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Her messy bedhead was adorable, and I sat and ate with her, unable to take my eyes off her. She really was beautiful. I couldn’t believe this was where we ended up.
“I have to run out, something for work, but I should be back before lunch,” I told her. “If there’s anything you want to do tonight—” Taylor shrugged, her mouth full of bacon. “Just think about it.” I went to kiss her cheek, getting up to take a shower. Once that was done, I got dressed in a pitch-black suit.
Taylor had finished her hearty breakfast by then, walking with me to the door, where she stood on her tiptoes and waited for me to kiss her on those deliciously supple lips. I bent my top half down, meeting her halfway.
“I love you,” I whispered to her once the kiss was over, and she grinned.
“I love you, too.”
We couldn’t say those words enough to each other.
Even though I hated leaving her, I did just that. My steps were purposeful, and my jaw ground as I went down the elevator. I hadn’t lied to Taylor about where I was going, but I also didn’t tell the whole truth.
It was for work… or, rather, it was because of work’s connections that I had somewhere to go. I’d stopped by the Hooting Owl yesterday with Taylor to speak with the Lioness away from headquarters to make sure everything was ready.
The Guild didn’t often accept jobs from its own members, let alone jobs that didn’t require killing, but there were exceptions to every rule, and doing what we did, the Guild was well aware that sometimes there might be the occasional asshole who needed a different kind of justice.
The slow kind.
And so the Guild had a warehouse built just outside the city limits, with security up the ass. No one got in unless they worked for the Guild, and even then, you were only allowed to go in your specific cell. That’s where I was going today.
You see, I’d gotten Taylor a ring, but I’d also gotten myself something to celebrate.
Someone, you could say.
I drove to the warehouse, forced to have a pat-down once inside the barrier. At the gate prior, you had to submit to a retinal scan for it to open. You couldn’t bring your own weapons here; anything you might need, the Guild had ready and waiting.
I walked inside the warehouse, greeted by what looked to be an office space. It wasn’t, though. The front desk where a young woman sat was nothing more than a front. She looked up at me when I entered, typed something in on her computer, and then spoke, “Black Wolf. Do you need me to take you down to the H-corridor?”
H for Hill, Taylor’s last name. It’s where my present to myself was waiting.
“No, thank you. I got it.” I’d been in the warehouse a few times, on business for the Lioness. This was the first time I was here for me… but it wouldn’t be my last.
I walked around the front desk, heading to the right. Hallway after hallway, I passed countless of doors. No windows, so you couldn’t see in. The empty cells had no signs on the wall beside them, but the ones that contained people had files resting in clear plastic slots on the walls.
Turn after turn, I eventually made it deep into the warehouse, to the H-corridor, where my destination was. I found the door marked with Hill and input the code the Lioness had told me yesterday into the keypad beside the door handle. It clicked open, allowing me to walk inside.
Each room here was different. Some were simply holding cells, while others were more like torture chambers. This particular room was somewhere in between, mostly because I hadn’t spilled any blood in it, yet.
The room was filled with nothing more than a toilet and a bed bolted to the floor. A man sat on the bed, his wrists chained in thick manacles, tying him to the bed. When he saw me enter, he stood, pulling his chains taut—and then he realized it was me, and his face twisted into a scowl.
He’d looked better, I’d admit, but he’d look a whole lot worse by the time I was done with him.
“Creed,” Tom spat at me. He couldn’t come at me because of the chains. “What the hell is this? Where am I? Let me go, you motherfucker—” Even though he clearly wasn’t the one in charge, he acted as if he was. It was quite amusing.
I leaned against the metal door behind me, folding my hands in front of my abdomen as I stared at him. “I’m afraid you’ll never get out of here. I haven’t forgotten what you did to Taylor. She might’ve forgiven you, but I cannot. It’s not in my blood to forgive. Do you know whatisin my blood, Tom?”
He said not a word, his ugly face frowning.
I was never one for torture. I always got the job done in the manner it should be done, never taking my time, not relishing in the act itself.
That wouldn’t be the case here. This asshole deserved every single ounce of pain I’d give him. He’d take it all until he could take no more, and when death itself whispered into his ear, telling him that it would take him away for good, I’d make sure his final moments were ones of pure pain and misery. I owed him that much, with the years he’d abused Taylor.
“Death,” I finally told him. “And my creed demands yours.”
