Chapter 2

Imade my throne out of bones, woven together by the tears and blood of my enemies. Not literally, of course—I’m not Damien—but metaphorically. Everything I have in life, every power I possess in this godforsaken prison, comes from hard work. Dedication.

Murder.

I don’t like to use that term. Murder. It conjures images of a blade slicing open a pale neck until blood wells or a body sprawled on a guillotine, waiting for the blade to drop. I don’t do that. At least not anymore.

As I sit on the high-back chair, my mind drifts to Nina, as it often does whenever I have a moment to myself. Her beautiful face consumes my every thought, and I can’t stop the dopey smile from cleaving my face in two. Before any of my subjects can catch a glimpse, I mask it into one of careful indifference.

I stare down my nose at Marcus, a vampire whose lips are currently curled into a sneer. Beside him, restrained by two of my men, is Rowan, a shifter.

Bronson, my chief enforcer, stands directly beside me, his hands clasped behind his back and a fierce expression on his face. He’s the largest man in this prison by far, his entire body hewn from stone. The blond scruff on his jaw combined with his tousled hair gives him an intimidating appearance, like a wolf seconds away from pouncing. Not a bad analogy, considering the fact he’s a shadow wolf.

Cain stands on the other side of me, his trademark scowl firmly in place. It never ceases to amaze me how different he is from his cheerful twin, Abel. They’ve both endured similar hardships, but while Abel’s has made him embrace life with gusto and wild abandonment, Cain’s has turned him bitter. Only Nina is capable of cracking the tough outer shell he wears around himself like armor.

Tensions between the two groups have been…strained. And that’s putting it fucking mildly. It’s hard to eradicate years upon years of hatred and bigotry. For as long as I can remember, my gang and Rion’s have been at each other’s throats, quite literally. We killed their people for sport, and they, ours. But we only recently decided to disband the gangs and come together in happy fucking harmony.

“What’s the meaning of all of this?” I drawl lazily as I stare between the two men. Marcus’s bleached blond hair is streaked with blood from a wound on his head. His eyes are solid red, his pupils nowhere to be seen, as if blood has eaten away at the darkness. Rowan, similarly, is sporting numerous bruises, his face mottled and scarred. When my men ran into the throne room, explaining that two of my subjects had gotten into a brutal fight, I’d been enraged. Fighting should only happen in the ring.

We’re not fucking animals, despite the warden’s claim otherwise.

“This fucking asshole disrespected me,” Marcus snarls, fangs elongating and dripping with salvia. He looks feral, and a surge of satisfaction courses through me. It may be fucked up—hell, I’m pretty sure it’s all kinds of fucked up—but I love seeing the monsters in this prison lose their control. But like any pet owner, I’m willing to put them down if they step out of line. If they bite too quickly.

And that’s my favorite fucking job in the world.

“Marcus, Marcus, Marcus.” I click my tongue as I slowly rise to my feet. “You need to use your words. How did our dear friend, Rowan, disrespect you?”

Normally, Rion would be here with me to handle these petty disputes, but he was adamant that he stalk Nina. I believe his exact words were, “If I don’t stalk her, someone else might, and then I’ll have to cut off his balls and feed them to myself.”

Crazy fucker.

As I step closer to the feuding men, I’m slightly disappointed when they don’t cower away in terror. Fuck. Am I losing my touch? That won’t do. I have a prison to run and a woman to protect. I can only accomplish both when I’m evoking fear in my enemies.

I’m not evil. At least I don’t think I am. I don’t necessarily enjoy inflicting pain on others. Sure, I like killing evil men in need of a firm hand…a firm hand wrapped around their throats and squeezing until the life drains from their eyes.

But I’m not Damien. I don’t get hard from the kill like that crazy fucker does. For the longest time, only stabbing his knife into someone’s stomach got him erect. It was all kinds of fucked up.

I do what needs to be done to protect my home, which happens to be the basement of a supernatural prison. We call it the Labyrinth. The hallways are constantly shifting and changing, making escape impossible. I heard a rumor that a guard got stuck down here when he couldn’t remember the way out. He was quickly torn apart by the monsters he locked away.

“I didn’t disrespect nobody,” the shifter, Rowan, exclaims in a heavy Southern drawl.

“You fucked my girl!” Marcus screams, spit flying.

Once more, I tsk my tongue, shaking my head in disapproval. “Is that true, Rowan? Very disrespectful.” My smile grows when his face pales and he actually staggers back a step.

