Read The Flesh Cartel #3: Choices for Free Online Page A

orders, you understand . “With you, there can never be escape from consequences. There won’t be when I sell you on. The best you can do is choose to avoid them next time. I can’t give you the gifts I want to give you, so I’ll prepare you as best I can for the life ahead. It’s still a gift, if perhaps a bitter one. Now please”—he gestured toward the bed—“lie down.”
Mathias eyed the bed, the guards on either side of him, Nikolai, the bed again. He didn’t move, no doubt figured he was already being punished so why bother.
“You can lie down, or you can fall down. And neither I nor anybody else will be here to make sure you land safely. Consequences.”
Mathias sat down, and then, hesitantly, eyes on the guards, eased himself onto his back. Nikolai smiled to let him know he’d done well, and locked a shackle around his ankle. Not too tight. Just enough to keep him from wandering.
“Now then. I’m afraid you’ll be having something of a miserable afternoon, but you’ll live. Perhaps that will be a comfort for you in the midst of your agony. Perhaps not. It’s not really any of my concern. The key to this punishment, you see, is not merely its severity, but its finality . There’s no use for me to give it any thought beyond the decision to administer, and there’s no use for you to beg or try to make amends. Think of it like an avalanche. Once it’s set in motion, there’s no taking it back, and there’s no stopping it. For five to six hours, anyway, depending on your metabolism. And it will bury you.”
He reached into his suit pocket for the auto-injector he always carried during training, held it up for Mathias to see. The man’s eyes widened, pupils dilating, chest heaving. But when Nikolai laid his free hand over Mathias’s heart, he held still.
“In the hands of a lesser man, I’d almost call it lazy, because it forces the one who administers it to stand by their decisions. A shortcut to pitilessness for the spineless, you could say. Well, I’m not a weak-willed man. This isn’t for me, it’s for you. I want you to know with absolute certainty that I will never take your pain away. No one will ever take pity on you again. The only way to save yourself now is to obey. Fully. Instantly. Forever.”
He jammed the injector against Mathias’s hip and got out of the way before the man’s scream had time to form. Flailing limbs would follow; he wouldn’t be able to help himself, no matter the threat against his brother, no matter his pride.
Sure enough, Mathias thrashed, screamed, screamed again, eyes wide and wild, rolling and wailing like a spooked horse. Nikolai stood by and watched, waiting for Mathias to exhaust himself enough to still. He took no pleasure in the man’s agony, but nor did it upset him.
What did upset him was the fact that he had another project to attend to, one he didn’t want but was saddled with anyway. He’d have liked to send for a cup of tea and sit through Mathias’s suffering, but he had places to be. A few minutes more. Just to see how his new dog took to the drug. And then he’d go. He promised himself he’d go.
Two minutes passed. Three. Five. Mathias was still thrashing, panting, moaning, jaw and eyes and fists clenched, tears leaking down his cheeks. Nikolai had to hand it to him—the man had stamina.
That might get irritating, and fast.
Eight minutes. Twelve. He really did have somewhere else to be; he should’ve finished his speech before he’d injected the man.
At sixteen minutes and twenty-eight seconds, Mathias went silent and still. Nikolai sat on the edge of the bed and rolled him from his side onto his back. He moaned like a dying animal. His sweat soaked Nikolai’s palm.
“Look at me, Mathias.”
Mathias’s head rolled on the pillow, and he blinked open glassy eyes.
“It’s quite something, isn’t it?” No answer, of course. He’d probably already lost his voice. “A proprietary blend of neurotransmitters responsible for