Cruel Union (Brutal Universe #1)

28. Aurora

28

AURORA

I tried to duck behind the display of large purple rubber shafts at the end of the aisle, but he still saw me. His close-set, beady eyes narrowed as he stared down his long, pointed nose.

“ Princess Aurora ?” he said.

It was Duke Hornsby , one of the most important Nobles at Court . He was immensely rich and deeply respected and esteemed by everyone who lived in the Palace back on L’Crist .

He was also, to use Slade’s words, “a fucking asshole” and the very last person I wanted to observe me hanging around an obscene display of male genitalia. I tried to make a dash for it, but before I could round the corner and make a hasty retreat to the other side of the store, I felt his hand on my arm.

“ But my dear Princess Aurora , whatever are you doing here?” he asked, looking bewildered.

“ I … I’m not here for me,” I said quickly, reaching for an explanation—anything that didn’t make me seem like a strumpet or a woman of the night. “ My …my husband had something to get here,” I continued desperately.

“ Ah yes, your ‘husband.’ Does he make you dress like that too?”

His beady eyes traveled slowly over my body, taking in the short, tight dress with the plunging neckline. I could almost feel his scorn.

“ Well …yes,” I faltered, too confused to explain. I had always disliked Hornsby —he was quick with a jab and a jeer and I had overheard him speaking to the other men at Court more than once in a way that disgusted me. I did my best to avoid him…but there was no avoiding him now.

“ I had heard that you sold yourself in a marriage of convenience.” A look of disgust came over his rat-like face. “ But I had no idea the rumor would prove true in quite so literal a fashion.”

I wanted to sink into the ground in humiliation. He thought I was a woman of the night! And no wonder—the revealing dress I was wearing was exactly like something such a woman would wear back on L’Crist while she was plying her trade.

“ No , no—you have it all wrong!” I protested, determined to disabuse him of his wrong-headed idea before he could spread it to the rest of the Court back home. Lord Hornsby was known to be a terrible gossip. “ My husband—he wanted me to dress like this,” I went on, trying to explain. “ This is the latest fashion here on Rigelis Nine !”

“ I see.” He nodded, clearly unconvinced. “ So putting your body on display is the ‘fashion’ here. Tell me, my dear, does this ‘husband’ of yours have you selling your wares down on the street corner? How much does he charge for a taste of the Royal charms?”

“ You …you…” I was too offended for a moment to think of an answer. The man had all but called me a whore! It was the vilest, lowest insult he could give me and yet he stood there, smirking, as though he had every right to say such things!

“ How dare you speak to me in this fashion, Sir ?” I demanded, lifting my chin as embarrassment turned to anger. “ I am a Princess of L’Crist !”

“ Not anymore—it appears you’re a whore of Sin World now,” he snapped and then gave an ugly, high-pitched titter to convey his amusement. “ How the mighty are brought low! Do you remember when you snubbed me at the Winter Ball , Princess ? Well , it appears you can’t snub me anymore. Tell me, how much does your pimp charge for an hour with you? I think I’d like to pay you back right now.”

“ What did you say?” I gasped, unable to believe the words coming out of his thin-lipped mouth.

“ Yeah , what did you say?” It was Slade , coming up behind me. He had a black bag in one hand and he was glaring at Lord Hornsby menacingly.

“ Oh , you must be our dear Princess Aurora’s husband .” Hornsby smiled spitefully up at the big Brute . “ It seems you got quite a bargain when you bought her. Tell me, what is the going rate for an hour of her time?”

“ The fuck did you just say about my wife ?” Slade’s golden eyes had narrowed and his voice was a low, menacing growl, but Hornsby didn’t seem to notice or to care. He felt secure about his safety—no one had ever dared to even call him out for a duel in Court , no matter what incendiary things he said to them. He was much too rich and influential for anyone to challenge him.

But we weren’t back at Court on L’Crist and my new husband’s anger was clearly growing.

