Chapter 113

"She by her nature is cruel, so vicious she never can sate her voracious will, but, feasting well, is hungrier than before."

-Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy

"Rodriguez has never met her, so act the best you can. Just don't talk like the real Maxine, because he will sense that there is something wrong," Cyril had told me, and I nodded, letting him know that I understood.

He was driving the brand new Mercedes that had been sent to him from the palace. My stomach was in knots, but I told myself that it wasn't unusual that I felt on edge. I was imagining sending Rodriguez down to the pits and then beheading Alexis. All right, maybe I was getting ahead of myself, but she had to die or suffer greatly. Mammon and other demons from hell were also on my black list.