice was saying, the one that had almost taken my eyes.

“The bidding is concluding as we speak,” the leader said with satisfaction. “They’re bidding on everything from her skin to her teeth and her nails.”

It’s just a pity we can’t let her shift to her other form and take her apart like that,” another voice said. “We’d fetch a higher price for sure. Imagine full-sized dragon eyes and teeth!”

“That’s too dangerous,” the leader said flatly.

“I still think we’re overlooking a good opportunity for extra money by just renting out her body while the auction runs,” one of them said animatedly, “but nobody’s going to want her when she looks like so much butchered meat.”

All of their voices were measured, very British and as casual as if they were discussing tea and scones.

“I wouldn’t say nobody,” the attempted eye stealing bastard said, “I’m sure we could find someone that would pay extra to have her while she’s like this. How about we offer both in either order and see what happens? We could always sew her up and split her open again. Perhaps we could charge extra if they want to take her apart themselves.”

Hate is a funny thing. Sometimes it takes years to build to full strength and sometimes just a few hellish sentences will do it.

“Can’t hurt to try,” another seconded the awful idea.

“Let’s not overcomplicate things,” the leader said disdainfully, “there’s not time for any of that. As I’ve said, the bidding is finishing up as we speak.”

I was hurting so bad from the physical and mental torture that I wasn’t even plotting revenge anymore. I just wanted escape. I didn’t have to kill them all on the way out. I could always come back and bring friends.

One of the men was standing over me then, his hands moving around inside my chest. I had no idea who he was, but I really didn’t like him. In fact, I’d put this up there as the worst introduction of all time.

“You’ll die for this,” I told him with what was left of my voice and my bravado.

He shot me a look. He was handsome, in a clean cut kind of way, and his eyes would have been a nice blue if he wasn’t moving my organs around with his fingers. “You think so?” When he spoke I clocked him as the one with the horrific ideas that had almost taken my eyes. “We’ve covered our tracks pretty well. You’d be surprised what a well thought out plan will let you get away with.”

I opened my mouth to contradict him, because, let’s face it, that’s what I do, and if ever there was proof, this was it.

It was official: literally nothing on earth could shut me up.

But I never got a chance to say another word to him.

There was power in the air. Scary power. Make every hair on your body rise power. It was electric, and pervasive, and I had no clue where it was coming from.

The man was frozen, looking at something out of my eyesight that seemed to have terrified and immobilized him.

Suddenly and shockingly the man’s head exploded, raining bloody bits of flesh and gore everywhere. There had been another man working to my left, and I turned my head just far enough to look at him right as his head popped right off.

No, that wasn’t right. It had blown to fucking bits, just like the other guy.

I had no idea what was going on, had never seen any power that did that, but I couldn’t say I didn’t love it right that second.

With reservations, of course. If my head exploded next, I would fucking hate it.

“Help!” I called out weakly. I was really hoping that the scary power in the room was on my side, or at the very least, not my enemy.

I only realized it was Dom when I saw him with my own eyes. I didn’t know about this ability, couldn’t wrap my mind around it.

“Have you been hiding this, or have you just gained that much strength?” I managed to gasp at him as he approached my prone figure.

He was in no shape to answer, fury and anguish in every line of his shaking body, madness in his eyes.

I didn’t imagine he liked seeing my organs spilling out of me much more than I did.

He was fully in human form, but threw his head back and howled. Like an animal. Like a beast on a rampage. Like he’d lost every ounce of sanity he ever possessed. And that howl went on and on.