The Devil's Favourite Obsession

”Kill all of them.”

The words fell with such chilling ease that, for one suspended second, nobody in the room seemed to understand what had just been said.

Then horror broke over them.

A collective gasp erupted from the crowd, similar to the way a chill runs through your body in a moment of shock.

Several phones slipped from trembling hands and hit the floor with ugly clatters.

One man instinctively tried to hide the device he had been using to record, but his fingers were shaking too badly even to switch off the screen.

Drunken arrogance, idle amusement, and voyeuristic thrill vanished from every face, replaced by naked fear at the prospect of death. Only Cassian, his soldiers, Binge, the VIPs, and Cixi remained outwardly unmoved.

Cixi was immortal; however, that alone did not erase her fear. Her instincts told her Cassian would not hurt her, the very person for whom he had just killed... or perhaps not. Perhaps he had his own agenda behind the killing.

Had he truly forgotten about her, or had he simply lied, just as she had lied to him? And if both of them were standing on falsehoods, did that somehow make them equal?

”What the fuck...” Lily’s voice trembled so badly it barely sounded like her own. ”I have never, ever seen someone get killed before.” Her face looked as though it might crumple into tears at the slightest provocation. ”I don’t want to die... I don’t want any of the three of us to die. And I don’t care about anyone else right now.” Then Lily locked her eyes on Cixi. ”I am sorry, Cixi. I only wanted to give you a nice night, but look where we are now. We were chased by mobsters, found out our friend is engaged... got forced into making a deal with them, and now we have witnessed a murder. And we will probably die soon...”

”I do not think I will ever step outside to attend a party again if I miraculously survive tonight,” Marion confessed, her voice no steadier than Lily’s. ”And when my children grow up, I am certainly not letting them go anywhere after dark.”

The sight of her friends trembling where they stood made Cixi furious. She turned her glare straight on Cassian, who had started chuckling like a madman.

Did he truly have to kill a man so openly in front of everyone?

And now, after staining the entire floor with blood, he wanted every witness dead as well...

”Do not worry,” Cixi said, gathering herself enough to sound more confident than she truly felt. ”He will not harm you two. I am his fiancée, remember, and you are my friends. He would not want to make me angry.”

Even as she whispered the words, she was not entirely certain he would spare them.

”I thought you lied about being his fiancée.” Confusion sharpened Marion’s tone. ”Cixi, do not start playing two truths and a lie when our lives are on the line.”

Cixi did not answer immediately. She paused, weighing her thoughts before finally replying, ”Strike that.”

Marion stared at her. ”Which part? That you are his fiancée? Or that you are not and lied about it? Or are you lying again now after telling the truth?”

”I am his fiancée.” ’For today only,’ Cixi finished silently in her mind. She did not want to worry Marion or Lily.

”Thank you for becoming his fiancée.” Lily glanced at Cixi with sincere gratitude, as though Cixi had just thrown herself between them and death itself. Even so, Lily was not sure whether Cixi should marry a mobster. No matter how handsome he was, he might eventually ruin her friend’s life.

A mobster’s life was steeped in blood, violence, and the kind of darkness that never ended cleanly.

So how had Cassian Crown managed to pull her sweetest, most careful friend, Cixi, into his net?

Despite the man lying dead on the floor, Cixi felt little remorse for him. She did, however, feel a pang of sympathy for his family, who had lost a son, a brother, and perhaps a boyfriend that night. Although she mused, he could not have been a very good boyfriend if he was capable of assaulting and threatening her.

Meanwhile, Cassian brought the cigarette back to his mouth, drew on it deeply, and let the smoke rest inside his lungs, savouring the fear on the crowd’s faces.

”Why?” he asked the crowd, drawing Cixi’s full attention. ”Did I not give you a good enough show?” He tilted his head slightly, his eyes moving lazily over the terrified faces. ”Now it is time for me to collect my reward.”

Then he exhaled. Smoke left his lips in a slow, pale stream that curled around the lines of his face, softening nothing.

He looked monstrous, magnificent, and completely unbothered by the blood splashed across his clothes and cheek, smoking as though nothing were amiss while laughing at the terrified crowd.

Cassian’s men drew their revolvers from their holsters and aimed them at the crowd, while the VIPs remained seated, not a single line of worry crossing their foreheads.

Meanwhile, Binge and his men were left baffled, still trying to comprehend what had just happened. They had not even fully processed Andi’s severed head before guns were pointed at them.

Before Binge could demand an explanation or question whether Cassian had gone insane after their agreement, Cixi’s voice rang out, startling and baffling everyone.

”Why do you smoke so much?”

Cassian, who had been half-turned towards the crowd, stilled.

For a heartbeat, it almost seemed as though he thought he had heard her wrongly. Then he turned to face Cixi.

His pitch-black eyes settled on her, and she stared right back at him with open irritation, as though the beheading, the blood, the panic, and the command he had just given were somehow less offensive to her than the cigarette dangling between his fingers.

He regarded her for a long moment.

”Are you complaining about the cigarette?”