Chapter 6

Libra Thorn is the most self-absorbed, rotten, fucking woman I've ever met. She's so oblivious to her own vanity that she can't even see how shallow and superficial she is.

She's trying to play me for a fool but I'm not stupid. I know she has no interest in me. She never gave me a second glance back at Tenebrose. And that clever little trick she does with her breath, trying to act like she's turned on. Fuck that. No amount of sexual manipulation is going to stop me from inflicting obscene amounts of pain on her.

"You're upset." Raithe offers me a bottle of water.

I take it and chug half of it before coming up for air. "She wasn't afraid of me last night."

Fabien hisses. "Well, then make her afraid of you. Her bravado is a fucking act. She still thinks her daddy is going to swoop in here and rescue her. We need to break her faith in that."

Raithe lifts his eye patch to rub the skin underneath. The stitch job they did on him was shit, so the poor bastard looks like he got stamped with a permanent spider web. "Are either of you curious as to how she ended up here? It's fucking strange."

I shake my head. "I don't care why she's here. That cunt has pissed off so many fucking people in her life. It was only a matter of time before karma came to bite her in the ass. But her daddy's money can't protect her this time."

Fabien's blue eyes darken. "Nothing can."

I finish the rest of my water on the way to the gym. I'd rather be reading, but I've got to stay strong if I want to get out of this place. A few of the orderlies are under our thumb, but it isn't enough to buy us our freedom. There are powerful people in play. Rich fucking people who promised Nocturnus that they'd keep us locked up.

Raithe may want to know how Libra ended up here, but I can't go down that rabbit hole. If I do, I'll start to give a shit. And I won't let her have a story other than she's the vain socialite cunt who treated us like scum. The bitch who ran all of Nocturnus's little errands with a smile on her face and a gleam in her eye. That's the only narrative I have space in my head for. The only one she deserves.

When I get to the gym, I find the usual suspects—the Terror Twins. Well, they don't terrify me, but everyone else steers clear of them. The two blonde girls run around the room, giggling and shrieking at each other.

I grasp each of them firmly by the arm and drag them out. "You can come back in when I'm done."

They fold their arms and pout. " But, Mordecai ," they both whisper-whine in unison.

I reach into my pocket and find what they're waiting for—lollipops. I hand one to each of them. "Okay?"

They giggle and run off without another word. I can't murder them, so I have to bribe them with sweets.

Fucking ghosts.

I run the treadmill for about an hour to work up a sweat and get my heart going. Each pointless step makes me long for the forest at Tenebrose. It was the one place I could run free without thinking about my status or place there. The trees didn't judge me. And the ravens didn't venture too far in. They stayed close to Nocturnus House.

I take off my shirt and wipe the sweat off my brow with it. I try to keep my mind inside the fantasy of my forest, but I can't stop thinking about her . I almost crushed Gormon's skull last night. I don't know why it pissed me off so much to see him holding her down. I should've fucking helped him. I should've done a million fucking things instead of getting into a verbal sparring match with her.

I didn't expect her to get under my skin like this. Libra is not a nice person. But neither am I. Not anymore. She's manipulative and cunning. I have to keep my wits about me around her.

I jump off the treadmill and move over to the bench press. After readjusting the weight to two hundred pounds, Raithe was clearly here last as it was at three hundred , I lay back and grip the barbell.

The weight feels good. A reminder of all I need to push against it. With each curl, I grow stronger, more focused, and more determined . The pain in my muscles fuels me, reminding me of all that I've already endured. That pain is nothing to me. I disassociate from it.

Up. Down. Breathe. In. Out. Sweat drips into my eyes, but I keep going. Again. And again. One more. I grunt and grit my teeth as I stretch up for one last rep, my arms shaking so badly that I nearly drop the weight.

It's almost to the barbell rack when I see a quick flash of blonde hair. The scent of nightshade wafts up my nose.

Fuck.

Libra pounces and the barbell comes crashing back down toward me. I wheeze as it knocks the wind out of me.

She leaps on top of my chest, straddling me on the bench as she presses the weight down. "Maybe I'll kill you first."

My rage festers. This sick twisted fury that's been burrowing in my gut ever since I saw her that day, laughing with her brother as they hopped into their Mercedes. I'd been tending to their poison crops all day. I was tired and thirsty, and my muscles ached. Instead of offering me something to drink or even a polite thank you, they spun their tires out on purpose to drench me in mud. I could hear them cackling all the way down the driveway.

"Get the fuck off before you get hurt," I grunt out.

She laughs that same way in my face. "Nah. Looks like I have the upper hand this time, asshole."

Fuck. She's stronger than she looks.

With all of her body weight pressing on the barbell that's threatening to crush my chest, she looks like the fucking angel of death. Her blonde hair is messy, her blue-green eyes wild. A thin layer of sweat glistens across her brow. It's a far cry from her usual polished look of designer clothes and perfectly manicured fingernails.

Two days awake in this place, and she's already feral. I wonder what another few weeks will do to her. I can't believe she waited for me to wear myself out before attacking. This bitch . This beautiful psychotic fucking bitch.

My anger fuels me, sending a rush of adrenaline through my veins. "When I get up, you better run like hell, princess."

