CHAPTER 11

Viktor watches without thought as Boris is stripped and tied to the board. He sealed his fate the moment he claimed that he should have sold her at twelve. His anger has reached a point where he has gone silent. He has stopped speaking to a soul and merely made hand gestures. 

The room went silent as there was an audible shift between the old guard and the recruits. Without question, the new soldiers were directed to leave with the girls. An outer room was opened, and instruments of torture were removed as the guards cut the clothes from the offender's body and tied him face down to a board spread eagle on his belly.It began with the dignity being snatched from the creature as Kitten used a strap-on and took him until he couldn't scream anymore. Until he coughed and spit blood in his screams. He has nearly chewed off his lips to keep from screaming, but that only lasted so long. If Viktor could have kept his cool, he would have sent him to the hounds, where he would have been mounted repeatedly before serving as food.Viktor's hands stroke Mira's head lovingly as he remembers how angry Boris had made him when he first met her. The blood dripping down Mira's neck had set something off in him that he had never before seen before or since. He was a monster he wanted to burn alive slowly.Whistling a single command for the Kitten to come and stand by Mira's side, he feels a sense of pure calm wash over his body. He crouches down and looks at Boris, holding a pair of pliers with no emotion or empathy: "You will soon understand true pain and realize how merciful I have been. The most nerve endings exist in the tips of your fingers..."Boris's eyes bulge. He is trying to mouth something but has already chewed off his tongue. The remnants of the tip are still nailed to the board as Viktor grabs the thumbnail with the pliers and rips it from the hand. He is taking his time, one by one, to dismantle anything left of his humanity.The sound of the softest whimper alone comes from Mira, the only sound he cares about. Over a hundred eyes befall a man who should have been tortured more correctly. Viktor turns and looks at his Kitten as she protects and strokes Mira's hair. She lives in a world of death and violence, but there is no one more loved, cherished, or protected than she is. Turning his attention back to Boris, Viktor pulls the nails out one by one before returning to the left hand and clamping on the tip of the middle finger, pulling and twisting the finger off at the knuckle.Standing Viktor moves quietly with purpose as he takes a bucket and a large rat pulled from a cage. Motioning two men forward, Viktor begins the next process, making sure that Boris has every chance to feel every level of pain before he dies.Placing a large rodent upon Boris's back, Viktor puts the metal pail over it. With a dedicated hand, he directs two men to use metal poles to secure the pail in place. Viktor motions one of his closer friends to step forward with a blow torch and begins to heat the pail as he walks forward.Crouching down, Viktor looks Boris in his eyes and explains, "In a few minutes, that metal cage will heat so hot that the rat will have to escape. Their only hope of survival would be to chew into your back, severe your spine, and eat its way into the safety of your stomach."When the flame touched the pail for the first time, Viktor heard the bolt from the great hall door pull open and a woman walk in—the same woman he had whipped to command her to kneel. A woman who had never set foot in this home before—Amanda. He remembered her name after a moment, thinking of the harsh lesson she would have to learn, wondering what brought her toward the gates of hell.