Page 25

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.

Aurelia steps forward, her eyes fiery with revenge, and neither of them tries to speak through their gag, they’re too dumbstruck.

“Oh, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost…” she taunts, a wide smile stretching across her black lips.

Aurelia stops in front of one and her hand lightly traces his jaw, not out of lust, more of a mock. “Oh, don’t worry, I’m letting you go, big brother,” she says slyly, almost playful. “But whether you can make it out of this place alive is another thing.”

The other one finally chooses to speak through his cloth, but I can see the anger and bitterness in his eyes. He has the fucking audacity to shout at her. In front of me?

Something evil and possessive surges through me like a spike of lightning. And before I can control it, my fist whips out like a sledgehammer, smashing into his face so violently that his head snaps back—the sound, disturbingly satisfying.

He groans loudly, blood pouring through the gag as my hands slam down on his bound arms, fingers digging into fresh skin. I lean over him, bringing my face nose-to-nose with his, a beastly growl tearing from my throat—a warning.

His eyes widen, locked onto my red spirals, chest rising and falling in sharp, heavy breaths through his nose.

“Wrath...” Aurelia hisses my name quietly, trying to rein me in.

I have to stop myself from going further by ripping his throat out with my bare hands. Snarling lowly, my body vibrating with rage, I take a step back, barely containing who I am. But I need to. For her sake. Reminding myself this isn’t about me. This is her moment, and she needs it.

When I look at her, she gives me a small nod, and I get to work right away. I tilt both their chairs back and strap their heads down, securing them in place, getting everything ready for her to scoop their eyeballs out with a spoon.

Aurelia circles slowly, watching it all unfold with those calculated steps of hers, graceful and cold. The air shifts around her, heavy and charged, and I can feel the power radiating off her in waves. She’s in her element.

As soon as they’re bound and unmovable, she climbs onto one of their thighs, crawling up his body until her face is right above his. She smiles down at him, a cruel, wicked smile that sends a tingle straight to my dick.

I growl low, eyes locked on her, drinking her in because she looks like a fucking badass right now. Like my perfect dark goddess, made for chaos and pain.

Her eyes flick to mine, and just like that, I’m gone.

She watches me watching her, and for a second, we both almost forget why we’re here.

I swear, I’m one second away from ripping her off him, bending her over, and shoving my dick so far up her ass that when they go back to hell, they’ll carry the image with them.

They’ll fucking tell Satan exactly what they saw and how I ruined her little body right in front of them.

Aurelia gives me a soft smile before her expression drops and she looks down at him again, refocusing. She doesn’t want to look for long and she doesn’t need to speak or taunt either. My little corpse wants blood. No wait, theatrics or remorse.

She just brings the spoon down and shoves it straight into his eye without flinch or pause and as he screams, his body vibrating beneath her, the sound of tearing muscle and gushing blood fills the room, Aurelia doesn’t react.

She stays still and focused, while continuously grinding the spoon into his socket like this is exactly what she’s been waiting for and she’s going to take her time with it.

It makes me more fucking obsessed with her. She’s as fucked up as I am.

I just stand there and observe, waiting as she takes each of their eyes out and when she finally steps down, blood on her hands but calm in her face, she gives me a nod and I unstrap their heads.

“You can leave now,” she giggles, so carefree and light, it’s almost horrific considering they’re still writhing in agony.

But my lips twitch as my eyes lock on her ass jiggling in that little fucking tutu and fishnets, driving me mad while I follow her out.

My fists are so tight, I can feel my nails digging into my palms, breaking skin, barely holding myself back from slamming her down and taking control.

Not because I don’t admire her. No, cause I do, in some fucked-up way. But right now, in this exact moment, I want nothing more than to fucking break her, degrade her and make her scream under me, just like she did to them.

Little fucking tease.

When we’re back in the control room, I lock the door behind us and make my way toward the buttons. Grabbing the remote, I turn around and head for the chair, settling into it, my arms resting lazily on the armrests. Aurelia, without hesitation, lowers herself onto my lap, and the moment she does, she looks down at me, her eyes sharp.

