Page 18 of Little Mate
More people are involved.
“My husband was a fool.”
“And you’re a greedy cunt.” At that, Josephine steps back two seconds before the python strikes, his mouth opening wide and covering her face. Her body thrashes while her son attempts to escape my hold.
Which only hurts him. The last bit of skin holding his detached hand severs and the limb falls, the dull thud barely heard over the scream of utter pain coming from the snake’s meal. His body coils around her from just below her shoulders to feet, tighter and tighter, causing the noise to slowly cease, from a high pitch to a low frequency, and then the pressure causes her left eye to rupture.
It pushes out, more with each muscle-tightening move from the snake, and through it all, her son watches on helplessly. His flailing arm splatters my face with blood and my fangs drop, catching a few drops on the very tips.
I lower my lips once again to his ears. “Was it worth it?”
“No.” One word. So much pain in his tone. Both physical and emotional. Something I don’t quite understand, yet comes in handy. Sentiments have no place in my life; I either trust or end you. No in-between. “Please don’t kill her.”
Ignoring his request, I release a short whistle and the python tightens his coils. Her face is red, swelling, and the low wheezing of labored breaths follows. Oxygen begins to deplete. Organs are shutting down.
Seconds pass, no more than ten, and her body goes limp. Blood pours from her nose, lips, and eye socket. The back of her skull where Josephine de-scalped her is now a bit coagulated.
Her heart has stopped. Her dark magic is gone.
Nicolo yells her name.
Her son cries for me to stop the predator from eating his meal, a request I consider. “Stop.” Everyone stills while I dig my thumb into the wound on Tomasso’s neck. He gurgles a bit. “Why should I stop him from swallowing her whole? Why should I let you live?”
“Because I’m not the biggest threat to the twins’ lives.”
That piques my interest, but not enough to forgive his stupidity. “You’re right about that, but you didn’t take into account who the bigger predator is. I’m their biggest threat.” Walking us closer to his mother’s dead body, I pause once we’re within reach. “Touch her and say goodbye. This is the last time you ever will.”
Tomasso brings his uninjured hand up but pauses at my tsk. “Please, not that.”
“Do it.”
With a sob, his now torn wrist comes up and he rubs the bloody tip across what’s left of his mother’s hair. He hisses at the contact, a weird sound between that and pitiful cries. And while he complains, I look over at his brother-in-law who’s frozen in place, completely unmoving, and had I not been able to hear his heartbeat, I’d think we scared him to death.
Such a sensitive being.
He will also be useful.
Flicking my eyes back to the snake, I nod, and he releases her mangled face long enough to unlock his jaw. Those milky blue eyes turn darker, lost in his hunger, and bites the top of her head. It works its mouth down, using its razor-sharp teeth to slowly move her down his throat inch by inch.
Moreover, I make the son watch. Up close. Nearly touch them.
“You brought this upon yourselves. Bask in your glory.” Tomasso throws up then, his entire body heaving while we take in every moment, from the first swallowed inch until her feet are all that are left. I make sure he doesn’t miss a moment before snapping his neck and letting his body fall to the floor.
He’s disgusting, dirty, and unappetizing.
Useless to me.
Yet there is someone here I plan to compensate when this is all over.
Looking over at Nicolo, I smile. “Two choices.” He nods, tears falling down his pale cheeks. “You can come with me and help decipher the mess your family created. Or, you can choose to be difficult and die.”
“My wife…my sister, they’ll need—”
“They will be taken care of and untouched, providing you cooperate. You have my word.”
Nicolo swallows hard. “I’ll go.”
“Smart man.”