She grips my hips between her knees and leans harder on the weight. "It's going to be hard to catch me with your chest caved in."

Fucking hell.

There's a flicker of amusement in her eyes. She's enjoying this way too much. It's like a game to her. And I can't help but admire her fucking balls.

But it's my turn now.

I jerk my hips hard, throwing her off-balance. She lets out a yelp as I push back and send her crashing to the floor.

"Fuck," I yell. My arms feel like they're about to break, but I force them up and over my head, careful not to drop the barbell until it's back on the rack. Libra Thorn killing me on a weight bench is not the way I plan to go down.

Despite the pain in my chest, I jump to my feet and spin toward her. She's perched on the ground like a feral fucking cat. "You should've run. Not that it would matter because I'd find you. I'll always fucking find you."

"Just giving you a taste of your own medicine. It's no fun when people sneak up on you, is it?" she hisses.

I get to her in two short strides. Before she can back away, I grab a fistful of her hair and drag her over to the bench. "You want to play games? Let's fucking play."

I yank her tank top up over her head and use it to tie her wrists to the barbell rack.

"Get off me!" She tries to kick me in the nuts, but I see it coming and pivot out of the way.

Once her wrists are secure, I straddle her the same way she did to me. I'm fucking exhausted, but my adrenaline is on overdrive, and my heart is racing. But as I look down at her breasts, I'm mesmerized by the tautness of her nipples. Fuck. The way her sweat trickles down and around them…

No. Nope. Stop thinking about sucking those perfect fucking nipples.

When I finally look back up at her face, she's staring at my scars. "Did you pass out… from the pain?"

I run my hands down my abs. "No. They wouldn't let me."

She curses under her breath as she turns her head away. "I-I didn't know they were going to do that."

I grab her face and yank it back, forcing her to look at me. "Yes, you did. You just never thought you'd have to look at us ever again. You never thought there would be consequences."

Her chest begins to heave again, more rapidly this time. "Well, they shouldn't have. It's fucked up that you all sided with Zeke, but Nocturnus went too far."

I can't let this woman trick me into thinking she has a heart. I've seen her in action for the past two years at Tenebrose. She steps on everyone who doesn't matter to her.

I slide one of the weights off the barbell and place it on her stomach. She gasps, and a look of panic flits through her eyes.

"We didn't side with Zeke. We were outnumbered by the other initiates. The only mistake I made was thinking Riot, Atlas, and Valentin's were honorable men."

She snickers despite the heavy weight that's impacting her ability to breathe. "You know nothing about loyalty. Shocking. That's why you're in here. You did this to yourself."

A tick of anger flickers through me as I reach for another weight. I slide it slowly off the barbell. "As if your kind knows anything about loyalty. I worked myself to death in your father's fields, went to Tenebrose when he sent me, and served Nocturnus without question."

She whimpers when I place the second weight on her belly. "Why did he send you to Tenebrose?"

Libra Thorn is a tough bitch. I'll give her that. I'm crushing her, and she's still asking questions. Still trying to distract me. "The why isn't important. Not anymore. You should be more worried about what's going to happen to your stomach when I add another weight to it."

She purses her lips in defiance. "Go ahead. Kill me already. Your empty threats bore me."

I tense. I'm so fucking tempted to do it. But something holds me back. I don't know what it is. But the verbal sparring between us sends my adrenaline soaring. It makes me feel alive. She's clever and quick-witted, and it's a refreshing change from the Terror Twins and the half-baked orderlies.

She inhales a deep breath when I remove the weights from her belly. "Why are you stopping?"

I arch an eyebrow at her. "You want me to keep hurting you?"

She raises her hips slightly, pressing them against my thighs. "No."

Fuck.

She is turned on. I thought it was an act, but her nipples are so fucking hard. And the way she's wiggling her hips underneath me…

I stare at her lips, noticing how the bottom one is quivering. I bet she tastes so fucking sweet. No. No. No. I can't let her suck me in with her bullshit. She's a vapid socialite with no regard for anyone else.

I lean down, brushing my chest against hers and almost cum from the tickle of her nipples against mine. I sweep her hair to the side and breathe heavily onto her neck. "Your tricks don't work on me, princess," I whisper in her ear right before I bite it.

She screams. "Fuck. What the actual fuck?"

I laugh as I taste blood and poison on my lips. Despite not having a dose for however long she's been in here, the toxin still races through her veins. "Stop trying to seduce me. I'm not interested. Without all your fancy clothes and makeup, you're just another cheap slut."

Her cheeks flush, and she looks away. "Fuck you, Mordecai."

A slight twinge of regret sits in my gut as soon as I say it. It's a low fucking blow. Especially since I think she looks better without all that crap on her face. But I can't have her strutting around Absentia Asylum like she owns the place the way she did back at Tenebrose. I can't allow her to walk all over me and the guys.

But I drive in another nail because I can't fucking help myself. "Nah. I'd rather fuck Gormon." I untie her wrists and toss her tank top at her chest.

She doesn't look at me. She streaks her tank top red as she slips it back on, unfazed by the gaping wound on her earlobe. "I can't believe I actually felt sorry for you for a moment. I won't make that mistake again."

She stalks out of the gym without a backward glance. A victory for me. So why do I feel like shit?