“You got off on that?” she asks, raising an eyebrow, her hands still coated in blood.

My jaw clenches, fingers twitching as my teeth grind. I feel the pressure building, and when she settles fully onto my hard cock, her smirk only intensifies. I don’t even think, just react and my hand snaps to her throat, cutting off her air, pulling her face close to mine.

A low growl escapes me, vibrating against her lips, letting her know just how fucking frustrated I am.

When I finally release her, shoving her back with enough force to see the wide-eyed look on her face, she doesn’t back off. That faint smile still plays on her lips before she curls into me, pulling her knees up and resting her head beneath my chin, like nothing happened, like everything is just as it should be.

We sit in silence, our eyes locked on the fuckers behind the glass, squirming in pain.

“What happens now?” she murmurs, her voice soft, almost like a challenge.

Without saying a word, my finger presses a button, and their door swings open automatically, their limbs released at the same time. They freeze, confusion written across their faces before they rip the gags from their mouths, blindly reaching for each other in a frantic scramble.

She giggles against me, her blood-slicked palm gliding over my bare chest beneath the open leather jacket, and I breathe in deep, letting the sensation sear into me.

On the other side of the glass, they stumble like newborn animals, pathetic and unsighted, palms slapping against the walls, fingers scraping over the surface, desperate for something or anything that feels like an escape.

But then they find each other, clinging like life itself depends on it. Shaking and whispering, inching forward in the dark with nothing but fear guiding them.

Aurelia and I look up at the screens, our faces lit by the glow as we watch them take their first steps deeper into The Death Rooms. I feel her smile curve against my jaw, and my own blood begins to thrum with anticipation.

I press another button, locking the door behind them, and they flinch at the sound, spinning around like hunted prey.

I’ve seen this live show play out a thousand times growing up. I used to sneak in here with Hell and Soul, watching from this very room. Sometimes we’d even do jump scares on Dark Night when we were in our late teens, when we were really fucking ruthless and wild.

We’d shove people through doors or taunt them so horrifically they’d throw them fucking selves into death’s arms.

It’s one of the more grotesque amusements we offer around here. But even that doesn’t compare to what waits inside The Steel Casket.

That place… it’s different. Even we don’t go near it.

When they start fumbling with locked doors, confusion written all over their faces, Aurelia turns to me, her golden eyes glinting.

“They’re locked?” she asks, curiosity curling at her lips.

“Wonna play with them a bit first…” I suggest, eyes fixed on the screens. “…get them fucking running?”

Her smile spreads slow and wide, and I know she’s into it. She digs the dark thrill as much as I do, and my red gaze seems to lock onto her, feeding off it.

I pass her the remote, and she glances down at it, then gently takes it from my hand like she’s handling something sacred.

I point to three buttons.

Glass. Nails. Metal.

Each is one connected to slots hidden within the black walls—loaded with those materials. They’re not designed to kill, just to shred. They’re aimed low, so they’ll hit legs, feet or thighs to give just enough pain to kick up the panic and make them bolt. It’s a fucking game. A psychological war.

The more they run, the deeper they go, the more doors they open to find an exit that isn’t available, and that’s when, the get closer to their own demise.

Aurelia hovers her finger over the first button, smiling like a goddamn angel of death. She presses down on Nails , and both our eyes flick up to the screen.

In an instant, thin metal spikes shoot from the corridor walls, fast, sharp, and brutal, burying themselves deep in their calves, thighs, and ankles like little bullets. Their shrieks echo through the hallway, high-pitched and panicked. Blood spatters the walls, their bodies jerking as they stumble forward.

The moment they start running, blinded by pain, Aurelia lets out a loud, unhinged laugh, her head tilted back.

She’sthriving—and I can’t take my fucking eyes off her.

Her finger hovers over the Metal button, but she doesn’t press it just yet. She’s enjoying the chaos too much and soaking in their panic.

