The Executioner: Part One

by Ana Calin

  A bump against someone made me turn my eyes ahead and seek balance by leaning into Damian’s grip. He squeezed me harder, and I let out a cry as he dragged me down the stairs. We swept across the dance floor and out into the frosty air. Before I knew it we’d passed the bouncers and emerged out into the street, barely avoiding a hooting and headlight-flashing Mercedes.

  Damian took up speed as he dragged me up the street to the first corner. He turned a sharp right and then left into a narrow, dark alleyway with only the moonlight glittering on the ice-polished surface of cobblestones that I slipped on. He caught me, and as good as carried me to his BMW. He yanked the door open and hauled me in, slamming it back shut.

  Shivering in the cold leather seat, I stared at him through the windshield as he crossed over to the driver’s side with an angry mien. A handsome beast in the cold, not even getting goosebumps. Despite his wearing only a black t-shirt, his skin stretched like smooth silk over those dangerous-looking muscles.

  The engine purred to life, and Damian let it warm up for a few moments. His jaw rippled, and his eyes were hard as bullets under knitted eyebrows, his profile stony. My heart drummed inside my chest, and a lump formed in my throat. I just stared at him anxiously.

  “If I may ask, Alice,” he said through his teeth as he stepped on the gas. “Are you irresponsible or just plain stupid?”

  “Damian, I can explain,” I babbled, shivering. He turned on the heating.

  “Please do.”

  “I- I asked Tony here tonight. I gave him hope. It wasn’t his fault.”

  “A slut then,” he spat.

  “Excuse me?”

  He took a brusque turn, and the BMW’s ass skidded to the side. “Fasten your seatbelt.”

  I ignored him. “A slut?”

  He reached over, pulled my belt and clicked it in without taking his eyes off the road. “Why did you do it, Alice? Didn’t you take me seriously?”

  “I did. But I – ” I searched for something to say, but all I could find on the spot was, “I needed him.”

  He bared his bone-white teeth in an angry grin. His canines seemed a bit longer than the others. Sharp, like an animal’s. “You needed what, exactly? Company? Compliments?” He threw me a vicious glance. “Some cock?”

  “I won’t put up with this, stop the car!”

  “You’ll put up with me.”

  My heart banged against my chest in a sickening mix of indignation, shock and dread. I was suddenly hot, and my face burned. Defiance surged in me, so abruptly that I had difficulty recognizing the words leaving my mouth as my own.

  “And if that were so, Novac? If I wanted to spend the night with Tony, how is that any business of yours? I told you, I’m not going to live like a hermit.”

  “You will, if you want to live at all. You’re too vulnerable to put yourself out there. You’ll follow my rules,” he said, cold and cutting.

  “So I’m forced to put my life is in your hands, is that what you’re saying?”

  “In more ways than one. Only I can protect you.”

  “If I live by the despotic rules that you set alone. I never agreed to them.”

  “I never asked you to. I have experience with BioDhrome, I know how they operate, how they plot, how they kill. I decide, you comply.”

  “Comply? With your orders?” I blurted. “With the decisions of a killer?”

  He didn’t reply, but his jaw tightened, and the car took dangerous speed. I decided not to confront him about his plans for tonight yet.

  “Please, understand, Damian,” I said, softer this time to calm him down. “If I chose Tony of all people, it was because I know him well, we spent years as a couple.” I hoped this would be the very proof I wasn’t a slut. But Damian took it another wrong way.

  “And you still love him.”

  As much as I wanted to, under the circumstances it wasn’t smart to contradict him. Tony had reacted on impulse and kissed me right in front of him. But if I told Damian that in truth I hadn’t invited that kiss, Tony might end up choking on his own blood in some dark backstreet.

  “Tell me,” Damian continued when no reply came. “Back in the mountains, if we’d slept together, would you have thought of him?”

  What?

  “I –” Again, the truth wasn’t an option. “I didn’t intend to sleep with you in the mountains.”

  Damian gave a mocking snort, making it clear he didn’t buy it. “I misinterpreted your body language then. How embarrassing.”

