From his pants pocket on the floor, Jace retrieves a lighter and hands the torch back to me.

"Okay, when the flame lights, you're going to open the valve, and it will ignite right away," he says.

My head bobs in agreeance.

"Whenever you're ready, Little Slut."

With the torch in hand, I kneel beside ErIc and examine his chest.

It adorns blue and purple bruises from the meat cleaver but is otherwise a fresh canvas for my brand.

I'm sure Jace assumes I will burn R.S. into Eric's flesh, but assumptions are for fools.

Rory Shaffer is a meek little girl who lets everyone push her around.

Why would I want one of his last memories of me to represent my weakness?

Fuck that!

I have a much better idea.

"Are you ready, Little Slut?" Jace asks, taking me away from my thoughts.

"Yes, sir, light me up."

In position, I wait for Jace to spark his lighter, and on cue, I turn the torch valve to the left.

An intimidating blue flame erupts from the tool, and without a second thought, I immediately hold the tip of it to Eric's flesh.

A scream like no other erupts from him, but whatever Jace injected him with earlier seems to have paralyzed him because he hasn't moved an inch since I popped out his eyeball.

As always, Jace knows what I'm thinking and says, "I assure you he can feel everything."

Smoke rises as the epidermis starts to bubble, and the smell is putrid. It's like a mixture of week-old roadkill, charred leather, and ass.

If I weren't trying to prove a point, I'd surely stop and throw up all over Eric, but I'm going to push through,

"You can't hold it in one spot. Don't forget your Initials, little slut," he reminds me.

From where I started, I drag the flame down in an attempt at a straight line, then add another one attached at the bottom, creating a 90-degree angle.

The smell intensifies the longer I continue.

Fuck it's terrible.

For the following letter, I need a hand as steady as a surgeon, but I'm currently shaking harder than my wand at its highest speed.

Jace notices, and instead of taking the torch from me, he stands behind me and interlaces his arms with mine.

"I got you, Little slut," he whispers into my ear as he steadies my hands with his.

With his guidance, I glide the flame in a squiggly formation to finish his branding—Jace then turns the valve to the right and takes the device from my hands.

We admire my artwork in silence. I think I stumped Jace again by putting the initials of his endearment for me on Eric's chest instead of my actual initials.

The L and S are misshapen but eligible, and everyone in this room knows what those letters stand for.

My chest is heaving up and down, and it feels like adrenaline has taken over my body.

I'm ready to tear Eric apart with my bare hands, but I have a better idea.

Jace mentioned Nyx and Malachi are wizards with chemicals, so I go to the torture table where everything is and blindly look through the dozens of different liquids and mixtures. Gasoline doesn't seem powerful enough to use in this instance, but acid works quickly.

"Can you call Nyx?" I ask, giving him my best puppy dog pout.

"What do you need him for?" he asks.

"You're still covered in your ex-husband's blood, Little Slut. I think it can wait."

"Before Eric dies, I want him to suffer the loss of what makes him truly feel like a big tough man," I confess.

"Nyx will know which liquids to use for what I'm trying to accomplish."

Jace strolls out of the room but returns with his phone in hand in the blink of an eye. He plays around on the touch screen before lifting the device to his ear.

I'm bouncing on the tips of my toes with my fingers crossed that Nyx answers the call, and I squeal excitedly when a smooth "Hello" leaves Jace's lips.

"Shut up, asshole, and let me speak," he growls through the speaker.

"Yes, he's still alive, but Rory has a plan, and she needs your help to execute it. I'm handing her the phone now, so don't be a dick."

Jace places the phone in my hand, and I give him a flirty wink, turning the speakerphone on to ease his tension.

"Hello," I say sweetly in greeting.

"Hi-ya, Baby doll. I heard the boss man is incompetent with the chemicals you want to use in Dipstick's torture. He said you need something only my expertise can help with."

My hand covers my mouth to muffle my giggle. I don't know if Nyx is always like this or if he is trying to piss Jace off, but either way, I think I just found my new best friend.

Jace mouths, "Be good," while his eyes scream that he's ready to tan my ass, but I compose myself because now is not the time and move on with the conversation.

"Uh. Yeah. I'm trying to do something specific, but all the different chemicals on the table are confusing me."

"Ok, Doll. I'm your man. Just explain what you're trying to accomplish."

After a thorough discussion with Nyx about my need to ruin Eric's manhood, I have a detailed plan on what to do next.

As carefully as my shaky hands allow, I lift a vile labeled Melted Magic at the bottom and shake my head. It doesn't surprise me he'd name something so potent, something so goofy, and I've only talked to him one time.

"What's so humorous, Little Slut?" Jace asks.

"Your friend is kind of strange but also mighty helpful."

Still looking at Jace, I uncap a syringe, jab the needle into the vial of melted magic, and draw the plunger back until the entire tube fills with a clear liquid.

Not wanting to stab myself, I recap it and place it in Jace's hand, telling him to "Hold this for a second."

For the last time, I kneel at Eric's side, unzip his pants and lower them enough so his flaccid cock flops out. This next part is going to piss my grumpy gills off, but I don't care! Jace will have to put his big boy briefs on and weather the storm. With the syringe full of an acid concoction in one hand, I grab Eric's dick in the other and start to count down.

"Ten."

"You'll regret ever laying your hands on me."

"Nine."

"Eight."

"Seven"

"Ya, fuck this," I seethe.

Skipping the rest of the numbers, I yell, "One," and stab the tip of the needle into the center of Eric's urethra. My thumb slams the plunger down. Once the liquid empties the tube, I drop Eric's dick and hurry away toward Jace to watch the "magic" happen.

💜𝓗𝓪𝓼 𝓔𝓻𝓲𝓬 𝓫𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓮𝓷𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱?
🖤 𝓦𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓪 𝓜𝓜𝓕 𝓻𝓸𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓝𝔂𝔁, 𝓜𝓪𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓱𝓲 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓪 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝔂𝓮𝓽 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓭𝓾𝓬𝓮𝓭 𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓸𝓲𝓷𝓮?

I𝐟 𝐲o𝐮'𝐫e l𝐨o𝐤i𝐧g f𝐨r s𝐨m𝐞t𝐡i𝐧g n𝐞w t𝐨 𝐫e𝐚d w𝐡i𝐥e y𝐨u w𝐚i𝐭 𝐟o𝐫 𝐭h𝐞 𝐧e𝐱t c𝐡a𝐩t𝐞r c𝐡e𝐜k o𝐮t
𝑭𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝑾𝒂𝒔 by MinervaLaurent