One of the brothers stumbles, blood trailing behind him, trying to drag the other with him, but the weight of their wounds are far too much.

They split, running in opposite directions, driven by the pure urge to escape, even if they can’t see where the fuck they’re going. The one on the left veers toward a door, scraping his hands along the walls, but every movement is erratic.

The other staggers to the right, dragging his foot along the ground, his body slick with sweat and blood. His movements frantic but aimless—no sense of direction, just real desperation.

Aurelia watches it all in silence, her face now untouched. She doesn’t even need to hit Metal yet. She’s just soaking in their despair, letting it settle over her, before suddenly, she turns to me.

Her hand finds my neck, her thumb on my jaw as she stares me in the eyes.

“Let’s make a bet...” she purrs, and I know that sound all too fucking well.

She’s being mischievous, trying to get me to ruin her in some way.

“Choose who you thinks gonna die first, and I’ll press the button to unlock the doors.”

My gaze darts to the screen, flickering to each guy before they settle on her again.

“Why?” I ask deeply, chin raised, my eyes dropping to her lips.

She shifts slightly, wanting to feel my dick pressed against her and I can already feel it’s growth—the blood rushing into it like it’s ready to go. That’s exactly what she wants, my cock, inside her pussy, and my little corpse is going to do anything to get it.

My jaw tightens as she sucks her bottom lip between her teeth, gold eyes glittering with something sinful.

“I just wonna play with you, Wrath,” she says innocently with a flutter of her lashes, bringing her mouth close to mine. “Choose one and I’ll take the other.”

I lean in, pressing my lips to hers. “Why?” I bite through clenched teeth, teetering on the edge of losing control.

Her fingers trail across my chest, a deliberate, teasing motion as her eyes stay fixed on mine.

“Well,” she murmurs, voice low, “I thought maybe... if you win, we’ll do things your way. But if I win...” Her gaze sharpens and she holds my stare with a quiet intensity. “We’ll do it my way.”

My teeth grind audibly as I weigh her words. Yeah, I’ve let up a lot, for her. I’ve talked more around her, I’ve fucked her ass, but now I have to face the real and risky test of finally burying myself where we both want it most. To claim her in the right fucking way and solidify whatever the fuck this is between us.

I feel torn, and it’s fucking stupid. I should have been balls deep inside that luke-warm cunt the moment I saw her. My minds torn, but my instincts scream at me to just do it. Just test it. Gamble it fucking all.

“And if I kill you?” I ask, my voice cold, chin raised in a challenge, my eyes locked on hers.

This isn’t some little game—this is a fucking threat, a line I’m not entirely ready to cross. I’m still not sure if I can stop myself, even if I’ve somehow managed to control myself while doing other shit, this is different. So she needs to know just how serious this shit is.

She swallows, a subtle shift in her demeanor, her gaze scanning mine.

“Then you kill me,” she answers with a defiant brow lift, clearly wanting to risk it all for my cock. “If you kill me, Wrath, then I wasn’t supposed to be the one for you anyway.”

“The one with dark hair,” I say flatly, giving her what she wants and accepting the challenge.

There’s no fucking way she ain’t the one for me. She’s the toxic air I choke on, the poison that runs through me and makes me feel something—anything. She’s the only one I’ve ever spoken to, the only one who’s ever cut through the hollowness. The only one to still survive in my world and the only one I’ve ever touched with any real desire.

I’d burn everything for her—tear it the fuck apart and ruin it all, even if it means destroying us both in the wreckage along with it.

She smiles, satisfied, before turning her head and looking up at the screens. Then, after a deep, long breath, she finally presses down on the button to open all the doors.

There’s a loud grind of metal, then a click that echoes through the building. All doors now unlocked but remain closed. Both brothers halt, heads tilting as they try to make sense of the sound. They're on opposite ends of the building now, nowhere near each other. They try calling out, but their voices don’t carry far enough.

They’re disoriented, blind, trapped.

They start moving again, hands dragging along the cold walls like they’re walking barefoot over glass. The blonde one stops first and his bloody, shaking fingers fumble against a handle. Aurelia leans forward, holding her breath as he grips it.

