Page 7 of Burn in Ruin
Kaito glared back, some fight returning to his eyes. “And you need to burn that sunlight of yours a little hotter, Demigod,because the darkness in you has not yet been quenched. Fight it, Orion, or you’ll regret it when this is all over.”
I shot up an eyebrow. That was quite the fucking speech. If I wanted to get Kaito to open up, maybe goading him when it came to the effects of Calamity was the way.
Orion laughed. The room trembled against the sound.
He’d only gotten stronger after all of this, despite his wounds. Calamity was a pain in the ass, but it certainly knew how to amplify power.
Which was why I needed to be careful how I proceeded from here.
One fuck up and I’d end up like my brother, and then we’d all be royally screwed.
I’m getting us out of this mess, Sam,I silently vowed.
Kaito’s gaze flicked to me for a moment, making me wonder if he’d heard me.
Orion placed a hand over the gash leaking golden blood across his center. “The only thing I regret is breaking up the mate circle when we would have been so much more powerful together.” He turned at me. “I’ll be watching, Azrael. As will my superiors.”
My lips twitched into a sideways grin. “Well, I hope you all are ready for quite the show.”
Because a show was what I was going to have to give them.
I just hoped that Kaito was going to survive it.
KAITO
Azra’s characteristic swagger seemed to be missing as he dragged me to a new cell.
He’d expertly wrapped the chains around my wrists in a complicated knot that would be impossible to get out of. I knew better than to try.
Azrael had a millennium of experience when it came to all things torture and bondage.
He squeezed the camera so hard in his other hand that I thought he might break the damn thing. The irony wasn’t lost on me that the last time we were alone together, we’d also been recorded.
This one would be live, though. Lucifer had gathered the best and brightest of humanity and amplified their collective knowledge. Technology was about to explode in this realm far earlier than it should have.
The intellectual part of me was intrigued, but I was far too distraught to entertain the idea of studying anything.
I wasn’t Professor Nakamura anymore.
As Azrael shoved me into a dark room, I accepted my new role.
I was now the angel’s prisoner and his task of breaking me would be a quick one.
Because I was already broken.
Perhaps that was why I sensed the disappointment in his gaze right before he closed the door behind him.
Darkness engulfed me and I could barely make out the torture tools lining the wall. Normally I could see perfectly fine without any light, but the torture—while bearable—had taken enough of my blood to weaken me.
Fire from the hearth behind me flared to life a moment later, making me squeeze my eyes shut at the sudden light. When I opened my eyes again, Azrael towered over me in all his glory. He toyed with the recording device, turning it over as if to analyze all angles. Then he swept past me, his feathers brushing my face, as he approached the flames.
For a moment I thought he was going to toss it into the fire, but he carefully set it on top of the mantle instead.
“I’m going to need you to do that again,” he told me as he trailed his fingers down the wall until he reached the row of hot pokers.
I shifted on my feet. While my hands were bound, I could attempt running.
The closed door seemed like a manageable barrier with a simple latch.
