Page 52 of Wicked Revenge

“Welcome to The Playroom.” My voice is excited.

I can barely contain the intense feeling. This place is my own personal safe space. Royal had it built for me when we moved out of King's house. When shit gets too hard, I can come in here and make men scream. I don’t torture and kill innocents.

We created the Shadows to protect the innocent from the deviant scum who prey on them. Those are the types of people I play with here. People like Kingston Wolfe and my father.

Raena walks across the room, running her hands over the various toys I have out on my table, over the different blades and devices. She picks up one that looks like a metal pear.

“What’s this?” she asks, rolling it around in her hand, feeling the smooth, rounded edges of the device.

“This is called a Pear of Anguish. The original medieval design was used to widen an orifice. I added a little something extra to it for the real special degenerates that come through here.” Taking it from her hand, I turn the stem portion, showing her how it opens. “The end here is a turn-key. It opens up the pear-shaped bottom. I added metal hooks inside, one large hook surrounded by several smaller ones. You insert this in someone's ass, and crank the turn-key to open them up.” The pear opens up like flower petals, revealing the tip of the large hook. “Then you push down on the key, deploying the hooks into their insides. They won’t feel the hooks just yet, just the sting of their ass stretching around the object. You can leave it in for as long as you want. When you’re ready, you yank it out, pulling their intestines out through their ass. It’s fucking glorious.”

Glancing up to see her face, I check to see if she looks disgusted or horrified, but she doesn’t. She looks up at me from the device in my hand, as a malicious grin slowly spreads across her face.

“I can think of a few men I’d like to try this on.”

“Anytime, Cherry. Anytime.” My own manic grin splits my face open, both of us looking like unhinged psychos.

Fuck. She’s fucking perfect.

“Alright, you two can plot mass murders later. We need to deal with Doc,” Royal says, his own smile painting his lips at our little bloody shadow.

Tossing the metal pear back on the table, I grab Raena’s hand and follow Royal across the slanted floor, down the hallway that leads to the cells.

“So how do you want us to do this? He’s unrestrained in his cell, but we won’t let him touch you. Or we can restrain him and bring him out to the playroom. It’s your choice,” Alek asks, walking behind us.

“Let me talk to him first. I want to make sure my mind isn’t playing tricks on me. I never saw his face, but his voice…” She trails off, and I feel a shudder run through her body and her hand shakes in mine. I give it a reassuring squeeze, and it takes her a couple of seconds to rein her emotions back in. “I need to be sure. I don’t harm innocents.”

“Neither do we, Baby Girl,” Aleks responds, placing his hand on her shoulder as we come to the observation door of Doc's cell.

Doc is laying on the metal bed on his side, facing the door. “Can he see us?” Raena asks, stepping closer to the glass to look inside.

“No. He can’t see or hear us. The cells are soundproof.” She nods her head absently as she looks around the cell through the glass. She looks like she is a million miles away.

“Hey, we can handle it if you don’t want to go in. You don’t have to do anything you're not ready for,” I tell her, rubbing my thumb along her hand in mine.

“He kept me in a cell like this.” Her voice is distant, she is a million miles away from us mentally.

My blood is boiling with rage. How long did he keep her captive in a cell? A week? A month? Longer?

She turns around after a few moments, taking a deep breath before her confidence returns, and I watch as her face transforms from the soft and sweet Cherry she has been to what I assume is her hunter’s persona. And fuck me if it doesn’t make my cock twitch seeing her bright eyes darken, her face an impenetrable wall as she locks down the emotions she’s been struggling with.

Even her voice sounds different when she finally speaks, as she turns around and faces the door again.

“I’m ready.”

Chapter 29

My heart pounds in my chest as I stare into the cell. The concrete walls remind me of my nightmares, but I push the rising terror down, turning around to face my men.

My men.

That sounds weird considering I know almost nothing about them, but it doesn’t make it any less true. They are mine. I know that from the depths of my soul.

I’ve never really believed in love or soulmates. I thought it was something people made up to get through their mundane lives and feel better about the choices they made. I didn’t understand it. Not until my soul connected with these three men on a level so deep and so fast it scares me, but I’m choosing not to question it.

They stare back at me, their eyes roaming my face, making sure I’m not going to break because of this. They’ve really only seen me at my weakest, and I hate that more than anything. I am not the same weak little girl King wanted me to be.

They know I’m the hunter. Now it’s time for them to meet her.

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