“Marcus told me that he wants to fuck Nina,” Rowan blurts, side-eyeing the vampire. Marcus freezes, face draining of color, as Bronson begins to growl, low and threatening. I wasn’t even aware he’d transformed into his wolf. “That’s not true!” he yells.

“Cain.” I nod towards the sex demon, who steps closer, face bereft of expression.

“Tell me…do you think of fucking Nina?” he whispers, pushing his power into those words. As always, my cock hardens instantly, and I have a vivid image of taking Nina against the wall as I pound into her sweet, perfect pussy.

Marcus is sweating, eyes wide with panic as he attempts to fight off the compulsion. But he can’t fight against us. No one can. “I…I…”

Cain sends another burst of pure lust, and I just barely hold in my groan. Rowan, on the other hand, is not as skilled as I am and begins palming his erect cock through his pants.

“I…I…I dream of fucking that sweet ass,” Marcus blurts, practically salivating. “If I could get her alone for even a second, I would take what I want from her, whether she wants it too or not. I would fuck her until she’s screaming and crying, begging for release. I would play with those perfect breasts that I’ve fantasized about for months. I would make her mine.”

Red consumes the entirety of my vision, and my breathing saws in and out. How dare he? The thought of anyone hurting, even touching, Nina sends me spiraling down a direction I don’t know I can escape from.

Before I can react, before I can punish this man for his horrible words, his eyes widen in panic and horror. He desperately touches his stomach where a blade is now protruding from his skin.

Without preamble, he collapses to the ground in a pool of his own blood.

Damien stands above the pathetic excuse for a man, a satisfied smile on his face as he removes his blade from Marcus’s back.

“Did you hear what he said?” Cain hisses, hands balled into fists. His skin is darkening like fissures of lava are expanding the length of his body. Tiny horns sprout from his head as he wrestles for control.

Damien blinks innocently. “What did he say?”

“You didn’t…hear what…um…he said?” Rowan stutters, backing away from the deranged serial killer and assassin. Smart move.

“He just bothered me.” Damien shrugs nonchalantly as he begins to hum softly beneath his breath. With one final look at the crazy man, Rowan runs from the throne room like his ass is on fire. Again, smart move.

I exchange a wary glance with Bronson, still in his wolf form. If Damien knew this vampire was talking about raping Nina, his death wouldn’t have been quick. Oh no. It would’ve been immensely painful—hours of unrelenting torture until he begged for death. And, honestly? I would’ve helped.

There are not a lot of things that I hate, but rapists are one of them. And people who threaten Nina.

Forcing myself to regain control of my turbulent emotions, I nod towards Cain and Damien. “Get rid of the body.”

Without needing further instruction, Damien makes quick work of dragging the bloody bag of shit towards the back room, where he’ll drop it down a makeshift laundry shoot we created years ago. Instead of a laundry room, however, the body will land directly in an incinerator. Cain gets on his hands and knees and quickly scrubs down the cement tiles until they’re practically shining. Normally, we have people who do this for us, but not one of us wants to risk our girl walking in on something she shouldn’t see.

Perfect timing, for seconds later, Nina rushes into the room with Rion and Abel.

As always, my throat turns dry when I feast my eyes upon the sheer perfection that is Nina Doe, the woman who will soon be my wife.

I drop my gaze to the brilliant ring flashing on her finger, my lips tilting upwards.

“Cain! Kai! Bronson!” she says with a bright smile, stopping first at the sex demon, who is closest. The harshness of his features immediately soften when he sets eyes on her. In that moment, he’s not a killer or even a monster—he’s hers.

“Trouble, what are you doing here?” he asks softly as he kisses her. She melts against him, and my smile widens. At one point, the sight of the two of them together would’ve made me unbearably jealous. But now, I realize that she’s exactly what my brothers need. She deserves all the fucking love in the world. And our love? Our love is explosive.

“I wanted to see how you guys were doing, of course,” she explains with another cheerful giggle. We try to keep her as far away from this shit as possible, despite the fact she’s the unofficial queen of the Labyrinth. Still, I can’t deny that her presence soothes something inside of me, something jagged and hard.

Bronson whines, demanding her attention, and she drops to her knees beside the immense beast. Most people would be terrified of Bronson’s wolf form. He’s nearly as tall as Nina, with red, piercing eyes, pitch-black fur, and abnormally sharp teeth. But instead of seeing him as a monster, Nina sees him as…as Bronson. As the giant of a man who cares for her more than anything else in the world. A man who wants nothing but a family of his own, a family with Nina.

After hugging the terrifying wolf senseless, Nina stumbles to her feet, using Bronson’s head to steady herself, and turns her blind gaze onto me.

