Page 70 of Thorned Vengeance
Abyss stares at me for a moment before nodding. “I’ll be outside with Mark.”
He leaves, and Shawn starts to moan as he comes to. He thrashes beneath my booted foot, and rather than kick him again, I bend to haul him to his feet. Yanking him close to my face, I grin.
“Who’s the victim now, bitch?”
“And it only took you ten years to catch me,” he sneers.
Delaney moves to stand next to me and reaches up to wrap her fingers around his throat. “But it only took me five.”
“Doesn’t say much about you, Kyle, does it?” Shawn taunts. “Your little slut is better than you.”
My fist connects with his jaw, and the sound of crunching bone is intoxicating. I drag him to the chair in the corner, and Delaney begins securing the manacles around his wrists.
“What’re ya gonna do?” he slurs, his face swelling.
I shrug. “For now, we’re just gonna talk.”
“Talk?”
Shawn and Delaney speak simultaneously.
“Yeah,” I confirm. “I want some goddamn answers.”
“And when we’re done talking?” Delaney asks.
I smile at her. “We purge.”
She stares at me for a long moment before her lips curve into a matching smile. “Works for me.”
Shawn kicks his feet out like he’s getting comfortable. Idiot doesn’t even have the sense to be scared.
“Why Tamara?” I ask, deciding to start at the beginning.
He tilts his head. “Why not?”
I grip his chin, and he inhales sharply. “Answer our fucking questions, and maybe we’ll go easy on you.”
“I think it’s fitting that this all happens here, don’t you agree?” he counters. “I mean, this is where I became a man, and based on the rumors in high school, it’s also where you became a man.”
“What the fuck happened to you?” I snarl. “You were a nobody.”
“That’s what happened!” he shouts, spit flying from his lips. “Everyone treated me like I didn’t exist, so I had to make myself known.”
“And Tamara? What did she do to deserve your wrath?”
“You seriously don’t know?” When I shake my head, he chuckles. “Her sin was loving you. It’s your fault that I did what I did.”
I rear back as if slapped. It shouldn’t surprise me that this deranged monster is laying blame at others' feet, but I’ve blamed myself enough over the years for Tamara, and I don’t need him to rub it in.
“Hmm, hit a nerve, did I?” he taunts. “Now you know how I felt every time someone walked by me like I was invisible!”
“And Daphne?” Delaney asks. “What was her sin?”
“Wrong place, wrong time.”
Delaney thrusts her palm into his nose, and blood spurts. “So, what? She was just there, and you thought that meant she was fair game?”
“That’s sorta how it works.” Shawn levels his gaze on me, dismissing her. “Maybe if Tamara hadn’t been so devoted to you and responded to my advances, all those women would still be alive.”