“ Did you just fucking imply that my wife is for sale?” he growled, glaring down at Hornsby with eyes that had gone pure black.

“ Oh , well…isn’t she?” For the first time, Duke Hornsby looked slightly unsettled. “ I mean, just look at the way she’s dressed! You must be renting her out by the hour— I was simply interested in trying her wares.” He gave that high, tittering laugh again, this time tinged with just a slight bit of anxiety. “ No need to get upset, man! I just wondered if I might give her a try.”

“ Give her a try?” Slade’s voice had dropped to the guttural growl of the Darkness inside him and he seemed to be getting bigger.

My heart started pounding against my ribs— I feared his Darkness would come out at any second!

As though to justify my fear, Slade’s hand began to change. His gray skin went black as the Darkness flowed from his elbow down to his fingers, which were suddenly tipped with long, sharp claws. With a snarl, he took Hornsby by the throat and began to squeeze.

If it was up to me, I would have let Slade kill him. He had insulted me horribly and I had never liked him—he was an odious, entitled man who treated his servants like dirt and spread nasty rumors about his peers. But I knew what trouble my brother would have ruling back home if the repulsive Noble died.

“ Slade , wait!” I put a hand on his arm and felt the dark power inside him, thrumming like a second heartbeat. “ You can’t kill him,” I told my new husband. “ He owns half of L’Crist ! If he dies, it could cause a civil war!”

For a minute, I didn’t think he was going to listen. Hornsby’s beady eyes were bugging out of his skull and he was gasping and choking, scrabbling at Slade’s fingers locked around his neck.

“ Please !” he wheezed, his face turning purple. “ Forgive … Sorry …”

Slade’s big body tensed and I was sure he was going to let his Darkness out entirely, like he had the night before, and just bite Hornsby’s head right off his body.

But then he took a big breath. With a visible effort, I saw his eyes turned from solid black back to gold and he loosened his grip on Hornsby , though he didn’t let go entirely.

“ I ought to rip your fucking head off!” he growled, glaring down at the trembling Noble . “ Nobody disrespects my wife!”

“ No , please kind Sir !” Hornsby choked. His trousers had a big wet spot on them, I noticed with some satisfaction. “ I did not understand!”

“ No , you fucking didn’t,” Slade growled. He looked at me. “ Are you sure you don’t want me to kill him?”

“ You can’t,” I repeated. “ It would cause trouble for my brother!”

“ Don’t know why you care about that little asshole,” Slade muttered. “ Fine — I’ll let him go with a warning.”

“ What warning?” I asked, but he was already reaching under his suit jacket and pulling out what looked like a black handle. I stared at it, unable to identify what it was until Slade pushed a button on the end of the handle. With a humming buzz, a foot-long laser blade appeared, glowing a deep purple in the dim store.

“ Tell me, asshole,” my new husband said. “ Which hand do you sign your noble name with?”

“ I … I … I beg your pardon?” Hornsby managed to get out in a shaky voice.

“ Are you left or right-handed?” Slade said patiently. “ Tell me now or I’m going to fucking guess.”

“ I … I’m left-handed!” Hornsby gasped.

I shook my head.

“ He’s right-handed,” I told Slade . I had seen him sign documents when he made treaties in court with my brother and my father. Since he owned so much of our little planet, he was a force to be reckoned with in Court —even by the king.

“ Uh -huh, so you lied to me after you insulted my wife .” Slade’s hand tightened on Hornsby’s throat again. “ You’re going to pay for that, you little fucker!”

“ No , please—not my hands!” Hornsby begged.

“ No , not your hands,” Slade agreed, giving the other man a shark-like smile. “ Just your fingers. Stick them out—let’s see them, you fucker.”

“ No , no!” Hornsby wailed. “ Help !”

But his cries fell on deaf ears. I saw several of the sales associates come running…but when they saw Slade , they slowly backed away. They must know him, I thought feeling sick. They must know who he was…and what he could do to them if they interfered with his punishment of Hornsby .