  I needed to change the subject, fast. My cheeks burned with shame. “Who was that man in the booth? The one you met tonight.”

  “So I got it right, you followed me to the gallery?”

  “Yes, I did,” I dared, using the opportunity to forge a plausible story for Tony’s reckless action. “I didn’t intend to drag Tony right into your hands, though. But he doesn’t know anything about your rules, or that you were in that booth in the first place, so he surprised me.”

  “I see. And didn’t he ask for explanations about our own kiss the other night?”

  “It was you who wanted to make a point, Damian, not me. I never wanted to give Tony the wrong impression. And it wasn’t easy to repair, what he saw that night.” The lie seared my tongue. I could only bear it by repeating to myself that Damian Novac was a monster in an outrageously handsome body, and that I wasn’t supposed to be in love with him.

  He pulled up with an abrupt brake in front of my parents’ gate. He turned to me, hand on my headrest, eyes striking crystal.

  “The man in the booth is BioDhrome’s leader, the Regent.”

  “What?”

  “The meeting tonight was a first ever since I left BioDhrome, and it was something I obtained with a lot of effort. Something I’ve been preparing for years, and an opportunity I would’ve used to crush the snake’s head. But the Regent threatened that if anything happened to him, one of his agents would kill you in a matter of seconds. He knew you’d be there, and he knew I’d care. I desisted from a long-planned operation for your protection, Alice.”

  My mouth opened. “Damian, wha-” I shook my head to gather my thoughts. “I thought you planned a massacre for tonight, that’s why I came. Innocent people would’ve died.”

  “Massacre? Where did that come from?”

  “Hector Varlam, he said –”

  “Hector? And you believed him?” he spat angrily, making my skin crease. “Hector works for BioDhrome, and he used you to stop this operation that I’d planned for years. The entire Order was prepared for it, the Ministry of Defense backed us up, and there was nothing anyone could’ve done to stop it. This was a large-scale operation indeed, but it didn’t involve mayhem, it didn’t involve one lost human life. Alice, I. Don’t. Do. Lying. As I told you before, I only kill my own kind, I would never hurt humans. I pick on creatures my own size. With Anton Anghel, that was an exception, that was . . .”

  Jealousy? My heart stopped. But Damian didn’t elaborate. His tone grew deeper as he moved away from the subject.

  “One thing is certain: BioDhrome will increase not only their defense lines after tonight, but also their list of wanted names, and you’ll be top of that list. Now they know for a fact they can manipulate me by using you, and they’ll take you more seriously than ever. Whether as a target or a tool, I can’t tell for sure just yet. But I can tell you for sure that I continue to be the only thing standing between you and BioDhrome. You know what that means? That your life belongs to me.”

  He lifted my chin with a rough hand, his eyes piercing mine, words hissing through his teeth.

  “There’s more I found out these past days. BioDhrome doesn’t have any use for Anton Anghel anymore, which means they’ll do absolutely nothing to protect him. I can do whatever I want with him. Whatever I want, Alice, no one will try to stop me. What? Surprising?”

  Surprising yes, but irrelevant at this particular moment. I was completely taken with Damian, with his devilish eyes. Ashamed, I tried to hide it as wel
l as possible, and pretended interested in the subject of Tony.

  “It is.”

  “Would you still sleep with him now that you know I’d make an exception from my principles, and kill him?” He leaned closer, his big arm around my headrest.

  “Please don’t hurt him,” I reacted out of my gut. I felt overwhelming pity for Tony. Whenever I thought of him and BioDhrome the words “Forgive him Lord, for he does not know what he’s doing” filled my head.

  “No? And what are you willing to offer so that I leave him alone?” Damian’s voice, smoky and dangerous, got under my skin.

  “It sounds to me like you already know what you want. Name your price.”

  “My price. All right.” He raised his chin, eyes burning green. “I’ll have you spread your legs for me.”

  The words blasted, boomed, banged and cracked in my ears. I stared at him, dumbfounded. “Damian, I, err,” I searched for an argument to keep him away at least for another few moments, until I could think straight.

