Page 150 of Depraved

My palms started to sweat, my legs cold and numb. A part of me still hoped the motorcycles I heard outside was him. But judging by the evil grin on her face and the satisfied gleam in her eyes, I was sure that whoever was out there didn’t intend to help me.

The sound of footsteps walking up metal stairs echoed from outside the door. And with every clank of steel, fear vibrated through my bones—all the way from my skull right down to my toes. Whoever it was coming up those stairs brought a whole lot of malevolence with them since I could hardly swallow or take a breath.

“Just in time.” Tanit smirked. “Our princess is ready and waiting.”

Oh, God. My stomach was about to tear out of my body, and the sudden urge to pee was overwhelming.

Tanit stepped aside, and I wished like hell I could have closed my eyes. I wasn’t ready to see what or who was about to walk through that door. But no matter how much I wanted to close my eyes and wish it all away, I couldn’t. This was really fucking happening.

A man stepped inside. At first, I couldn’t quite see him as he leaned in, placing a kiss on Tanit’s cheek while wrapping an arm around her waist and cupping her ass. “Hmmm, Tanit. You look as fuckable as ever.”

She plastered a smile on her face. “I’m going to choose to take that as a compliment.”

“As it is intended,” he replied, nodding at her before finally turning toward me.

I gasped when I saw his face, a snake inked all the way down on the side and on his neck, disappearing beneath the collar of his cut. Large, black disc earrings stretched his earlobes with big holes, and the scales tattooed on his shaved head just added the finishing touches to make him look like a demon from hell. It was incredibly hard to keep looking at him, as the sight alone made my skin crawl.

He twitched a brow pierced with a stud. “Pretty face, isn’t it?”

His tongue darted out of his mouth, and when I saw the two pieces of tentacled flesh twisting and slithering together, I shuddered, my stomach starting to crawl all the way up my throat.

“Who are you?” My voice was barely audible, because I was sure I already knew who he was.

“The name’s Slither.”

“Oh, God.” I choked, and my throat closed, making it impossible to take a breath.

“Ah. So, you know who I am?”

“Neon.” I forced my eyes closed, a tear finally falling down my cheek. This was the man who abused Neon. This was the man who tortured her within an inch of her life. This was the man the Kings were at war with…and he was here. For me.

“Oh, yes,” I heard him start, but I refused to open my eyes. “I remember Neon. Or rather, her screams, that is. I have to say, that is one tough cookie. Bitch refused to die.”

“Stop,” I whimpered. I didn’t want to hear about Neon and what he did to her. Fear was already suffocating me.

“How is she doing, by the way?”

I opened my eyes and swallowed hard. Everything about him was repulsive and disgusting.

“She okay? You know,” he motioned with his hand around his crotch, “down there? My guys really pulled a number on her. I’ve never seen a woman’s asshole bleed so much.”

“Jesus,” I cried. It was no longer fear that ran amok in me. It was cold, hard, numbing trepidation that possessed every corner of my body.

Tanit snickered in the background, and Slither stalked closer to me, little by little. “You know, I was actually thinking about keeping her. I was really tempted to see how much she could take before she died.” His face displayed sheer wonder as he spoke about Neon. “You know, if I remember correctly, she passed out, like, seven times during those few hours she spent with us.”

“Stop, please,” I began to plead.

Tears streamed down my face, mixing with snot as it ran down my mouth. Slither crouched in front of me, his eyes level to mine. He placed a hand underneath my chin. “Something tells me you wouldn’t last half the time she did. My men would chew you up and spit you out like a fucking chicken bone.” I sobbed while he forced my face to turn side to side, like he was studying me. “But you are pretty. I can see why he’s so fascinated by you.”

Tanit cleared her throat, and he let go of my face, glancing at her over his shoulder. “And I can see what has our girl here so jealous.”

“Cut the crap, Slither.” Tanit sneered. “I did what you asked, so take the bitch and go.”

He looked back at me and shot me a half-grin. “It’s always the people we love the most who destroy us.”

“Wha…what does that mean?”

“Oh, nothing.” He slapped his knees and stood, a smile still stuck on his ugly face. “Man, now I can’t stop thinking of that feisty pixie girl with the blue hair. Or as my crew likes to call her, the girl with the screams of an angel.”