“Kai,” she whispers dreamily as she rushes forward, jumping into my arms. I tighten my grip on her, knowing that only here, only in my arms, no harm will ever come to her. If I could, I would tie her to me and never let her leave.

“Hey, baby,” I whisper, kissing her nose, both of her cheeks, and then her lips.

“Are you hungry?” she asks anxiously as she runs her fingers through my shoulder-length hair. I just barely hold in the moan that wants to escape. Fuck, it feels so good when she does that. Too good. “You guys didn’t eat today.” She lifts her head from my neck to address the room as a whole, and I very reluctantly set her on her feet.

We left before she awoke to oversee the prison. Abel was assigned to watch over her until this afternoon, when we could all get together and treat our girl to a home cooked meal. Well, a Braelyn-cooked meal.

“Did you eat?” Bronson growls sharply, and I turn just as he buttons up his pants. Abel, almost absently, hands him his flannel shirt, and he shrugs it over his shoulders, leaving it unbuttoned.

“Fuck, did you forget to feed her, Abel?” I turn towards the trickster demon, fire spewing from my eyes. He holds his hands up immediately, like a prisoner approaching a cop.

“Of course he fed me!” Nina slaps my chest with another giggle. “I’m not a pet.”

“No, you’re Nina. The love of my existence,” I say immediately, and I relish the adorable blush that climbs up her neck and to her cheeks.

The door to the backroom opens and closes, and Damien steps out, wiping blood from his dagger. As always, he’s immaculately dressed in a form-fitting suit and crisp white shirt, not a speck of blood on him. I don’t have the faintest idea how he’s able to make every kill so…clean. I’m actually a little jealous.

His eyes gravitate immediately towards Nina, surveying her body for injuries, as if she got hurt in the ten minutes he’s been away. I can’t begrudge him, since I often do the exact same thing. Seemingly satisfied there’s not a hair out of place, he nods seriously and rests against the wall, arms crossed and blade hanging languidly from his fingers.

The door to the throne room is wrenched open suddenly, and a red-faced man stumbles in.

“We’re done for today,” I growl immediately, glaring at the shrewd, unassuming man. I recognize him as Ben, a warlock who works in the kitchens. He was a chef before he was arrested for the murder of his wife’s secret lover.

“I need to talk to you guys.” He bows his head subserviently as his eyes flicker from me to Nina. “My king. My queen.”

“He’s so adorable,” Rion coos, bending at his waist to stare into the man’s eyes. “Can we keep him as a human pet? I’ve never kept a human pet before. I promise I’ll take good care of him. Feed him. Give him water. Scoop out his poop. Please, Buttercup? Please?” He bounces excitedly from foot to foot, pure insanity reflecting from his gaze, but Nina simply rolls her eyes.

“Rion, my love, you can’t keep humans as pets.”

If anyone else were to say that to him, he would stab him or her before that person could even catch their bearings. Only Nina is allowed to call him out on his insanity.

“Please. I need to talk to you.” Ben’s voice wobbles as Nina gracefully walks forward, eyes concerned.

“What’s the matter?”

“Baby,” I warn, stepping towards her.

I see the blade only a second later. Releasing a roar of fury, I tackle Nina to the ground just as the blade catches the side of my stomach. The rest of the men lunge at Ben as I huddle protectively over a wide-eyed, trembling Nina.

“What…?” she asks breathlessly as I hiss through my teeth.

I don’t have to look to know that Ben is being dragged away to Damien’s torture chamber.

Someone tried to kill Nina. If I had gotten there a second later…

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” I ask desperately, pulling myself onto my elbows to survey her body. If he hurt her…

“I’m fine. What’s going on?” Her voice trembles with fear, and I hate that. I fucking hate that. She should never be scared when she’s with me.

“Bambi!” Abel practically throws me to the side, and he and Cain crowd around a pale-faced Nina. I clench my teeth against the pain as I stare at the blood staining my gray shirt. Fuck, that hurts like a bitch.

Nina releases a sudden intake of breath, and it’s only then that I realize she’s in my head currently, using my eyes to see.

“Kai, what happened?” she crawls towards me, and Abel and Cain follow behind her.

“I’m okay, baby. I’m okay.” I gather her in my arms, ignoring the pull of my skin, and hold her close to my rapidly beating heart.

Someone tried to kill her. There’s no doubt in my mind that that blade was meant for her.

I’ll set this entire fucking prison on fire if that’s what’s necessary to keep Nina safe. Because without her, my kingdom means nothing.