He twists it, slow at first, and the door creaks open.

The floor in front of the door dips slightly, a near-invisible pressure plate and he steps forward without feeling it. Then there's a metallic slam. The ceiling crashes down, massive, rusted spikes shooting downward like the jaws. He stumbles back just in time, but one spike grazes across his shoulder, slicing deep, causing blood to splatter up the wall, and he screams.

“Lucky motherfucker,” I mutter.

“Let’s hope not for long,” Aurelia responds coldly, eyes locked on the screen.

Both of us glance to the second man with the dark hair. He’s heard the scream and is now turned toward the sound, but his hand’s already on a doorknob, fingers flexing, hesitating. Clearly questioning if he goes for freedom or his brother.

Then he lets go, moving toward the sound like he’s actually going to help.

But Aurelia's a wicked little thing.

She slams her finger down on the Glass button, and the corridor explodes into chaos. Shards whip out from the walls, long and curved, slashing across both sides. The brothers scream, arms shielding their bodies as they run.

They’re both getting cut up fast, blood trailing behind them and Aurelia laughs, loud and wild, like a fucking menace.

The sound of it is almost more brutal than the scene on the screen, but it’s music to my fucking ears.

The blonde one reaches another door and fumbles, pure panic now. He opens it, too desperate to think, and steps through.

The camera shifts just in time to see him drop onto a ledge inside the room, a low one, his body slamming hard. He starts screeching, his skin starting to bubble and hiss from the scotching hot plate. His hands stick to it, melting and his flesh peels off as he tries to push himself up.

“What’s happening?” Aurelia asks stunned.

I don’t answer because I don’t need to. The plate splits in half and red light floods upward. Then he drops straight down into a pit of fire, his scream cut off by the roar of the furnace below.

Aurelia’s breath catches, her eyes are wide, locked on the screen.

And then there’s only one left.

The last brother stumbles forward, his hands scraping along the walls, each step slower than the last, as if the weight of his brother's death has already crushed him.

His eyes, hollow and empty, are nothing but dark sockets, the world around him a void as he moves blindly, guided only by the hope that maybe the end is near or maybe the door will lead to some kind of escape from this hell.

He finally finds a door and pauses, his trembling fingers sliding across the handle, then he turns it slowly, almost gently.

After a moment, when the door opens, there’s nothing but an eerie stillness of the space around him. The calm before the storm. But when he steps inside the dark room.

Snap.

The pressure plate beneath his foot sinks with a nauseating crack, and in an instant, the trap is unleashed. The razor-sharp wires shoot out, a blur of cold steel slicing through the room, and he doesn’t even have time to react before they tear into him, shredding through his body in the shape of a spiders web. There’s no sound except for the sickeningwhipof the wire and the wet, tearing noises of his body being chopped.

Flesh, muscle, bone, all fall apart, like a delicate structure breaking under the weight of its own fragility. The wires retract just as fast as they came, disappearing into the walls, and all there is, is a deafening silence that follows.

His body, now nothing but a sliced up piece of meat, falls to the floor with a final wet thud, piled up like a mangled, unrecognizable mess.

Aurelia’s breath catches in the stillness, and I don’t say a word. I don’t need to. I feel the weight of the moment sinking into her as she lets out a deep breath, and it’s clear she feels the relief leaving her body.

She suddenly turns to me, wrapping her arms around my neck as she pulls me into a tight… hug. I freeze for a second until my hands slowly find her back, my arms moving to return the foreign gesture.

“Thank you,” she whispers into my ear before pressing a kiss to my painted cheek, and I feel something spark in my hollow soul, just a little bit.

As she gets off me, we don’t talk about the fact that I won the bet. I stand up too, heading toward the control panel to shut the entire building down.

When I’m ready, I turn to Aurelia. She’s by the weapons table, and when she faces me, she gives a small smile, one that doesn't quite meet her eyes. Then we walk toward the door to get out of here.