Page 70 of The Devil of Hollywood

A moment of pause had him smiling bigger and nodding in approval at my formal address with a hint of his creed.

“Tonight is more than a game. Tonight, a woman equivalent to a queen in her country, one who will produce the other half of our future, will take her revenge. I allow this, but not without a price. When I bleed, so do those who inflict it. My blood,” he said, pointing to the guards, “for hers.” He waved his arm to Drayton.

“Like any game, there are rules. Blood for blood. Wound for wound. Death… for death.”

My head shook, but I knew better than to speak. He wouldn’t kill Drayton. He couldn’t. Not if he wanted his heir.

The Unavowed waved his hand, and a guard wheeled a cart of weapons to a stop between the two Xs that held David and Simon while they also placed one in front of the king. David and Simon were gagged now, completely stripped bare for all to see, unlike Drayton, who still wore his pants.

“Here are the rules. You have twenty opportunities to bring suffering. Each guard you torture will hold ten wounds. Not nine. Not eleven. The tenth must be the one to end their life. If they don’t die, your husband will. If your wounds are not significant enough to cause pain, I make Mr. Pennington’s severe. Each wound consists of what we call a turn. Example: If you want to cut off their finger, the number of swings to a hatchet doesn’t count. The finger is the turn, not the number of times it took you to make the wound. Once we start, at no point are you allowed to turn around and see the damage I’ve caused. If you disobey, he pays. Now, choose. Do we go one wound at a time, or would you like to make two—one per guard?”

I met Drayton’s eyes, feeling more tears fall. To argue would make this worse. Penny said to obey. To act strong and obey. This man was a leader. I was giving birth to his future heir’s betrothed whether I liked it or not. He was a king… Maybe not the one ruling his country, but he could be in the future. He was supposed to be now.

“Two.” I stood straighter. “I will inflict one on each guard before you have your turn.”

The side of The Unavowed’s mouth pulled back, and he gave a slow nod.

“Two, it is. You go first.”

My eyes lifted to David, darting to Simon as I tried to step forward. For the life of me, my feet didn’t want to move.

“Marian, you’ve got this. Think about what they’ve done to you. Don’t hold back. Not for anything.”

I didn’t turn to Bram, but I did nod as I slowly headed for the cart between the two men. Each step was harder than the next as I took in the different style knives and hatchets on the cart I neared.

“Mmm-grmmm.” David thrashed, and I looked up, seeing the rage boiling in his continued glare. He was so angry. So ready to beat me down again. But he wasn’t leaving that cross alive. I wasn’t going to let him.

I grabbed the handle of one of the large knives, pulling it towards me as I stopped in front of him. More, he thrashed. I went to turn to look back at The Unavowed but caught myself knowing if I did, Drayton would suffer.

I’m a shark.

I’m a shark.

“Mmmm-gggmm.”

Hate. So much hate stared down at me. It was enough to tilt my world. Him… hate me? Hate… me? He hurt me! He raped me. But he thought he could look at me like I was the one to blame?

“Don’t hold back. Not for anything… Think about what they’ve done to you…”

The words bounced around and the fear drained, leaving my body ice cold. I pulled up one side of the wedding dress, stomping forward and grabbing his dick. Grabbing the weapon he’d used to destroy pieces of me. More, he thrashed, but I only held on tighter, squeezing with all the hate I had inside me. Heavy jolts didn’t move the cross from his panic. I began sawing easily through the thick width watching the layers of muscle peel back from the sharp blade. Blood sprayed out, speckling the white silk. Back and forth, I went, letting the blade split muscle. Within seconds I was slicing through the bottom and dropping it to the floor.

Muffled screams were deafening, and they were coming from both men as I headed for Simon. He’d never raped me, but he had come in my cup and poured it on my face as I lay broken on the ground. He hadn’t wanted to participate, but he had wanted to watch me get assaulted. Abused. Humiliated.

“You liked to watch. To touch.”

My voice was soft. The statement came more as a whisper, getting swallowed down by David’s yell. Simon’s face was so high, at least a foot taller than me. I couldn’t be eye-level with him as I made him pay, but it didn’t stop me from thrusting the knife up, letting the tip of the blade sink through the center of his right eye. Red raced over his bottom lid and before Simon could process my quick action, I twisted the blade in the socket, feeling the knife scrape bone as I circled it around and jerked back. Blood raced a river down his face, dripping on the floor as his head swung back and forth violently.

Drip-drip.

Drip-drip.

Drip.

Drip.

I got lost in the red that was splattering on the floor before me while his eyeball swung against his cheek. More screams sounded. Simon and David continued going wild on the crosses, crying out distorted words and pulling as hard as they could against the restraints. The pleasure of seeing their fear only lasted a moment before a deep sound roared out behind me. Instinct at hearing Drayton’s voice housing agony had my entire body going rigid. I wanted to spin to check on him, but I knew better. If he had to endure this pain, I wasn’t going to make it worse.

“Fuck! God—Fuck!” Deep pants left him before another yell sounded. An eternity seemed to pass before a guard stepped between the two crosses and gave me a gesture to continue.