  But his lips took siege of mine, and this time he didn’t hold back. His chest made a trapping wall, and his tongue invaded my mouth. He tasted metallic, he tasted of wild lust, his concrete body breaking the barrier of my palms. That moment I knew he’d make me want him until it hurt if I resisted him. And, outrageous as it may sound, it made me so moist down there that, as his fingers popped the buttons of my pants open and sought their way into my underwear, I panicked.

  It was the fear of humiliation at his finding me heavily creamed that made me put a stopping hand on his wrist. My hips wriggled deeper into the seat, seeking at least a bit of distance from him. In vain, his fingers slid over my swollen, wet flesh and inside of me, his deep kiss muffling my moan. I turned my cheek to free my mouth, his lips and tongue leaving a warm trail on my face as they went down to my neck. Trapped and horny between his big body and the seat I breathed hard, his wooden scent filling my nostrils.

  “Damian, please,” I managed with effort.

  “Aw, Alice, let’s do this,” he said, hoarse with desire, his fingers sliding deep inside of me. I arched and moaned, so very satisfied.

  “Oh, you’re so wet . . .”

  I couldn’t believe I actually heard Damian Novac make sounds of pleasure while he touched me there. He kissed the curve of my neck, his fingers moving inside of me. I squeezed my legs together, struggling to keep from coming in his hand. Desperate to save some face, I kept my hold on his wrist, applying with no success all the pressure I could to make him stop, feeling the cords of his wrist move as I built up.

  That my body responded this fast was new and frightening. He could give me an orgasm against my will. With a strike of divine intervention, an idea hit me.

  “Respect and loyalty, Damian.” I panted. “That’s what you swore to my father, didn’t you?”

  Damian’s kisses ceased. His hand stopped moving, but he didn’t pull away, his face still hidden against the curve of my throat, his long hair tingling my bare collarbone.

  “You don’t want me?” he said in a low voice that grew angry. “Are you thinking of Anghel?”

  “No, Damian, I’m not,” I cried, exasperated. How could I, when I have you?

  “Then why reject me?” He looked deep into my eyes now, his face only inches from mine. His hand was still between my legs, the other one up behind my headrest. He had me trapped.

  “Agree to do this, Alice, and I swear I’ll put the world at your feet.” Then, with a touch of guilt in his voice, “Tiberius doesn’t ever have to know.”

  My scalp prickled while his eyes searched mine with what looked like a violent need that I couldn’t believe. Damian Novac, the most desired man on campus, the stud who drew all eyes to him like a magnet everywhere he went, really wanted me. But he was a killer. I’d hate myself forever if I gave in like an animal driven by basic instincts. And I was afraid that with every moment that passed with his fingers inside of me he’d break my will, making me moist like a snail halfway down my inner thighs too soon, too fast.

  “Give me some time, Damian, please,” I whispered. “To think about this. Let us talk again tomorrow, all right? Tonight I’m just –” I decided on the naked truth this time, “overwhelmed.”

  Damian’s stare kept intense on me as I opened the door and slid off his fingers and out of the car from the narrow, laden space between my seat and his body. He didn’t try to stop me, and I couldn’t look at him, my cheeks burning with embarrassment.

  I could feel his predatory stare on my back as I staggered on those impossible shoes to the front door, both arms folded across my chest as if they could protect me from his intensity and the cold.

  A void sucked my heart away as Damian’s car shot off with squealing tires. I broke out in tears, hunkering down in the dark vestibule, scrunching my face in pain and opening my mouth wide in soundless screams. The sensation of loss in my chest was biting, taking away all will or strength of getting back on my feet.

  Minutes passed before I could drag myself through the living room towards the corridor and then to the bathroom, shoes in hand. It might have only been my mood but it seemed as though the wind was rising, like a mournful cry. It was low, at first. A lament, a soft keening that was barely audible. Mom would probably hear the water fill the tub but, if I lay in it long enough, she’d fall asleep again and we could skip the interrogation.

  So I bathed in the soft light of the bathroom, my fingers laced behind my head. I just listened to the wind as it played against the wooden shutters on the window.

