Chapter 39: Chapter 39

Chapter 39

ASH

He shakes his head and water sprays everywhere, some droplets landing on my boots. His eyes are a bit unfocused as they land on me, but then they widen after a few seconds and he shuffles backward until his back hits the wall with a shallow sound. He looks from koldis to me, and his eyes grow from dull to wild, and then to frantic-looking.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," I say, moving closer.

Koldis chuckles from behind me.

"I do hope you had a good night's rest?" My eyes flick to the empty plate a short distance away from him. "Looks like you were well taken care of as well."

He says nothing except to swallow noisily. His Adam's apple bobs furiously, no doubt from fear. Shock. Or whatever the hell is running through his mind.

"If you want out of here," I flick my forefinger around the basement. "You're going to have to play a game." I give him a smile, the one I reserve for slimeballs like him. He stares at me dumbly, waiting for me to continue speaking. I chuckle mirthlessly before continuing. "It's called the game of beat me if you can." Ridges appear on his forehead as he stumbles up. He bunches his hands into fists and I nod approvingly. "That's right, now come closer, or do you plan on fighting with the air?"

Koldis chuckles once again from behind me.

He moves closer, his eyes on me. Still, I stand and wait, watching his stance, checking out his reflexes. It's obvious he doesn't know how to spar, talk more of fight. His stance is all wrong and even his fists are loosely curled. He's dead meat and he knows it. His eyes shine with fear as he approaches me carefully. Hesitantly.

I cock my head to the side and gesture with my left hand. "Closer, little boy."

Anger flashes across his face and remains.

That's the spirit.

I know what he's planning before he does it, so I move to the side as he lunges, and kick his feet from under him. He sprawls in an ungainly heap at my feet as he eats dust.

I shake my head as I watch him struggle to stand. "Come, now, the Ivanov brothers must have taught you how to be a man apart from romancing several women, surely?"

Koldis chuckles yet again from behind me.

Goldilocks stands and balls his hands into fists. "What do you want with me?"

"Wrong question!" It's my turn to lunge as I punch him square in the face. I hear a sickening crunch as blood spurts from his nose. He yelps like a little kid whose toy was taken from him as he clutches it.

"You broke my fucking nose." He looks down at his hands unbelievingly, as if doing so will stop the blood dripping onto it from his nose.

"I'm gonna break more things if you don't get up and fight," I say, edging closer to him.

"Or maybe he'd like to play another game," Koldis suggests from behind me.

"You know, I think you just might be right." I look at Goldilocks speculatively. "So what's it gonna be?"

He raises his hands to his nose, and I can clearly see the tremors in them. They come away smeared with blood and he grimaces when he sees it. "Okay."

Koldis hands me an object and I throw it at the feet of Goldilocks. He looks at me, fear crowding his eyes.

"Pick it up!" I say tersely. I'm done playing nice.

It's time this deadbeat romancer pays for messing with what's mine.

Koldis steps up beside me. "Now here's the deal." His hands are opened wide expansively, like a politician trying to woo a crowd. "Seeing as you can't beat Mr. Ash, here, I think it's only fair for you to use that instead." He gestures to the knife still lying at his feet. "Pick it up and make two large incisions on your face. They've got to look like the alphabet x when you're done."

It's my turn to chuckle.

Goldilocks' head flops forward and his shoulders slump. He looks like he's caved in on himself. He looks up and fear shines, like a beacon, in his eyes. He looks wild-eyed at Koldis and then shifts his eyes back to me, shaking his head in the process. "You're crazy!"

I shrug. "Not the first time I'll be called that, now quit wasting my time. It's either that or I beat you to death. You've gotta choose one. Maybe next time you'll be more careful who you mess around with."

His features contort into a mask of confusion as he shakes his head. "Who did I mess with?"

"Get a load of this guy." I angle my head towards Koldis as I jerk my hand at Goldilocks' dejected form. "Who's the woman you've been sniffing around since she got to UCLA school of nursing?"

At first, he looks confused, but within a split second, his eyes change and an emotion flits into them. Another one follows quickly. Resignation. He's resigned himself to his fate. Good.

"So you either choose to mark your face or leave these four walls in a body bag." I move close to him, crowding up his personal space.

He jerks his head in a nod and bends to pick up the knife as I take a step back. I don't know what he expected when he swung that knife in a wide arc aiming for my stomach. I don't even know if he thought he could waltz out of here, free and unscathed, but what I know he doesn't expect, is to anticipate my move.

He's no match for me as I block his hand and twist it to his back until I hear a pop go off. His scream is like music to my ears. Still, I don't let up until he goes into a dead faint and sags against me.

"I should have killed your sorry ass." I step back from him and allow his body fall in a heap at my feet. Without looking at Koldis, I instruct. "Mark this shit's face so deep, it will be difficult for any surgeon to make it new once again."

I step aside and allow him to get to work. By the time he finishes, Goldilocks' face looks like a damaged version of Freddy Kruger's.

"Load him up in the boot. We're going for a ride." I tell Koldis when he's done.

*

Once Walter stops the car in front of a building, a heavyset bodyguard, already anticipating trouble, speaks into his walkie-talkie and slowly walks forward.

Still, I wait.

It's not him I'm here for.

More guards pour out through the door but I don't blink an eyelid until he steps out.

Igor.

He approaches the car the same way a panther would, its prey. He stops right in front of the door where I'm seated, so I slide the window down.

"Good to see you, Igor," I tell him, although it's obvious from the nonexistent smile on my face, the opposite is the case.

He beams widely. "If I had known you were coming, I would have prepared better."

Liar.

He knows this isn't a cursory visit.

"I have something that's yours. Walter, open the boot, please."

Walter immediately comes down from the car and Igor walks after him. I watch through the mirror as Igor's mouth falls open, the moment Walter opens the boot. I know what he sees. A broken man tied hand and foot, passed out in his piss and blood.

Still, I don't make a move out. Igor comes back to stand in front of the wound-down window. "Is he-"

"No! He messed with what's mine, but for your sake, I spared his life."

He nods and flicks his hand to the bodyguards who are about five in number now. I watch as they lift the still-passed-out man from inside the boot. I wouldn't want to be him when he wakes, that's for damn sure.

Once they've taken him inside the building, I come down from the car and extend a hand to Igor.

He's silent as he watches me with a hooded expression.

At first, I think he won't shake my hand, but he extends his and claps mine tightly.

"Now! You owe me." I tell him and back away before entering my car once more, instructing Walter to drive. From the rearview mirror, I watch as Igor watches us until his image becomes distant.

He knows I did him a favor by not killing his romancer.

He also knows in our world, there's no forgiveness.

He knows that soon. . . I'll come to collect.

He better get ready.