Sister Death (Acid Vanilla Series Book 4), Matthew Hattersley [best book club books for discussion .TXT] 📗

maybe that was why he was so smitten with her. He’d never experienced confidence like it. Yet even now, as she stared at the ceiling, he noticed again the sadness. Only a glimmer around her eyes, but it was there.

“I’m fine.” She sighed. “I’ve got a lot on my mind, that’s all.”

“Good, because I didn’t want you to think—”

“Listen, Danny, we both needed that.” She turned her head to look at him. “It was a pleasant release, okay? But nothing more.”

He smiled. “Fair enough. Ya know, I did wonder about you. Whether maybe ya batted for the other team. Liked girls.”

“I do like girls.”

“Oh, right. So you’re like… bisexual?”

“Oh god.” A pained expression twisted her features. “I don’t like labels.”

“So what do you like?”

She propped herself up on her arm, smiling now but with the devil behind it. “I like good sex. Plain and simple.”

“I see. And was that… good sex?”

She sat up and slid off the bed before swaying over to the bathroom. In the doorway she paused. “It was above average, certainly,” she told him. “But I think we can do better.”

“Ya reckon?”

“Oh yes. Why don’t you get us another drink and then we’ll try again in a minute.”

Danny baulked. “But I… I only just…”

“Come on now, Daniel. You’re playing in the big leagues now. No time for rest. You’ve got work to do.” She winked impishly. “Like I say, it’s a release. After everything that’s happened the last few days, I’d say we deserve it. So get the drinks and we’ll go for round two.”

“Round two. Wow. Okay.” He swung his legs out of bed. “How many rounds are there?”

She disappeared into the bathroom and shut the door. “That’s up to you, Danny boy,” came the muffled response. “Let’s see how much of me you can handle.”

Thirty

Across the street and concealed in the shadows down the side of a small supermarket, a lone figure watched the apartment building. This was it. The waiting was over. If anyone could see Magpie Stiletto at this present moment, they’d have been hard pushed to call what she was doing with her mouth a smile, but it was as close as she ever got. Despite the rage and bile always present in her demeanour (even more so these last few days, being in such close proximity with that ramera), she felt good, relieved even. The plan had worked exactly as she’d hoped, that foolish young nun having taken the bait perfectly.

After that it was a simple matter of concealing herself in the long grass near the convent and waiting. She’d been there when Acid arrived, then when that pious nun had chased after her. And once the seed had been sown, she’d followed her at a distance as she raced back into town, leading her straight to the mark.

Magpie Stiletto, stepping into her new role as Sister Death, the dark nun, curled her lip, disgusted but not surprised at what she’d seen. The front room blinds had been closed all afternoon but through the corner window there had been a clear view of the two of them. The mark and Acid Vanilla, both of them naked, and her wrapped around him like the whore she was.

They’d been drinking too. Confirmed just now when the mark returned to the kitchen and picked up a bottle before returning to the bedroom. His face was red and he had a big smile on his face. Pleased with himself.

Well enjoy it, muchacho. Because you have no idea of the pain and suffering coming your way.

But not just yet. The immoral and licentious cretins would be in situ for the next few hours at least, possibly the rest of the night – meaning she could carry out her plan to the letter. To do that, she needed something first from her supplier across town. Something potent but not lethal that administered correctly would make the next few hours a whole lot easier and much, much more satisfying.

She checked her bearings. The shore was in front of her, the mountains to her right, looming large over this part of the city. Peering around the side of the supermarket, she could see the corner of the Manteo Sports Centre up ahead. It had been many years since she’d ventured into this part of town, but if she headed down San Francisco Kalea she was sure to reach the Church of San Ignacio where the drop would take place. The whole journey there and back would take her less than an hour.

Less than an hour and the mark would be dead.

Less than an hour and she’d have Acid Vanilla where she wanted her. Drugged, bound, ineffectual. Unable to fight back.

Then the atonement would begin.

Sister Death would get her pound of flesh and that wretched fulana would experience the true embodiment of pain and agony. She’d already lived a lifetime of sin and now her flippant ways and loose morals would come back to bite her. The reckoning would be slow and methodical, engineered to cause the most amount of suffering for as long as possible. Her own Via Crucis. A pilgrimage of anguish and sorrow.

With the right tools she could draw out the experience for hours, days even. It would not be pleasant at all, but it would be just and it would be righteous.

A spluttering laugh emanated out from deep inside of Magpie, shocking her a little. She never laughed. Ever. The very fact her imagination was running riot and filling her with such emotion told her all she needed to know. This was the right path. The righteous path. Her work was His work. Like she’d always known it to be. With a final glance back at the apartment building, she moved out of the shadows and left to meet her supplier.

Thirty-One

“What? Are you kidding me?” Acid stood in the bathroom doorway with her hands on her hips, taking in Danny’s prone form.

So there was the answer to how much the roguish Irishman could handle