Chapter One Hundred Fourteen

Corin Campbell had endured a lot of pain. She had been kidnapped, raped, beaten, shot, broken, and punished with molten silver. Pain had become an intimate bedfellow. As the weight of the cinder blocks combined with Derrick’s weight tore her flesh against the fountain nozzle, she barely recognized the sensation. It felt more like the shock of a cold shower than the ripping of skin and muscle.

But she knew her body wouldn’t be able to withstand the pressure for long.

Her only saving grace was that Derrick’s weight was distributed between herself and Tia, the tongue-less girl. That changed when Tia slid from her perch. The other girl wailed and clawed the concrete as the cinder blocks towed her across the slippery surface like a child on a Slip ‘N Slide.

Corin heard Tia’s screams a moment after she disappeared from sight. Then a splash. And then nothing but Derrick’s wheezing as he tried to pull himself up her chain.

At that moment, she realized that all she needed to do in order to assassinate Derrick the Tyrant was to let go. She could push herself off the nozzle that was chewing through her midsection and slip into oblivion, just like Tia. Perhaps it was worth her life to put an end to Derrick’s madness.

Then she felt the weight of the circular saw against her back and became aware of another option.

Corin twisted her arm around and grabbed the circular saw’s grip. Then she pressed the trigger to activate the blade and swung it toward the chain connecting her to the blocks.

The blade’s edge sparked against her thick iron restraints, but it only took a second for her to realize that the attempt was futile. She would never be able to cut through the metal in time. And what was the point anyway? Derrick would be dead, but his brother was still alive. There was no escape for her. Perhaps it was best to just let go. Surrender. Give up.

But, from the back of her mind, she heard a small child’s voice whisper: The saw will cut through bone.

Knowing what needed to be done and not hesitating to act, she met Derrick’s gaze and said, “Believe it or not, darling, this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you.” Then Corin brought the spinning blade down onto her own ankle.

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