Chapter 32
Kage
The stairs creak softly beneath my boots while I make my way down into the dark, and somewhere below me, I hear chains shifting quietly.
Jesus fucking Christ.
The smell hits first. Blood mixing with sweat, sex, and fear thick enough to make me gag the second I step into the basement. The sight of her stops me cold for a second, my eyes dragging slowly over the mess they left behind.
She’s on the floor with her wrists chained above her head, thighs still trembling around the arm some sick fuck left shoved between her legs before walking out, blood spread beneath her in a dark pool… and fuck, that sight alone sends heat straight to my cock.
Her head jerks weakly at the sound of my boots hitting the floor, panic instantly flashing across her face the second she notices me properly.
Easy there, little flower.
I stop in front of her before wrapping my hand around the arm that’s still chilling inside her cunt and slowly pulling it out.
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath, watching the way her body shakes. “They really did destroy you.”
Her breathing falls apart again while she weakly pulls against the chains.
“Relax,” I say calmly while shrugging my jacket off. “I’m not gonna hurt you.”
Probably the funniest thing I’ve said all night.
I throw the jacket around her shoulders before unlocking the restraints one by one. The second the last chain releases, her body slumps forward weakly like she doesn’t even have the strength left to hold herself upright anymore. I catch her before her face can hit the concrete.
“There we go,” I say softly while pulling her against my chest. “Easy.”
She’s freezing. Tiny tremors keep running through her body while she looks up at me with wide, exhausted eyes that still haven’t decided whether I’m safer than the others or somehow worse.
Smart girl.
“Shh,” I whisper while lifting her fully into my arms. “You’re okay now, little flower. Everything’s gonna be fine.”
Her head falls weakly against my shoulder while I carry her upstairs, blood smearing slowly across my clothes with every step.
The night air bites against my skin the second I step outside, but I barely pay attention to it while carrying her toward the car. I open the back door and carefully lay her across the seat, the plastic covering crinkling softly beneath her body. Her eyes instantly drop downward.
Ah.
There it is.
A weak little flicker of fear crawling back into her head again.
“It’s for the blood, princess,” I tell her while brushing some hair away from her face like I actually give a shit about calming her down. “Relax.”
She looks like she actually wants to believe me.
Cute.
Really-fucking-cute.
I bite back a grin before gently shutting the door and sliding into the driver’s seat. The engine hums softly once I start the car, and for a while the only sound filling the silence is her shaky breathing from the backseat.
Every now and then, my eyes flick toward the mirror.
Still trembling.
Still trying not to cry.
Still so fucking pretty it’s starting to become a problem.
After more than two hours on the road, the houses disappear completely.
By the time I finally pull the car over and kill the engine, there’s nothing left around us except endless woods and darkness.
The silence that follows settles heavily inside the vehicle, broken only by the sharp change in her breathing from the backseat the second she realizes we’re nowhere near civilization anymore.
A grin slowly pulls at my mouth while I step out of the car and open the back door before reaching inside for her carefully, still keeping up the act, still letting her cling to the pathetic little hope that I’m somehow different from the others.
Which, to be fair, is true.
I’m so much worse.
“What’s wrong, princess?” I ask softly while helping her out of the car. “You were doing so good.”
She barely manages to stay upright once her feet touch the ground, her weak body immediately leaning against mine for support while I guide her backward through the cold night air until her spine hits the side of the vehicle, and the second it does, my hand closes hard around her throat. Her entire body jolts beneath my grip.
Fuck yeah.
I pin her against the car before leaning down and sinking my teeth into her neck hard enough to tear skin.
My free hand clamps over her mouth instantly, smothering the scream that rips through her body as the taste floods my tongue—warm, sweet, addictive—sending heat straight through me.
I press her harder beneath me, trapping her completely while my cock strains painfully against her sliced stomach, every shaky breath she takes only making it worse.
A rough sound breaks out of me before I slowly pull away, blood gliding down her skin while she remains trapped there beneath me, too shocked to react.
“You taste even better than I imagined,” I rasp while dragging my tongue slowly across the blood covering my lips.
“What…?” Her voice breaks completely. “You said… I thought…”
A laugh bursts out of me so suddenly I almost double over.
“Oh, little flower.” I wipe my mouth slowly with my thumb. “What? You thought I was the good guy?”
She looks genuinely shattered by that.
Jesus Christ. That alone almost makes me want to keep her forever.
My laughter slowly dies afterward, and just like that, the mood changes completely. Silence stretches between us while I stay focused on her, something ugly shifting beneath my skin like it’s trying to claw its way out.
Then I slowly step away from her, boots crunching softly against the dirt while the cold night air settles between us, finally giving her enough space to understand I’m no longer keeping her trapped against the car.
“Run.” The word leaves my mouth almost gently.
She stays completely still beneath me, blood sliding slowly down her neck while her chest rises and falls too fast, too uneven, like her body is still trying to survive everything that just happened.
“C’mon, princess,” I whisper, spreading my arms slightly like I’m giving her permission to ruin her own life. “Don’t make this boring for me.”
Her eyes flick desperately around the woods, then back to me again, like she still can’t understand what the fuck is happening or what I actually want from her.
That hesitation lasts exactly two seconds before I let out a sharp breath, pull the gun from the back of my jeans, and fire.
The bullet tears past her head, ripping a scream from her throat before slamming into a tree somewhere behind her.
She jumps violently, stumbling backward against the car, while I burst into laughter so hard it almost knocks the air from my lungs.
Fuck.
There it is.
That fear.
That pure fucking survival instinct finally flooding her body the way it should’ve from the start.
“THAT’S what I wanted to see!” I shout after her, grinning like a fucking lunatic while she stands there horrified.
Then my laughter slowly dies, my patience dying with it while I stare at her standing there frozen instead of doing the one thing I fucking told her to do.
“Run,” I repeat, my voice sinking into something far more dangerous this time. “Because if I have to come drag you into those woods myself…” I take another step toward her, the gun still loose in my hand. “…I’m done being gentle.”
Her breathing instantly falls apart, and the sight alone pulls something twisted out of me while I watch pure terror consume what little composure she still had left.
“I’ll tie you to a tree and leave you there screaming,” I tell her calmly. “Then I’ll sit back and watch the wilderness rip you apart piece by fucking piece.”
That finally shatters whatever hesitation she had left, and the second she turns and disappears into the forest, something feral twists across my face while I raise the gun lazily beside my head.
“Ready or not,” I whisper into the darkness before following after her.
“Here the fuck I come.”