Speaking of the odious Noble , he had curled both his hands into fists and was refusing to hold out his fingers for the laser knife.

Slade’s eyes had gone dark again.

“ I’ll only tell you once more—hold out your fucking fingers and I might spare a few,” he told Hornsby . “ If you don’t, I’ll take both your hands at the wrists. Your choice—either way you lose, asshole.”

“ All …all right. All right, damn you!” Tears running down his cheeks, Hornsby finally extended trembling fingers.

Slade didn’t hesitate. With a short, practiced stroke he severed all four of the fingers on the right hand, leaving only the thumb.

Hornsby wailed and began wringing his hand in agony. The severed stumps were smoking, leaving trails of dark vapor in the air that smelled nauseatingly of roasted flesh.

“ Now the other one,” Slade commanded, squeezing Hornsby’s throat even tighter. “ Hold out your fingers, asshole. Or I’ll take your whole fucking hand— I swear it by She of the Four Faces !”

Whining and moaning, with tears and snot running down his face, Hornsby at last extended the fingers of his left hand.

This time Slade took the thumb and all the fingers—except for the pinky. They fell to the floor with tiny thumps like flesh-colored crayons and rolled every which way. I saw the Ducal signet ring with its sparkling ruby go flying as it slipped from the forefinger and clattered down the aisle.

Hornsby wailed hoarsely and Slade released him at last.

“ Pick them up and go to the nearest Med Center , why don’t you?” he growled, kicking one of the fingers under the low rack holding the rubber genetalia. “ The laser probably cauterized all your arteries and veins so I doubt you can get them reattached, but you can try.” He looked at me. “ Ready to go, baby?”

I felt numb inside, not sure what to think. I had never seen such a brutal display and I knew I should be horrified. And yet… Hornsby had insulted me in the most vicious manner possible. He had offered to buy me for an hour—the very thought made my skin crawl.

I decided I didn’t know how to feel, but I didn’t want to stay here and watch the horrible Duke scrabbling on the floor, trying to pick up his severed fingers with the two digits remaining to him—the thumb on his right hand and the pinky on his left. Most of the severed fingers were coated in the golden goo that had shot from the fake shaft earlier—it was truly disgusting to behold.

“ Come on, Princess ,” Slade said again and put an arm around my shoulders. “ Let’s get the fuck out of here so the staff can help him. They won’t do it while I’m around.”

“ They won’t? Why not?” I asked, as we walked away.

“ Because they know me,” Slade said simply. “ And they know better than to mess with Clan Cruel .”

I felt a shiver run through me as I cast a last look over my shoulder at Duke Hornsby . He was still kneeling on the floor with a pile of goo-soaked fingers in front of him, having no luck at all trying to pick them up.

“ Help me, Goddess damn you!” he screamed at the staff who were giving him wary looks. He looked up for a moment and our eyes caught. He held up a trembling hand and pointed at me with his thumb. “ You’ll be sorry!” he mouthed, clearly being careful that Slade didn’t hear him. “ Very sorry!”

I faced front again, feeling sick. Could Hornsby really hurt me? Not as long as I was with Slade , but what about when I went back to L’Crist ? At the very least, he could spread lies and rumors about me and completely ruin my reputation.

I didn’t want to think about that, so I pushed the idea away.

“ What …what did you buy?” I asked Slade , trying to keep my voice from trembling.

“ Later for that. How do you feel?” He gave me an anxious look as we stepped into the vertical lift.

“ I … I don’t know,” I confessed.

“ I want you to know what you witnessed back there was justice,” Slade told me. “ Anyone who disrespects the wife of a Clan Cruel Enforcer can expect that and more. We don’t tolerate insults to our women.”

“ I … I see,” I said faintly.

I had seen duels fought aplenty and witnessed men boxing each other as well. But I had never seen anything like the casual violence the man I was married to had just performed. And he didn’t seem a bit sorry or uncertain about it—for Slade , cutting off someone’s fingers was just business as usual.

I wasn’t sure how to deal with that.