  Only when the water turned cold did I bother to get out. Wrapping a towel around my body, I reminded myself over and over again that Damian Novac was a killer, a monster who’d taken lives without the slightest bite of remorse. That he’d slept with Svetlana Slavic, which should make me sick. That, if I was dumb enough to sleep with him, he’d soon get tired of me.

  The wind picked up, sweeping across storm windows and shutters with a greater fury, its pitch high, like someone screaming far away.

  All those sounds…

  I listened to them and identified them, certain my mother was sound asleep.

  Then I heard a new sound.

  This one was furtive. Slow. It was a creaking of a rocking chair, and it was coming from my room.

  I told myself it was nothing. It was probably the cat or maybe mom was up after all, but when I opened the doors to my room all resolve melted away, and my reason shut down. A dark shape sat in the chair by the window, his ankle resting on his knee. His eyes glowed the exact same way Giant’s had that night at Marvimex and, hadn’t I been somehow used to it – if you can ever really get used to something like that – I would’ve panicked. But right now my heart drummed in excitement. Damian Novac was here, in my room.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “H-how did you get in here?” I asked, securing the towel and knotting the ends above my breasts.

  “I have my ways,” he replied, his voice smoky bass. I saw the shape of his big arm reach to the small table by his side. He pulled the string, and lit the lamp. It gave out cozy orange light through the shade, light that enveloped Damian’s face beautifully. My heart jumped out of rhythm.

  “The ways of a thief,” I muttered.

  “I’m only here to claim what’s mine.”

  Claim what’s his . . .

  “You should go Damian, Mom might pop in any second,” I managed, closing the double door quietly and struggling to keep my heartbeat in check. “She heard me about the house, and she hasn’t yet learned to knock.”

  “She’s not here. We’re alone.”

  I turned swiftly. “What do you mean?”

  “She got a call. With the wind outside and the water on, you must’ve missed the ring.”

  “Where did you get her to go, Damian?” I urged.

  “Don’t worry.” His velvety voice crawled under my skin. “Just your neighbor, Mrs. Teodorescu, having a panic attack. I know she always calls your mother when in distress. Tonight the hous
e creaks and rustles, it whispers to her. She’s convinced her dead husband’s ghost came back to haunt her.”

  “And how did you get the man’s spirit into the house?” I attempted a jeer, but my voice trembled.

  “Experience.”

  “Which also helped get passed Officer Sorescu and his mates outside?”

  “I’m not here to discuss my methods, Alice.”

  I smiled. “I suppose not.”

  My heart drummed, pumping a flush to my cheeks. At least that would cover the freckles that had earned me my Lolita nickname.

  “You know what I want,” he whispered darkly, walking to me. I stood in place, hands tight on the top of the towel above my breasts. “And I think you want the same,” he said, now only inches away and huge.

  I breathed in his wooden scent as he removed the pins from my hair and dropped them on the floor, my tresses falling loose and tingling my back.

  “I need time,” I murmured, pulse loud in my ears.

  “Just tell me to stop if that’s what you truly wish,” he said, and pulled me into his arms, crushing his lips on mine. The realization of what was happening stunned me, making me unable to react in any way as Damian’s tongue broke into my mouth, his body a wall that pinned me against the door with my wrists above my head.

  He kept them hostage in a fist, the towel pooling around my feet and leaving me naked. He gave a groan of satisfaction as he cupped my breast a bit too hard. I inhaled sharply.

  “You’re so beautiful, Alice,” he said hoarsely, and took over my breasts like a starved man plundering a meal, his lips hard and bruising. A moan escaped my mouth as he let go of my wrists and lowered himself to his knees, his mouth latching greedy to that place between my legs.

  My eyes blasted wide as his full tongue stroked me down there for the first time, making me flinch in an impulse to pull away. But his big hand tightened on my buttocks, forcing me in place, the other kneading my breasts, as if he wanted to possess my whole body at once. Everything he did seemed so instinctual, as if he cut himself loose after years of restraint, which made me so horny that I overflowed.