10. Mose

Mose

A drenaline pulses through my veins, fuelling me.

My demon, a Paymon, the lowest rank a demon can have, might not be strong, but he is patient like a panther, taking his time to learn the habits of the enemy so he can strike at the right moment. Through my eyes, he watches those around me, ready to take over at any moment.

Ever since I was brought to this place, doctors have been probing me, injecting me with stuff, and checking my vitals before they performed a series of tests on me while barely allowing me sleep for a few hours. When I was left alone, whatever was put in my system kept me awake, my muscles twitching and aching, a dull pain slowly spreading throughout my body.

The last thing they did was inject me with something that made my demon feral and filled me with rage like I have never felt before, wanting nothing more than to kill anyone who dared to stand in front of me. Doctors, guards, innocent bystanders—not that there were any around—no one was safe around me. By the time they realized it, I had broken free from my restraints and killed one of the nurses who was injecting me with yet another unknown drug with God knows what side effects. So I grabbed the syringe and drove the needle right into her neck before the guards could stop me. She dropped dead moments later.

After I was overpowered—I didn’t put up much of a fight as I was sick of seeing the same white walls—I was taken to a steel cage enclosed fighting ring, where cage matches are fought, and locked inside it. After hours of pacing inside it, growling like a wild animal, and trying to pull the metal bars apart, men enter the room and surround the cage. The tattoos on their faces let me know they are experiments.

My enemy is their enemy, but the anger in their eyes tells me what I need to know. As long as someone suffers, they don’t care who they get to kill.

Fuck it.

They are not the only ones angry.

I was forced to hurt Rueben, forced to watch friends getting killed before I was hit in the head so hard my eyes popped out, thrown in a car along with Alma, and that’s the last thing I remember before I passed out, probably because of a concussion. When I woke up, my eyes were back in their sockets, and there was no trace of a concussion. Or of Alma. I might not like her in my house since all she does is fight with Rueben, but other than that, I value my friendship with her. Plus, we have a business together. If anything happens to her, I’ll scorch the earth. Poor Jimmy. He’ll kill me when I return to work.

The men size me up, probably thinking I’m an easy target. I might not be as big as Jasper, but I’m 5’9 of pure feral rage.

One of them pulls out a key.

My demon snarls in delight, and I prepare for the fight to come. My heart beats faster and my ears strain, listening, eyes fixed on the cage’s door. Back at the farm, I had my guard down, my head filled with thoughts of Olivia and how I should make it up to her for spanking her without explaining the rules to her first, so the Senator’s men took me by surprise. But I am not about to let another motherfucker do the same.

Finally, the door opens, and one of the men walks in. My eyes never leave him as he stands several feet away from me. I wait patiently for him to make the first move. And wait. And wait. Until he gets tired of me staring at him. Which doesn’t take that long—minutes. Or at least that’s what it seems to me. He makes the first move, and I pounce on him just like a feline does with its prey. Beating him, while not easy, feels good. It makes my demon eager for more. Fuck. I want to beat my way out of here, return to my woman, and claim her in front of everyone, bonding her to me for eternity.

Another experiment enters. When I’m done with him, another follows. The drugs I was given made me not only stronger, but faster. When the fourth experiment enters, I don’t wait.

Time is ticking and not in my favor.

Olivia is in danger, and while I’m in here, there is nothing I can do to keep her safe. So I keep throwing punch after punch until my movements become sluggish. Whatever I was injected with is wearing off. Any mistake on my part could lead to disaster, but I’m not about to let anyone get between Olivia and me.

There is no way in hell other Lords will have her. I’ll put a ring on her finger. Not just for her ability to suck me dry but because I like her. It’s more than that. I don’t know how to describe what I feel for her except that I want her for eternity. There’s something about her that has my demon purring like a fucking cat around her while I want to know everything about her. No other woman has had that effect on him or me. I want her not because I think God created her for my demon and me, but because I’m selfish, wanting her only for myself. Other men might have fucked her before, but that ended the night we tracked her in the forest. The moment she set foot on the farm, she became my woman, even if it took me a while to realize it. Sure, I have to share her with my blood-brothers, and while jealousy is not something I’m worried about since we are a team, there will be moments when I’ll want to spend one-on-one time with her, not wanting other men around her during those moments, blood-brother or not. That’s something I’m looking forward to.

After the fifth experiment, I start to lose track of them, my body going into autopilot as I try to figure out a way out of this shithole, but a deep voice pulls me out of my thoughts.

“This week’s tournament will begin in a few minutes.” The experiments turn their attention to whomever spoke, giving me a moment to catch my breath and think clearly for the first time in days.

