Page 27 of Divine Violence
“I would say I’m sorry, but I’m not.”
The first time I used a gun on somebody else, my body fought against me, and I retched, crying. Not because I cared for the life I’d taken, but because it freed me in ways that nothing else could.
Not even dancing.
The first time I used a knife to penetrate someone’s skin, the flesh tearing apart made a squelching sound as the blood rushed out. It happened in a matter of seconds, but it felt as if hours passed before my knife retreated.
As I stood here, looking at him, I anticipated the same sound to reverberate in my ears.
“What are—” Kairos said, but he never managed to finish the sentence.
My hand flew forward, toward his thigh, and with swift moves, I strained my muscles as I stabbed him in his upper thigh.
“What the fuck!” he yelled out, stumbling backward with my Swiss pocketknife protruding from his leg. Alexander and Dominic jumped toward him, pulling him toward the bed, and I knew it was now or never.
“Try to catch me if you can.” I laughed as I opened the door and bolted down the hallway.
The game had officially begun.
“I’m goingto fucking kill her,” Kairos seethed as he limped through the hallway, all the way toward the exit. “Wring her neck, fuck her up, whatever is needed.”
“Calm down,” I murmured, hating that this night turned into this.
Dominic had yet to say another word, but I could feel his anger almost as if it were mine. He was always the one with volatile moods, but tonight I feared what would happen once he finally got his hands on Echo.
Especially after she wounded Kairos who was now walking around like a rabid wolf.
He pushed open the side door and slowly went down the stairs, leading toward the clearing right before the maze. It looked as if Halloween puked all over the place, with all the hanging decorations pointing at the entrance with one simple neon blinking arrow andenter if you dareright below it.
“I don’t think this is such a good idea,” I said, but neither one of them listened as they marched toward the entrance. The guards surrounded us from all sides but I knew that Kairos wanted to deal with this by himself.
“Kai—”
He stopped abruptly and turned toward me. “What, Alex?” he all but barked. “You don’t want us to harm her? Too late for that.”
“We don’t even know what’s happening?” I argued.
“Oh we know.” He chuckled. “This has The Order of Themis written all over it. I’m just pissed off that I haven’t seen it in any of the reports that were sent to me about Echo.”
“But maybe—”
“Oh, give it a rest, Alex.” Dominic spoke for the first time. “She isn’t who we wanted her to be.”
“And maybe that’s the problem,” I countered. “Maybe that was the problem with all of them. They’re not supposed to be molded to us. We’re all supposed to fit, no matter what.”
“Well, this one will fit nicely at the bottom of the sea,” Kairos said. “Once I’m done with her, she’s going to wish she was never born.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“Trust me, I do. She has no idea what she did, who she fucked with, but she will learn. Her death will be painful. I don’t give a flying fuck what the Triumvirat says about unnecessary torture. This one deserves everything we throw at her.”
“I just think—”
“Stop trying to save her, you fucking dumbass,” Dominic bit out. “She. Isn’t. Worth. It.”
“I still think you’re wrong.” They completely ignored me, walking toward the maze. “How do we even know she went here?”
“Cameras, Alex. Security footage caught her entering it.”
