“How does it feel? Nice and snug?” She feigned something like friendliness, a pout on her lips as she scanned the rapidly fading terror in his eyes. Soon, he wouldn’t feel anything. She needed him to stay awake for a bit longer. She needed his consciousness for a few more minutes.

Another defiant, ghostly groan scratched over his lips.

“Oh, I hear you, Captain. It’s scary to feel trapped and helpless, isn’t it? Nowhere to go, no help in sight, right? That must be terrible.”

She rose from where she’d knelt and eyed the tools on the shelf. She smiled at her dress, her arms, her legs, the curve of her breasts, and the silky strands of hair she could see brushing around her shoulder. She knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that she was the picture of perfection and found it deeply satisfying. There was something particularly malevolent about her curated loveliness cast against a backdrop so evil.

Nox turned to him from where she stood, smiling as if they were children on the yard at playtime. “How about I point to one, and you tell me if you’ve used it on a woman. Does that sound like a fun game?”

He grunted again. The sound was nearly human, presumably meant to be a cry for help.

“Ah, I see. Not so fun because you’ve used most of these, right? Or has it been all of them? Busy, busy boy,” she tsked. She decided to keep it poetic and, after considering her options, landed on the same nine-tailed flogger—now with eight remaining tails—that he’d intended for her.

Nox knelt again, grabbing his chin and feigning another pout. She painted her face with mock sympathy as she spoke, saying, “I’m not a cruel person, Eramus. I’ve never tortured—not physically, anyway. Though I do suppose you and I have a thing or two in common. In a way, I use men as you use women. We both take. We’re takers, you and I. The primary difference is that the men I use…well…for them it’s a disembodied heaven on earth. Of course it took a few tries to get it right. Now not only can I control it, but I can stop just shy of that euphoria, should I please—which is where I’d love to leave you, if you didn’t serve a greater purpose. I do feel bad for the men who fell to my trial and error before I learned to wield my puppets. Really, I do. I’m not a killer by choice. Maybe that’s our primary difference.”

Nox rose and looked down her nose at where he remained slumped against the floor, his purpling bulge still visible. She nudged him with her foot.