Chapter 4

She's prettier than I remember. Even covered in filth, she's a sight for sore eyes. But she reeks of privilege and power. And she knows it. She's proud to exude it. Her black heart is cold and unforgiving. The stench of her depravity seeps out of her pores like a disease.

I will have my fun with her body though. The feel of her wet cunt on my fingers almost made me cum. And I will fucking cum soon . All over her perky fucking tits. Right after I scar her body like they did mine. I can't wait to drag my knife over her creamy white skin. To mar her perfect flesh so that none of those rich boys will ever want her again.

Then she'll be like us—broken, damaged, and unloved.

"I hope you like slop." I shove her into the cafeteria.

Her eyes widen as she looks around the empty room, realizing that the screams she hears in the night might not be real. There were people in here who went mad. But they weren't mad to begin with. No. This fucking place is the devil's work. It's some kind of sick playground for Dr. Hall and her pervy orderlies. Libra Thorn will end up just like the rest of the patients here someday. Dead . But not until we have our fun with her first.

"They cannot expect me to eat that ." Libra covers her mouth at the sight of the cook glopping a big spoonful of instant mashed potatoes into a chipped plastic bowl.

"You will unless you want to starve to death." I lean in close to her and inhale a deep whiff. Underneath the scent of medicinal soap and linen, her essence still lingers—a subtle fragrance of nightshade and black dahlias. Even after being in here for god knows how long, she still smells like fucking heaven. As if pretty flowers bloom in her blood. "Besides, you're going to need your strength."

She snaps her head to the side, and our lips almost touch. "You're right. For when I kill you."

I dig my fingers into her hips and hold her in place before she can turn away. "For killing, fucking, swallowing my cum until it fills your belly full to the brim. It makes no difference what you tell yourself. Your fate has already been decided."

She wrenches away from me. I let her . "I'm not swallowing a single drop of your filthy cum. Don't even think about it."

I can't help but chuckle. The sweat beading on her neck leaving a trail for my eyes to follow all the way down to her heaving chest, tells a different story. This brat wants nothing more than to suck my cock right now. She's fucking salivating.

"Don't kid yourself, darlin'. You'll be on your knees begging for it soon enough."

I move past her, not giving her a chance to respond. She huffs and puffs behind me as I finish giving her a tour of this hell hole. I show her where the medical wing is, the lackluster gym with its four shitty pieces of equipment, and finally, the courtyard.

But Libra isn't allowed outside yet, so we stare at it through the barred windows. The way she scans the entirety of it, the vein in her neck pulsing, the rapid rise and fall of her chest, I can almost see the clever little wheels in her head turning.

"You can't escape so don't waste your time and energy trying to. This place is locked up tight." There is one way, but I'm not telling her that. Fabien, Mordecai, and I have been putting a plan together for months.

She folds her arms, ignoring me as she continues to try and memorize the layout of the courtyard. I know because I've done it myself. Until I realized that it wasn't the way out.

I step closer to her, breathing in that delicious scent again. It reminds me of home. Of poison and springtime and sweet fucking release. "You're never getting out of here," I whisper in her ear.

"Don't be fooled by polite society. We didn't get to where we are by being soft. You're going to find out real soon what I'm capable of, Raithe."

My cock hardens. The sound of my name in her mouth makes me want to pin her to the window and fuck her pussy until it's the only word she can speak. Over and over again like a holy hymn.

"I can't wait."

"Does this mean we're delaying the plan?" Mordecai asks over the edge of his book. The flickering fluorescent lights reflect off the metal grill in his mouth, casting a demonic glow over his face.

Fabien rubs the top of his shaved head before leaning back on the bed and propping himself up by his elbows. The scars that cover his bare chest and belly healed just as badly as mine. If healing is what I can even call it. You can still see the outline of the sigils in his raised flesh. In mine and Mordecai's too.

But what we don't ever talk about is the pain underneath the scars. The spiritual ache that lingers from being separated from our sigils of power. Our connection to the ravens. All of that is gone. Our bodies are hollow, soulless. Empty. Just like my fucking eye socket. That one was an added bonus. Another slap in the face from Nocturnus.

After what they did, I feel less guilty about snapping that raven's neck. Right before I wrenched my eyeball from its beak.

"We're not going anywhere until Libra suffers."

It's her father's fault we were even at Tenebrose. He pressed us to join Nocturnus. To earn our keep. And when the other initiates revolted against Riot, Atlas, and Valentin, we couldn't stop them. Yet they blamed us all the same.

I nod, but I'm only half convinced this is a good idea. I want to hurt Libra Thorn as much as they do, but I also want to get the fuck out here. "Let's agree not to let her become too much of a distraction. Remember our end goal."

"Don't worry, Raithe. It won't take long to break her." Fabien snickers, and I can see his cock pulse against his thin cotton pants.

"When can I kill her?" Mordecai asks as calmly as one would, asking for a glass of water.

"Patience," Fabien coos. "She's too pretty not to have some fun with first. Those fucking lips. Fuck. I want them wrapped around my cock so badly."

"I'm going to choke her with mine. Maybe that's how I'll do it. Death by asphyxiation." Mordecai stares off into space as he fantasizes about every second of it.

The three of us deserve this. To get our revenge. If I had a heart, it would ache. The things these people have done to us. The way they always remind us that we're less than them. But they're wrong. Their money can't save them from our wrath. And Libra will be the first to get a taste of it.

I really fucking wish she didn't make my dick hard. This would be a whole lot easier for all of us if she was repulsive. But every filthy defiant insult that comes out of her mouth just makes me want to fuck her more.

"Listen," I interrupt their reveries. "Let's punish the bitch, have our fun, and get back on course. I'm sick of rotting in this fucking place."

Fabien nods. "Agreed. Think of all the fun we'll have on the outside."

"So many people to kill," Mordecai adds.

We plowed their poison fields, played along with their games, and swallowed our pride our whole lives. But they crossed a fucking line that can't be erased. The high society of Melancholia is going to regret ever fucking with us. After we're done with their Poison Princess , they'll never look at her the same.

Mordecai wants to kill her, but I think death is too easy. I want that vain bitch to suffocate in her own skin. To make her outsides match her insides.

"Did you get a copy of the key?" I ask.

Fabien fishes it out of his pocket and dangles it in the air like it's our salvation. Maybe it is. "We start tonight. One at a time at first. I want her terror to build slowly. Her fear will consume her until she actually starts to lose her mind."

"I want to go first." Mordecai shuts his book with a loud snap.

Libra Thorn is going to scream for help tonight.

But it won't come. Nobody cares. No one is coming to save her from us.