Victoria made it to her feet and looked at me. I wanted to rush to Disco and Paine. Odds were she was going to come at me again. If she was, I had to be ready this time. I wasn’t going to let the bitch kick me when I was down.
“Don’t even think about it.” Revenald growled at Victoria, his eyes turning from green to yellow as he brought his lips back and showed her his fangs. “I’ve told you that you will have your revenge. Question me again, and you’ll never again be welcome in my domain. Are we clear?”
I could tell it hurt her to nod, damaging her pride, but she managed to make the jerky motion with her head. The remaining vampires were quiet as they waited to see what Revenald would do next.
“You’re going to pay for what you’ve done,” he told Disco as leaned forward, their chests inches apart. “The penalty will be harsh.”
“Coming from a half-demon who’s scared of a human female, that’s rich,” Paine retorted, answering for Disco.
I looked at him in horror, this time afraid for him. Didn’t he know better? Did he want to play with fire?
“You must feel quite badass with those odds,” he continued. “Who wouldn’t? I guess they don’t have manners or teach you in Hell that it’s not nice to pick on girls.”
“I can’t wait to have a taste of that pet of yours,” Anton intruded, moving closer to Paine, grinning with menace. “She smells exquisite.”
“Be careful.” Paine’s reply was confident, perhaps a bit arrogant. “She bites back.”
“Excellent.”
“If you say so.”
“Is her cunt as tight as that fine ass of hers? Does she like it rough? She looks like a slut who likes it rough.” Anton’s words were intended to shock, and they did. I rocked back, taken off guard. Paine didn’t seem the least bit fazed.
“You sure you want to know?” Paine grin was meant to convey amusement, but I knew better. He was goading Anton, dangling bait in his face. The question was: why?
“Humor me.”
Paine’s grin broadened, making me queasy. Anton lost his smile when he purred, “She’ll make a half-demon bitch like you cry for mercy while she cuts off your balls. Then she’ll feed them to you, one by one. How’s that for rough?”
“It’s a start.”
“I like to think of it as the beginning of your end.”
I couldn’t see Anton’s face or hear what he said when he leaned in close and spoke into Paine’s ear, but Paine’s expression went from calm to outraged. Considering what Anton had previously said, it had to have been bad.
Very, very bad.
I watched, stunned and horrified, as Paine spit in Anton’s face and snarled, “You’re going to die. She’s going to kill you. My angel of vengeance rips you a new one. I’ve seen the way you go. I’ve seen what she does to you. And it’s brilliant, positively glorious.”
“You test me,” Anton said, words clipped.
“Paine,” Disco rasped, despite Revenald’s fingers around his neck. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what? Tell this egotistical piece of shit that his time is almost up? Because it is.” Paine’s grin was one of pure, unfiltered provocation. What was he thinking? Provoking Anton? Was he insane? The heaviness in the room built, settling all around me.
Then, I knew.
All of us weren’t going to make it out of the mansion alive. One of us was going to die tonight. Disco knew it, which was why he instructed me to remain silent. Paine knew it because he’d seen Anton’s death, my involvement, and perhaps something more when he touched the half-demon.
I felt sick, absorbing the enormity of what Paine was attempting to do. By directing all the focus onto himself, he removed the threat from Disco in the only manner he could. If our hosts wanted a pound of flesh, Paine wanted it to come from him.
Fuck.
“You might want to watch what you say,” Paine continued. “She not only takes your head, she forces your own words down your throat before you go. One by one, you eat them all. It’s a beautiful fucking thing. I can’t wait for you to see it.”
“Is that a fact?”
“That’s a fact.”