Page 17 of The Devil of London

Asuddenoverwhelmingsenseof dread rushed through me as I inhaled the odor of disinfectants. My body jackknifed against the hands holding me down and preventing me from escaping. An earsplitting shriek burst from my lips, but was cut off by my scared sob of dread. Agony ghosted down my throat, in my pussy, and through my innards as the awareness of being electrocuted from within sharpened. Through it all, I begged for mercy, for them to stop, for them to just kill me already.

“Bloody hell,” Nasir whispered sleepily as I fought to escape the dream.

The nightmare, however, refused to release me from its icy claws. I felt the phallus-shaped metal spreading me apart as teeth sliced through my throat. Dark, cruelly whispered comments filled my ears as it began punching into my body at a harshly brutal pace. My insides, unprepared for penetration, burned with the agony of being forced to accommodate too much, too soon. They had offered no prep because one girl had acted out early this morning. In the event one misbehaved, we’d all suffer the consequences.

“Stop! It hurts. You’re ripping me apart!” I howled through the tears swelling in my throat. I arched up from the bed, fisting the bedding as something else was shoved into my ass. “Just kill me! Please, finish it.”

My body shook violently as tears seared paths down my temples, wetting my hair and pooling in my ears. The vampire feasting from my throat merely chuckled as he continued pulling from my vein. My jaw was forced open by a metal contraption, and a demon stepped up to fuck my throat. The sensation of being fucked, shocked, and fed on by monsters caused something inside me to snap. Going slack against the restraints holding me in place, I gave in to the insanity of the room.

“Ah, the dirty little slut is beginning to understand her only use is to serve at our leisure. I say we remove the metal cock and both stretch that nasty cunt wide open until she bleeds. Then Lenny can feast from her nasty snatch. What do you say, gentlemen? Shall we teach the thrall her rightful place?” The onlookers cheered their approval. “Remove the phalluses for us, nurse. This one will feed us as we want for the rest of the day.”

“She’s unlike the others in the room, my lords. No matter how badly you break her, she heals overnight. It’s unique. Her blood feeds you, Lord Vellalar, as surely as if she were mortal. Her emotions allow the fae to gorge on her as the others fuck her until she’s on the cusp of death, but she doesn’t die. You may do as you wish with her. We only ask that you don’t maim her or disfigure her body. Miss Caine is a crowd favorite, after all. The brothers wouldn’t take too kindly to you doing permanent damage to her. Keep that in mind when you’re alone with her throughout the day. Bon appétit.”

“Aderyn!” Nasir snarled, which had my eyes snapping open in horror. I stared at the ceiling, sucking in air as if they had deprived me of it for far too long. Arms held me, preventing me from escaping the bed.

“Let me go,” I urged thickly, battling the demons I’d do anything to be free of. “Release me, Nasir!” I screamed through a sob, and this time, he did. I shot up from the bed, sliding my gaze around the room frantically. “Bathroom?” Nasir pointed, and I darted toward it. I’d barely gotten the toilet lid up before I was throwing up everything in my stomach. For long moments, I tried to focus on the cold bite of tile on my knees, or the mechanics of pulling air into my lungs and pushing it out. Then, when I was sure I wouldn’t get sick again, I pushed myself to standing and stumbled to the sink.

I grabbed the only toothbrush available, squeezed toothpaste onto it, and scrubbed my teeth. Once the taste of bile was replaced by the sharp taste of mint, I moved to the opulent shower and entered it fully dressed. The water was icy cold, sending pinpricks of pain everywhere it hit, but I embraced the feeling as I slid down the wall. Tears rolled down my cheeks unchecked, obscured by the spray, I curled into the fetal position and rocked myself back and forth.

Sucking in air, I fought against the claws tearing into my mind with the remnants of the nightmare clinging to me. The scrape of the shower door forced my eyes to shut tightly.

“Bloody hell, Aderyn,” Khaos murmured as he slid down the wall and placed his hand on my thigh. I jerked away from his touch, unable to endure any pity from the bastard. “Fuck that,” he snapped before yanking me up into his arms.

I attacked the moment he forced me from the fetal position. My palms cracked over his cheeks as I sobbed, breaking apart at the seams with the pain fresh in my mind.

“You left me!” I screamed through the body-shaking sobs. “I hate you. I fucking hate you all. All of you left me in that hole to rot. Monsters raped me every single day for almost an entire year! Where the fuck were you when I needed you the most?” I sobbed brokenly.

