EXTRACT FOR
Butcher Shop Siren
(Daisy Rose)

"Aren't you going to use the bolt gun?" he asked. That was normally his weapon of choice as it allowed the dying to be clean enough that it would not sully the meat. Some of his customers, Fatehbir had shared before, believed that fear added a certain bitter tang to the meat. 



"Special request by one of the customer," Fatehbir said and placed his phone on the other side of the cage, presumably so he could record the act. 



"Is that for your other buyers?" Hephach asked. 



"You've never seen me butcher a mermaid before, have you?" he grinned. "People pay good money for this stuff. And this little bitch took down several of my men. I'm going to enjoy making it hurt," he said. 



He provided many reasons where Hephach had only asked for one and Fatehbir was grinning as he gave his reasons, vibrating with anticipation. It was clear that he enjoyed making his victims suffer. 



"I see," Hephach would have to deal with the phone before he dealt with the man. "I would rather my face not be featured in it," he said. 



"Oh, I've got the angle all figured out. You just stand right where you're at and I'll handle the rest, pretty boy." 



Hephach arched a brow but refused to be taunted into responding by the comment. He was far from pretty. He knew that some people found him rather intimidating, not just because of his height, but the battle scars that he had on his arms and the right side of his face. "Your other buyers not keen on witnessing the butchering?" he asked instead. 



"They trust me," he said, a jab to him again, but he didn't rise to the bait. 



Hephach had dealt with the man long enough to know how little he could be trusted. He would often sell cuts of meat at his shop that should have gone bad months ago. Erlkings, for example, would really only remain fresh for a few scarce weeks before their flesh would begin to rot. But they were not very palatable to begin with, so perhaps any substitution that he made would be an improvement. "Their loss," Hephach said without inflection. 



The butcher sized him up, then visibly decided that he was joking and guffawed. "You're funny," he said and strode past him.



The mermaid appeared to be less frightened even though imminent dying was clear. She was staring at him openly again, as if she considered the butcher to be beneath her notice. The lines of her face were hard with bitter resignation. 



He had seen similar expressions on the faces of the people he had killed, but very rarely. He smiled at the mermaid and saw hope flickering in the creature's eyes. 



He had spent a good amount of time on Fatehbir. Longer than he had originally anticipated and had gotten everything he needed from the butcher. 



He supposed it was time for him to move on. 



As the butcher raised his club, Hephach stepped up behind the man and closed his fingers around the man's neck. His claws emerged from the tips of his fingers and in one smooth gesture, he sliced his sharp claws across the man's throat.