Page 120 of Hellbound

“You bowed with an open palm against your chest. Typical of those from that region. People are full of information, and you don’t have to pull their teeth to get it—if you know where to look.” He waggled his unkempt eyebrows at her.

She hadn’t realized how much she was revealing about herself subconsciously, and she felt sheepish about what else people had been able to surmise.

“Your first lesson is with me; we’ll be studying the weak points of the human animal.” Mirko’s eyes took a playful gleam.

Ksenia’s brow quirked as she and Mirko left the expansive library for dingy and claustrophobic stairwells that led them down to the dungeons. A pair of Envorsen followed them, and Mirko gave them a half-hearted wave with his hands, which were now shackled.

“How are you faring then? New Sevrants are either seasoned killers or on their way to being one. Which are you?”

Mirko’s blunt question took Ksenia aback.

Her eyes shifted sideways to look at him, only to find the curious gleam of his eyes already watching her.

“Only what I’ve needed to do to survive.”

Mirko cooed, “Aren’t you just a little lamb?” His dark laughter rumbled up the staircase. “Saved from the slaughter and now doing the slaughtering.”

Their journey stopped before a modest, rust-stained iron door in the hallway, identical to the others that led to it and beyond.

One of the guards stepped forward and inserted a complex-looking key into the lock. Ksenia studied it briefly, but her attention quickly swung to the contents of the room.

A chill set in her bones.

Rows of bodies were laid out on tables.

Her breath puffed in the air. The room’s depth underground was frigid during the dead of winter. Perfect for keeping cadavers preserved for a short time.

Now, Ksenia knew where Bohdan was conducting part of his investigation.

Three of the bodies were headless—a result of her handiwork. The stump of their necks hacked, their respective heads neatly arranged beside them. On their foreheads, her maker’s mark was turning dark gray in their decaying skin.

“Very crude work. Our murderer isn’t exactly a surgeon.” Mirko chuckled, peering over each body in turn like a delighted child.

“Have you found any leads?” Ksenia followed him around the table.

“The captain has been tight-lipped, to say the least. But when he’s on to something, he’s really on to something, so I’ve been leaving him be.”

Ksenia chewed the inside of her cheek. It had been reckless killing out in the open, but she didn’t regret intervening and saving Petra.

It would only make her next kill more difficult, but she wasn’t about to stop now.

“Obviously, these men died from wounds to their necks and heads, and Viktor himself was disemboweled before death…but I’m here to show you more discreet ways of getting the job done.”

Oh? A cruel smile twisted her lips. Now she was interested.

Mirko guided her to a fourth body: Ulrik’s. He turned the corpse’s head to the side to press his fingers against the base of the skull. “Here. Where the base of the skull meets the spine, you could drive that dagger of yours through the gap for instant death with minimal bleeding.”

She cataloged his every word, watching with rapt interest.

“And here—” He tapped his fingers on Ulrik’s collarbone. “But you wouldn’t be so blunt as to go straight to the artery you’re aiming for.” Mirko’s eyes snapped to the freshly healed divot on Ksenia’s clavicle.

Ksenia had previously thought Tivan was hacking at her indiscriminately, but perhaps she had underestimated him.

“Instead, you go for a downward thrust, above the first rib.” He mimed the gesture against Ulrik’s pallid chest. “So your victim bleeds into their chest cavity—yet another way to leave things clean.” Next, Mirko ripped the soiled cloth from Ulrik’s body with flair, leaving him naked. “Or, one of my personal favorites, the femoral artery.”

He directed her attention to Ulrik’s inner thigh, near his bare groin. “A small puncture wound will suffice, just a simple break in the skin. No need to use brute force. It can be easily hidden by clothing, but be prepared for the mess.” He clicked his tongue. “Now, you try.”

Her eyes snapped to his focused ones and she watched his gaze direct her to Ulrik’s corpse on the table.