“Je me déteste aussi, Aderyn.” He spoke softly, excluding me from understanding him. Catching my hands, he forced them above my head as he wrapped his arm around me, holding me tightly. “Si j’avais pu échanger ma place avec toi, j’aurais.” Nasir’s lips brushed my forehead tenderly. My fingers clasped onto his hair, yanking at the raven-colored tendrils as he released my wrists to hold me tightly. “Sans toi, je ne suis que le monstre que tu as créé. Celui qui t’a aimé aveuglément sans te décevoir.” The way he held me, as if he regretted what he’d done, pissed me off. “Sans toi, mon âme est incomplète. Je suis désolé, mon âme.” He continued, which irked me even more.

The asshole refused to release me, refused to free me from the embrace as I crumbled in his arms. “You’re safe now. I have you. If you need to break, you are safe to do so with me. I failed you once, but I won’t do it again. If I’d known you hadn’t died, I’d never have left without you.”

“You left me to them,” I whispered as the fight in me waned. Khaos rubbed my spine as his other hand pushed the wet hair away from my face. His turbulent depths held regret in them, and I was almost fool enough to believe it to be genuine. “Where the fuck am I?”

The entire bathroom was blood-red except for the white flooring and accessories. Jets sprayed from the walls, floor, and ceiling of the shower. Antique oil lamps, which had scarlet lampshades, fed soft lighting throughout the room. It looked like something out of the past but with the current day amenities.

“You’re in the bathroom of my personal suite in the club,” he stated. “I didn’t expect you to pass out for more than a few moments, and when you didn’t wake up, I carried you here.” Slowly releasing me, he frowned as my eyes slid over the delicious display of ink covering his chest.

“Did I stay the night? What time is it?” I asked, shivering. “The water’s freezing.”

He chuckled before looking up toward the showerhead. “Water at one hundred and one degrees, now,” he called out, and the water warmed to something bearable. Leaning his head back against the wall, he said, “Admittedly, white probably wasn’t the best thing to dress you in, brat.”

“I asked you to stop calling me that,” I retorted as his endearment sent memories of another time and place cutting through me. After the nightmare, it was the last thing I wanted to hear on his irritatingly perfect lips. “I’m not your brat anymore. The former prince of Spain destroyed her, Khaos. Almost three hundred years ago, remember? Oh, that’s right. You left me to do what was best for you while he brutalized me freely.”

“Which is why his skull sits on my mantle for all to see,” he murmured. I leaned against the wall beside him and laughed without emotion. “If I could bring him back and kill him again, I would for what he did to you. For what they all did to you, Aderyn. Throughout our entire time together, no one who has hurt you have been allowed to live. I’ve made sure of it.”

Leaning my head against his shoulder, I wiped away the tears before nodding in acknowledgement. Savior and tormentor. Protector and shield from those who’d tried to feast on my innocence so long ago. Monster who had fed on and from my innocence. We were complicated.

“You told me you were better, Aderyn,” he said, lifting his arm and pulling me closer.

“I lied,” I admitted through the swelling in my throat. “At night, the terrors come. Something as simple as the scent of bleach or the sound of wind scraping against the window can allow them to bypass my wards to reach me. When I moved into the house alone, I didn’t sleep for almost a month. After I’d begun hallucinating, I knew I couldn’t continue foregoing sleep, so I set up banishing wards. They didn’t work, and I had to weave a stronger spell to cover the deeper pain and memories. To remove the more painful memories, I slit my wrist and offered my blood for the incantation spell. I think I died during the spell, but no one noticed because I was alone.”

“I noticed,” he admitted. “Through the link, I felt it, and I came to you. You were on the kitchen floor in a protected circled of powerful magic. I didn’t think you’d enjoy me slaughtering the few witches in town to break the barrier. Therefore, I did the only thing within my power that I could do. I stood outside your tiny kitchen window and held vigil until you woke. I was still there when you won against death.”

“I didn’t know that,” I stated, but then my brow furrowed. “You’re in your pajama bottoms, inside your shower?” Peering down, I noted the slinky nightgown he’d dressed me in for the first time. “I swear to the unholy gods, if you dressed me in some bitch’s nightgown, I’ll tie you to a stake and set you on fire myself.”

“As if I have ever dressed you in anyone else’s clothing. They’re yours, which I bought in case you ever returned.” There was an emotion in his tone that tugged on my heartstrings. It was not enough to make me believe he regretted any of the coldly calculated shit he’d done to me, though. “Stand up and remove it. I’ll wash the sweat from the terrors away.”

“I can wash myself, Khaos.”

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