Page 29 of Wicked Revenge

Turning to the right into another short hallway, there are storage rooms down here on either side and it appears to be a dead end. However, just like in the garage, Maddox presses into the wall at the very end to open the access panel, the door pops open once he’s scanned his palm. Another set of stairs takes us down one more level, so far down, no one could ever hear the screams while Maddox works.

The Playroom resembles what I imagine a serial killer's den would be like. The concrete room houses a variety of different toys and tools to make even the toughest of grown men beg for their mommy in a pool of their own blood, sweat, and piss.

There is a drain in the middle of the floor for easy clean up, with a slight downward slope from the walls to the center like a swimming pool.

The cells are down another hallway off the furthest wall, so we cross over the slanted floor and head to where we’ll keep Doc until we figure out what to do with him.

I don’t want him anywhere near Raena again, but with it being unclear what exactly he did or didn’t do to her, I won’t make a decision without her. She isn’t in the right frame of mind tonight to deal with this, so it looks like this will be Doc’s home for the foreseeable future.

“We’ll put him in the last cell,” Maddox says, making his way ahead and unlocking the steel door. These aren’t your typical prisoner cells. These are solid concrete walls, a solid steel door with a large observation window in the middle that allows us to see in but not them to see out. The rooms are high quality cells; they get their own bed and bathroom, which consists of a thin pad on a metal frame bolted to the floor, a toilet and sink in the corner.

Following him into the room, I toss Doc on the bed and start to undo his restraints. His eyes are darting around behind his lids when I remove his blindfold, a groan escaping his lips when the ropes are no longer binding him.

I stand to my full height just as his heavy eyes open and try to adjust to the low light and unfamiliar surroundings. He’s never been to our home, always meeting us in the field or at Twisted when the Shadows required him. Because he worked for King, too, we never trusted him enough to let him know who we truly were.

“Wha– what’s going on? Where am I?” He asks, his voice groggy and confused.

I choose to ignore him and his questions. There is no point right now. I need to speak to my brothers and to Raena before we deal with him. I’m afraid if he says something sideways, Maddox is going to lose it. He is too quiet, too calm right now. That's never a good sign with him. He is chaos personified 24/7. When he gets like this, it usually means a bloodbath will ensue soon.

“Get some rest, Doc. You’re going to be here for a while,” I say, walking out of the cell and shutting the heavy door behind us.

The locks engage once the door latches. We stand at the observation window in the door and watch him get his bearings and realize just what shit he has gotten into tonight.

***

The house is quiet when we make our way into the kitchen after settling Doc into the basement cells. Maddox follows behind me, taking a seat on one of the island barstools. I grab two beers from the refrigerator, sliding one to him before leaning back against the counter.

“Maddox, are you okay? Talk to me,” I say, uncapping my beer and lifting it to my lips with my eyes still on him.

“I don’t know what I am right now.” He runs his hands up his face and into his hair, pulling on the ends. “All I know is it took everything in me not to gut Doc without getting an explanation from him. I know he was involved in whatever happened to her, but the reaction she had to his voice-- it set me off. I wanted to cut his fucking tongue out so she never had to hear it again.”

“I know, but we need to get more information first and we need her to be in the right mental state to tell us what happened. She is too unstable tonight to think clearly and we don’t kill innocents. This could all just be a misunderstanding. Did Doc tell you anything before you gagged him?” I ask, knowing Maddox would have tried to get something out of him first because that’s just who he is.

“Not really. He kept insisting that he didn’t remember her, that she was mistaken. There is a part of me that hopes that is the case, that we don’t have to put down the only doctor in this town. But…there is another part of me, the part that went feral with bloodlust when she was cowering in that corner half-naked, that doesn’t really give a fuck if he is innocent or not.”

Nodding at him, I round the island to stand behind him and place my hand on his shoulder. “I know. I don’t know what it is about this girl that makes you want to burn the entire world down for her, but I feel it too,” I tell him honestly.

There is no point in lying about how we feel. We’ve lived so long in trepidation because everything we’ve ever loved has been ripped away from us. That changes now.

She changes everything.

He slowly turns in his seat to look up at me, understanding in his eyes, but also desire. I’m not blind. I know he has sexual feelings for me. I’ve never encouraged it because he’s my brother first and I would never want to lose him over something as stupid as sex. But I can’t deny the curiosity I feel when he looks at me like that or makes his comments and jokes. I’m curious.

Shaking my head, I try to bring my thoughts back to the topic at hand, and he finally responds.

“I’ve never felt anything like this, Royal. What if I completely fuck this up? I’m crazy. Between my past and King, I am a blood-crazed psycho. She has clearly endured trauma. What if she takes one look at how fucked up I am, and runs for the hills?” He puts his head on the island top and I rub his back.

“You’re scared,” I say, because it isn't a question. “Guess what? So am I. This is new to all of us. We’ve never had someone come into our lives like this and completely change the game. We will figure this out like we do everything else. Together. Now let’s go see where Alek took her. I need to see her, and I think it’ll make you feel better too.”

“Look at us. We’ve only known her a few hours, and I can’t fucking stand that she isn’t in my line of sight. This is fucking insane, you know that right?” He laughs, his familiar playfulness seeming to return after he unburdened himself from his own fears.

He isn’t wrong. This girl has no idea what kind of men she just went home with. While we would never hurt her, we are not your average vanilla men. Each of us have our own things we enjoy where women are concerned. She might not be ready for anything like that right now, but eventually, she will be.

When that time comes, I want her begging for it.

He pulls himself up from the barstool and we make our way through the house into the living room, past the solid glass wall overlooking the forest. This house is one of the newest to be built in Shadow Forest, and I designed it.

A wall of glass backlit with soft white lights rests within the lush greenery. Sleek, wooden black beams lay in perfect, clean lines. The modernized and classy exterior is a deep contrast to the whimsical and chaotic beauty of the overgrown forest resting outside the pristine fortress. The sun will be peaking through glass walls soon, reminding me that we haven’t even gone to sleep yet. I’m so exhausted, but I need to speak to my brothers, so sleep will have to wait.

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