Page 168 of Pretty When She Breaks

It was followed by the sound of my scream, and I could feel the rage pouring through the bond from Finch and Kaos as the scene continued.

I’d insisted on including this part.

I wanted to take that moment back, to show everyone that touching me comes with consequences. I gritted my teeth as my screaming turned into sobs, and the video cut off.

The room was deadly silent as the spotlight turned back to me. My voice rung out, cold and firm like steel.

“So, let’s see what happens to alphas who think they can lay hands on me.”

The lights shifted, illuminating Madison as he stood in the Sink. He blinked up at the room, a snarl etched on his face. I felt a viscous stab of satisfaction as I saw the fear there too. He’d come to kill a drugged-up Ocean, but he’d bitten off more than he could chew.

I beamed, turning my show voice back on. “Here to enact my revenge is a spectre from the long past. We thought he was dead, but the shadows in the dark cannot be killed. May I present our dearly missed and celebrated champion, Demon!”

The lights in the atrium all suddenly switched off, leaving only the emergency lights to bathe us in their red glow.

The sound of screeching metal—a sound effect—was amplified as Kaos entered the Sink, followed by his feral snarl. The lights flickered, illuminating his form for a second mid-pounce.

He looked terrifying. The harsh lighting highlighted every prominent bone on his skeletal frame, his lips peeled back to expose his teeth in a manic grin. He truly looked like some nightmare risen from the dead.

He’d opted to put on a blindfold because the lights around us continued their chaotic show, flickering on and off to disorient my tormenter. There was the sound of flesh hitting flesh, the growl of a rogue alpha, and then the sound of Madison’s pain.

I got shivers as the Sink was illuminated in flashes, painting the scene in vivid freeze frames that left ghostly blue echoes burned into my retinas when the dark returned.

Madison’s screams echoed around the room like mine had moments ago, though his were notes of agony that told the story of the fight. It was sweet, satisfying music to go along with the striking images.

There was Kaos, nails clawing into Madison’s back, then Kaos, pinning Madison to the ground. There was a sickening, hollow snapping sound, and the next flash of light showed Madison’s leg twisted at an odd angle. The music changed in pitch but was no less beautiful for it.

I watched, fascinated, as every flash of light revealed a dark pool of blood growing larger and larger around them.

That was my alpha, and he was doing this for me.

The best show I’d ever seen in this hellhole.

The only time I was happy to be the Crimson Duchess.

There was no mercy. There was no stopping a rogue when they released their aura, and even when Kaos’s fury silenced Madison’s screams with another sharp crack, he didn’t let up.

I pressed a button, and the swing whirred, bringing me back over to the suite. I knew who would be waiting for me there. I could see Prince and Dax, but they weren’t looking at me. They were staring down at the Sink, where my alpha was drenched in their packmate’s blood.

NINETY-FOUR

FINCH

“Are you ready yet?” I asked, and Jewel rolled his eyes.

“My, my, you’re quite impatient,” he said, not looking away from the mirror as he fixed a net over his hair. “You can’t rush perfection.”

“We don’t need perfection, we need passable.”

He tutted. “I can’t finish if you’re interrupting me every five seconds. And that’s saying something because I’mverygood at finishing.”

I sighed, ignoring his grin, and reclined against the doorframe. Jewel leaned forward and applied the blond wig Jade had given us, clipping it before tossing his hair back. He fussed with the hairline and clipped in a pair of sparkling earrings before standing up and holding his hands out.

“Ta-da!” he said. “Perfect.”

I blinked at him, because honestly, with the blue contacts, he looked almost exactly like Laurel. They weren’t exactly the right shade of blue, and he was slightly taller, but from a distance, no one would be able to tell.

It was extremely uncomfortable and quite confusing.