Is this some kind of fucking joke? I have been fighting for hours, and this motherfucker comes and says this week’s tournament is about to start after I’m worn out? What kind of fuckery is this? Because there’s no way I’m not the circus freak right now. Maybe they want to know how strong I am. Good thing I haven’t shown them all my tricks.

“The rules are the same as always. The last man standing at the end of the day gets the prize.” Great. Just great. If there are prizes involved, the experiments will be more motivated to kill me. And I’m not ready to die.

“Her.”

Her? As in a woman? Something else? Not that I care. The only prize I want is a ticket out of this place. I’ll lose my fucking mind if I have to endure any more testing or drugs. No wonder the experiments look like a bunch of hungry crocodiles.

“The prize is a woman of our own?” someone asks, his voice letting me know that he is determined to do anything to win her.

There’s nothing scarier than a horny man who wants to get his dick wet. Nothing and no one will stand between him and the pussy he wants to fill with his cum.

Except me.

Because if any of these sad fuckers think they’ll kill me, I’ll let my demon take over. It might be risky since I don’t have a bonded, and the chance of losing my mind to the darkness is high, but I’ll do anything to get out of here. Even risk my own sanity. They might win in the end, but I won’t make it easy for them. After all, Olivia is worth fighting for. Even if I don’t make it, I’ll make sure to take as many as possible with me to the afterlife as my declaration of my love for her.

“ Only the fighter who defeats all his opponents gets to spend a night with her. I don’t care what is done to her as long as she is not killed,” a man with crumpled wings says loudly, making everyone look at him.

The image of the cage match appears on the wall to my left, catching my attention. I look like shit, blood coming out of my left eyebrow. There’s no difference between a frightened animal on the verge of being eaten by a predator and me. Good. I can use it to my advantage, making them believe I’m done.

The experiments get hyped on the idea of the possibility of getting their cocks wet, fucking some unfortunate woman. Maybe I can make a deal with them. Band together and get the hell out of here. I’m pretty sure they have no clue how strong they are. My body hurts like hell from all the punches I’ve received. If I can make them see that I’m on their side, maybe there’s a chance they’ll listen to me. And if they still want to have fun with women, I’ll take them to the Blood Lodge. The pornai there will take really good care of them.

The image changes, and Olivia appears on the wall.

My brows draw together.

My mind is playing tricks on me. After everything that was done to me, it’s no wonder I’m starting to see my woman all over the place. Fuck. I miss her.

Her face hardens, clearly upset, and she says something to the man with crumpled wings. His face is unclear. It’s like something is preventing me from seeing it clearly.

He is not my main concern right now, but Olivia is.

Is she really here, or have all the blows I’ve received started affecting my brain? Maybe it’s a side effect from whatever I was injected with. There’s no way Ansel would let anyone take her away from us, let alone bring her here, except if he was dead or greatly wounded. The link is still there, but what if the Senator or Jason found her and brought her here?

If that is true, then—

“My woman is no prize! Touch her in any way, and I’ll fucking kill all of you!” My tone is as cold as an iceberg, yet calm. Letting the anger that still fuels me blind me will only put Olivia at risk. Because now I have to fight not only for my life but also for Olivia’s. I’ll be damned if I let anyone touch her. They have no idea about all the abuse she has had to endure. Hell, I don’t know either, but it’s enough to see the scars on her body, or the fear in her eyes, to know she was hurt many times.

I breathe through my mouth, calming myself and preparing for the shift that’s inevitable. My demon, while not happy with the idea, understands why he must take over. Dying here is not an option. Letting my demon control my body is the only way out. If luck is on my side, I won’t lose my mind to the darkness.

As long as I get Olivia out, I don’t fucking care about anything else.

Some experiments laugh. “We’ll make you watch while we take turns fucking her.”

My fingernails and canines elongate. I step to the side, my eyes on the face of the one that threatened to rape my woman. 429 is tattooed on his face. I make a motion with my fingers, calling him to me. “She belongs to me. Touch her, and you’ll fucking regret it.”

Instead of entering the cage, 429 goes after my woman. He touches her. More than that. He grabs her by her arms and tries to kiss her by force. She jerks free from his hold and slaps him. “I love when they put up a fight,” 429 taunts her.

The experiment I was fighting with before Olivia was brought in still stands next to me, and I plunge my hand into his chest with such force that it exits through his back, his beating heart between my fingers. My demon pushes me to the back of my mind, taking over my body, but instead of thinking with clarity, he turns feral. Just like before, when the doctors were injecting different things into my body. While I was able to calm him down back then, with great effort I must add, this time, it feels different.

Everything turns black as the madness takes over.