Page 2 of Burn in Ruin
It was why I didn’t deserve Lily, but I was willing to change.
For her.
But right now, my old self was exactly who I needed to be.
It was what she needed, no matter how wrong it felt.
So I leaned my elbows onto my knees and enjoyed the view. Kaito was easy on the eyes, especially covered in blood.
I was in a mood, and right now blood reminded me of cherries.
Licking my lips, I allowed myself to fantasize about indulging in a taste.
I had a prime spot for today’s torture. Lucifer had awarded me a front row that I fully appreciated while I munched on a cherry—all while I pretended it was him.
I’d brought a few from my grove before coming here. This was my last one, so I was going to make it count.
“Again,” Orion commanded. He raised a hand that glowed with his own special inner light before letting it fall.
The Demigod was fascinating to watch. I was so used to being the tormentor that it felt strange to watch someone else doing the deed.
Orion wasn’t the one doing the torturing, but he commanded a Fallen Angel as part of the latest training regiment for members of Lucifer’s army.
This segment were the weakest of the bunch that needed to be hardened.
There was a reason they were weak, though.
They had been broken already… by me.
Sighing, I chose to watch the Demigod instead of the pathetic excuse for Fallen Angels that squandered so much potential.
Kaito was a Kami… a lower-level demon with so much capacity for pain.
The Fallen Angel was trying, though. He struck again, this time accidentally snapping the whip the wrong way and sending Kaito’s hair flinging over his face. It left a long streak of dark blood up the back of his neck.
I resisted rolling my eyes. I reserved my Whip of Penance for special occasions, but it physically hurt me to see a whip used poorly.
The Demigod was completely unfazed by the pathetic excuse for torture. This wasn’t nearly enough to break the Kami and he knew it.
What surprised me, though, was the cold cruelty in his eyes.
Orion had changed since being ordered to fight the others to the death. I hadn’t been there to see it, but the long scar across his chest was hard to miss.
It cracked with sunlight and bled golden liquid onto his waistband. No bandage could withstand the divine power of a Demigod’s blood, so he was forced to leave the wound open while it healed.
I wondered who had given him the near-fatal mark. My money was on the Hunter.
“Don’t hesitate,” Orion barked.
“Y-yes,” the Fallen Angel said. I recalled tormenting him myself, and I knew it must be disconcerting for him to now be on the other end of things. He glanced at me before letting his whip fall, slicing another line of black blood down Kaito’s naked back.
I rubbed my chin in thought. What was his name again?
Jeffery?
Johnson?
“That was weak, Jeremiah,” Orion said with a low tone of disapproval. A row of Fallen Angels from behind me chuckled in response.
