Page 54 of Rage

Zaiden.

He’s waiting for me at home and right now, a hug and some cuddles sound nice.

Chapter Three

Alone

Zaiden

Zachary’s laughter and Bach mingle with the cries of the man splayed across the metal slab, ankles and wrists secured with cuffs. Red angry skin press against the tethers every time my twin makes a cut with the serrated blade in one hand and rips off a fingernail with the pliers in his other.

The man will saw his wrists off if he keeps doing that. Dried, caked blood already paints his skin. Some of it is left over from the attack, like the blood coating his flaccid cock. Zac said he’s savingthatfor last.

A shrill scream crawls from a hoarse throat. I watch my brother work, uncertain of when I should step in and aid him. He turns a grinning face to me.

“So, are you excited about the baby?” he asks, glancing down again to rip off the next fingernail. By the time I’d arrived, he’d finished the left hand and both toes. I’m not sure if he was joking when he pondered aloud if it was possible to do the same to eyelashes.

“Yes and no,” I say without elaborating. My brows dip, wondering if he genuinely cares or is just making small talk in between the screaming.

Why can’t I read people like my Sarah?

He cocks a blond brow in askance. I guess that answers my unspoken question.

“Yes, I love that my rav—Sarah is carrying my child and seeing the changes. I can’t wait to meet them. But,” I glance down, which unfortunately brings my gaze to the blood-stained limp cock surrounded by dark hair between the man’s legs. “I worry things won’t go smoothly. I can’t lose her.” I jerk my eyes toward Zac, hoping he understands my fear.

After all, if anything happens to Sarah, it’ll affect her sister, Natalia, which will trickle to Zac. So, even if he doesn’t care about me and the mother of my child, he cares for his own future wife.

He grimaces, tossing the fingernail into a bucket at his feet. “For a pet project,” he said when I asked about it. His other hand makes a slash down the length of the forearm of our captive. Tears mix with snot, streaming down a ruddy red face.

Why make dumb decisions if you aren’t prepared for the consequences?

Or maybe he never thought he’d get caught by worse creatures than himself. Zac and I would never stoop to animalistic behavior, such as violating another person with the thing between our legs.

No, I’d much rather they become a part of the natural circle of life. Their flesh providing sustenance to the insects that pollinate our flowers or whose droppings fertilize the land. I could’ve chopped him up into pieces and fed him bit by bit to Sheba.

The python back at home isn’t the same as the one I’d owned at Daniels’ Manor, but she soothes me all the same on bad days. And she likes her food fresh. Sheba felt like an apt name for her.

Buzz. I jolt, the sound reminding me of the insects I’d just been thinking about. Pulling my phone, my lungs seize at Sarah’s name.

“I’ve got to take this,” I say, legs already carrying me outside the soundproof room. My Sarah doesn’t need to hear that pathetic excuse of a human’s whimpers.

“Hi—”

“Where are you, Zaiden?” Sarah snaps at me for the first time in our relationship since we’d walked out Daniels’ Manor together. Wide-eyed, I bring my free hand to my chest, commanding the organ inside to calm down.

“I-I’m a-at Z-Zac’s,” I stutter out, mind flipping through scenarios, wondering what I’d done to upset my future wife.

“Okay,” she says, weariness weighing down her normally melodic voice. “I’m on my way.”

Beep. The call ends and I stare at the device in confusion.

She should be at work.

Did I do something wrong? I glance behind me at the slightly ajar door of Zac’s “playroom.” Does she suspect—No.

I haven’t spoken to her since right before she left for work, running my eyes down her luscious form and committing it to memory until she returns home, where I’ll urge her off her feet and massage them while she tells me about her day.

It’s become our routine. Only tragedy would disrupt it.

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