Page 7 of Wrathful King
Darius had trained me to fight. I just had to apply what I’d learned. It took me several moments to collect my thoughts but eventually Darius’s voice filtered in.
Keep calm. Take stock of the situation. Leave a trail of your DNA wherever you can.
Their footsteps retreated and I risked cracking my eyes open fully. All I could see was their backs. Wide and stocky. I took in the scene around me, squinting to see through the low lighting.
Instinctually, I started counting. One, two, three… There were twenty captive women, all with various shades of blonde hair.Twentywomen shoved into a cage like animals.
The men stopped in front of a cage near the container’s exit, removing the padlocked chain and reaching inside. Two girls were yanked out forcefully.
The rattle of metal felt like a whip against my skull as the screams and cries started. For a moment, the world stopped spinning and horror filled the space. A shadow started to form inside me, wrapping around my soul in barbed wire and tearing at everything in its path.
A shredding sound—likely clothes—reached the confines of my cage, mixing with my labored breathing.
They were about to rape them.
I was on my feet in an instant. My footsteps were soundless against the metal floor, and I thanked all the saints that whatever they’d injected me with had worn off. Screams continued. I glanced around, finding a crowbar sitting on top of the box that was marked with symbols.Japanese kanji, I realized.
My fingers wrapped around the cold metal and I clenched my teeth to stop them from rattling.
One step. Two steps. Three steps.
I finally made it… just as one of the brutes was pushing the woman’s legs open. The other woman thrashed at her side, kicking and screaming. Knowing I had to attack with efficiency, I swung the bar through the air.
Both women seemed to register my presence at the same time. Their eyes widened and they stilled.
Smash.
The horrible sound of a skull cracking vibrated through the air and rattled my bones. I didn’t pause to evaluate. Moving to the other man, I repeated the same motion, only he was quick to defend himself.
I snatched the knife tucked in his waistband and swung it through the air, slicing him. A howl traveled through the metal-enclosed space. Blood splattered everywhere. He fell to the ground and I straddled him, the bar clanking against the floor with a loud noise.
“Now let’s see how you like the torture,” I gritted. His fingers wrapped around my wrist in an attempt to snatch the knife. I grabbed his hand, then banged it against the ground until it was limp. Then I started slicing his fingers. I should have been horrified at the pleasure I found in it. One by one, I tossed them through the air. “You’ll never get them back.”
The women started screaming and I raised my head, meeting their horrified looks.Probably better if I finish him off quickly. An echo in the far corner of my mind urged that I torture him, but he was still fighting like hell, so I reached for the bar and swung it, not stopping until both men’s faces were unrecognizable.
They were long dead, but that didn’t stop me. My agony, my pain… I let it all pour into butchering their bodies. I was so engrossed in the massacre that I didn’t hear the warning murmurs or notice the wide eyes from the women around me.
A rough shove between my shoulder blades came from behind just before a prick in my neck, followed by a burning sensation spreading throughout my veins.
I sucked in a sharp breath as I whirled around, the knife suddenly too heavy in my grip. A clunk against the ground. Bottomless eyes, one last heavy breath.
And then darkness descended, pulling me under once again.
* * *
“We need to get her an IV.” The unfamiliar voice stirred me from the haze. It sounded distorted, the ringing in my skull excruciating. An ache thrummed in my bloodstream and I felt like I was suffocating. “Her vitals are unstable.”
“We only gave her a small dose,” a man’s voice explained. “It was like an adrenaline shot for the girl before it mellowed her out. She went crazy on the guards when they tried to have some fun with the other girls. The girl was possessed, I tell ya.” Fucking idiot. I wasn’t possessed. I was furious, even in my drugged state of mind. “There are sliced-off fingers around here somewhere because thelocadecided to throw fingers around so the demon could catch them.”
Huh? He was making that shit up. I cut up a few fingers, but it wasn’t for any demon.
“If she’s damaged, it’s your life on the line, not to mention every single fucking member of your family.”
Someone wasn’t happy, but I struggled to make sense of it. It was as if I was sinking to the deepest depths of the ocean one second, and the next, I was on a soft cloud high in the sky.
I fought to reach the surface by kicking my legs, but they refused to move, heavy as lead. Pain shot through me as flames licked at my nerve endings, pulling me to consciousness.
A prick in my arm had a small whimper slipping through my lips.
