“Diesel,” she yells, so I start to slice, making him scream.

A hand lands on my shoulder, and I whirl with a snarl. Holding the bloody knife to her throat, I back her into the wall. “Do not think you can save him, Little Bird. He dies here, but it’s his choice how much pain he endures. We cannot let a threat like that stand. He tried to kill one of us. We are the Vipers, we do not die. We strike back. Get used to it, or be quiet. Like it or not, you’re part of this now.” Leaning down, I press the blade harder against her throat. “No one hurts us, no one. That includes you now. Do you really want to save this man’s life?”

She swallows, cutting herself slightly on the blade and gasping, those lips I dream about parting. “I—”

“Would it help if I told you he raped his stepdaughter?” Her eyes fly wide, and I nod. “We do our research, Little Bird. This son of a bitch is a low life. I would still kill him if he wasn’t, but I thought it might help you to know what he is—a monster. Do you know what monsters fear, Little Bird?”

“What?” she whispers shakily.

“The bigger monster,” I whisper, licking her lips. “They fear me.”

Leaning back, I remove the knife and let her breathe freely. Her breath whistles out unevenly from her lips as she stares at me, searching my face for answers. Answers she will only find inside herself. This is the moment. If she tries to save him, she’s choosing her own fate. She will never be one of us, too weak to handle our life. And that means I’ll eventually have to kill her. “Do you want to save him, Little Bird?”

She looks at the man behind me, and I see her debating her answer. If I’m lying, if he’s innocent…but things like innocence doesn’t exist anymore, and she needs to learn that. Everyone’s a sinner in one way or another. You can cover it in roses and use excuses, but it’s all the same. It could be shiny and rich, but a sinner is still a sinner in a suit. There is no black and white, only grey. Deep down, we all do things that are considered bad, even for good causes.

Me? I do them for fun.

She looks back at me. “I need to know,” she whispers, and grips the knife between us. I relinquish my hold and step back, watching her, curious to see what she will do. Will she try to use it on me? That would be hot.

She steps closer to the man who sniffles. “Please, please let me go,” he begs, putting on a convincing act of innocence. I’ll give him that. I wonder if she cried the same way the first time he slipped into her room at night, but did it stop him? No. And it won’t stop me.

She presses the knife to his chest, her hand shaking, her voice steel. “Did you rape her?”

He freezes, his eyes going to me, then back to her. “No, no, of course not,” he cries, but that hesitation is enough, I see her stiffen.

She digs the knife in deeper, her hand steady now. “Do not lie to me, or I’ll let him do whatever he wants until you tell him the truth.”

Fuck, my cock twitches in my jeans, and I debate palming it. Watching her hold that knife…having her in my den, joining in. It’s doing things to me.

“I-I—she asked for it!” he screams. “Walking around in those little undies, teasing me—”

His voice cuts off in a shriek as Roxy yells and slices down his chest. Stepping back, chest heaving, eyes hard and angry, she tosses me the knife. I catch it mid-air, making sure to grab the sharp end so it cuts my hand to match hers. “Do whatever you want to the bastard, make it hurt.”

“Yes, Little Bird, whatever you want,” I purr, as she hops up on a counter at the back, swinging her legs as she watches me. I step back to the man. She said make it hurt. I can do that. Continuing what I started, I flip the blade and catch it with my damaged hand, pressing it to his skin in one smooth move.

I slice off one nipple without warning and toss it away, grab my lighter, heat the blade and, as he screams, press it to his flesh. The smell of sizzling meat wafts to me before I do the same to the other one. He slumps then, passing out, so I wait for him to wake up. It’s no fun when they aren’t awake.

“You do this a lot.”

I look over at my little bird. “It’s my job.”

“A killer?” she inquires, not judging, I think, just trying to understand.

Wiping my blade, I nod. “We all have our roles. It’s what makes us so good—we each know our place and have our strengths.”

“Will you tell me?” she asks.

“I could, it’s not like you can tell anyone, but, Little Bird, what’s it worth?” I purr.

She swallows. “I thought gambling and bets was Kenzo’s department?”

Ah, Little Bird sees more than they think, I knew it. Heading her way, I lean against the cupboard and pin her there with my arms on either side of her. Even in this blood-soaked room, with a man hanging from chains behind me, her eyes dilate. Little Bird wants this, wants me, wants to be free, even if she doesn’t realise it.

“It is, but it doesn’t mean I won’t make a deal with you for information. After all, I do work to get just that,” I whisper, wanting to taste her more than I want to take my next breath.

Her eyes flicker between mine as she debates her next words. “Promise you won’t hurt me?”

I laugh. “No, I won’t ever promise that. I might hurt you, I might even kill you one day, but we both know that’s where the attraction is. You’re walking a blade’s edge, pretty little bird, and one day, you might just slip, but wouldn’t the fall be worth it?”

I can hear the hammering of her heart as her eyes drop to my lips. “Fine, what do you want in exchange?”

“Your surrender,” I growl. “I know there is a wild one inside you, like me, just waiting to be set free. I noticed it in your eyes the first time I saw you. You will do anything to survive, like us. You’re more like us than you can imagine. You see the darkness, and you walk that line, one foot in and one foot out. Put both feet in, Little Bird, this is your world now. Filled with bloodshed and snakes. You want something, then take it. Do whatever the fuck you want, Little Bird, because the rest of the world does.”

“That’s-that’s what you want?” she snaps. “Me to be like you?”

“No, for you to be yourself, the one you hide, even from you. But today, today I will take something smaller. A kiss, Little Bird. Kiss me, and I’ll tell you what you want to know,” I murmur, watching those lips.

“You swear?” She sighs.

“Every day.” I smirk.

“Fuck, okay.” She jerks her head forward and kisses me, hard and quick, before pulling away. “Tell me.”

“What was that?” I laugh. “A real kiss, Little Bird, like you mean it.”

She snarls, getting annoyed now, her irritation overruling her fear of me. Her hand comes out and grips my shoulder, dragging me closer as she slams her lips to mine. It’s hard, angry, and hateful. At my forcing her, no doubt, but she always had a choice, and she chose.

She chose me.

She tastes like sweetness and life, she’s oh so fucking alive. Electricity arcs between our lips, her denial and my lust mingling with our breaths. Gripping the back of her head, I drag her closer, my hand tangling in her silky silver hair. I press my teeth to her lips until she opens enough to let me slip my tongue inside. She gasps and pushes closer, loving it even as she fights me.