Wrath stays silent as I continue.
“What if I…we… let them see me first,” I suggest. “Let them recognize why they’re here before I rip their sight out, nerve by nerve.”
I glance up at the monitors.
“Then we let them run the Death Rooms like bleeding vermin, blind and screeching. We’ll watch it like it’s our favorite horror movie. And once it’s finally over, we package up their eyes and send them back to Zye. Let him know his brothers are gone and he’s next.”
Wrath’s jaw ticks, but he says nothing as the light in his eyes fractures, something darkening at the edges. He lifts his chin slightly, inspecting at me like I’ve bloomed into something evil and magnificent.
Both his hands reach up and slowly wrap around my throat causing a shiver to ripple through me. My eyes flutter closed, head tipping back, exposing my neck to him like an offering and he dips his mouth down to my parted lips.
“You’re so damn fucking pretty,” he murmurs, lips brushing mine. “It almost makes me want to…”
His grip tightens just enough to halt the breath in my throat, just enough for him to savor the throb of my pulse like it’s speaking to him. It tells him things I never say aloud. Things that make his control unravel.
Then he makes a sharp sound with his tongue—
Crack
–and his thumbs press deeper into the sides of my neck, mimicking the snap of my spine. My lashes flutter as my eyes slowly open, a grin edging across my lips.
We scan each other eyes, my smile fading as we both fall into a strange silence, until I whisper.
“But you haven’t… Is that why you won’t…”
His gaze lowers to my mouth as the words slip past my lips, then gradually meets mine again. He doesn’t answer so I wrap my hands around his wrists.
“Can’t we at least try… Once. I…”
My words trail off as his hands loosen and slip away like he’s afraid of what might happen if he holds on a second longer.
He doesn’t look at me, just turns his head to the side, his jaw clenched, and I can tell there’s a war screaming in his mind and he’s trying not to lose to it.
Once deciding he’s not going to answer me, he instead stalks over to the tools, fingers brushing over them until one catches his interest. He lifts it, something sharp and gleaming, then tilts his head toward the door as he walks toward it.
I slide off the table, my boots hitting the floor with a soft thud. An exhale escapes me, tight and shaky, readying myself for what comes next.
Chapter Twenty
Wrath
Entering the room first, I feel Aurelia close behind me. I scan each of them as they stare back at me, their faces twisted in confusion and fear. They still don't understand why they’re still here, they don’t know who I am, why they’re still alive, and what horrors await them next.
I take a step aside, clearing the path, letting them face their unanswered questions head-on.
When their eyes land on her, they go as pale as corpses, the blood draining from their faces in a way that only happens when terror starts to set in. It’s not just fear, though. It’s something deeper. It seems like they’re seeing a ghost, something they thought was dead and buried.
I haven’t asked Aurelia why these pricks are here or why they were on her list to die. But I can feel it. I think I know. I have a deep, gnawing sense that this isn’t just some light-hearted revenge. This is something much fucking darker. Something personal.
I didn’t want to ask her before, because I knew if she confirmed it, if it left her pretty lips while these fucks were still in here, breathing, she wouldn’t have stopped me from what I’d do next.
Her revenge would have turned into my revenge real fucking quick.
“Hey, bros,” Aurelia spits, the word dripping with venom, and my gaze snaps to her in an instant.
Bros? As in.. her fucking brothers?
The realization hits me sharp, and I glance between them both, noticing there’s no resemblance to her. They must be step or something. Now I’m questioning everything.