Chapter 7

Ihurry after Abel, the cloying darkness pressing in on me from all sides. My heart hammers in my chest as I remember his choked voice.

What’s wrong with Cain?

Oh, God. What’s wrong with him?

I quicken my pace as Abel leads me down the twisting hallways of the Labyrinth. I don’t know where we are, but my heightened hearing is able to make out distressed, strangled gasps.

“Cain!” I breathe in horror, sliding into Abel’s mind instantly. His eyes are latched on his twin brother, who is currently pressed against the far wall of the room, rocking back and forth. Tears brim in his eyes as he lifts his sightless gaze in my direction. I know a part of him can hear me, can recognize my presence, but he’s too lost in his flashback to respond with anything more than a guttural cry. I notice that his zipper is undone, his shirt untucked. “What happened?”

It’s only then that I see her. I’ve never seen her before in my life, but I have no doubt in my mind that this woman is behind Cain’s breakdown. She’s pretty enough, I suppose, though my anger momentarily clouds my judgement. Her black hair is cut just below her chin in a surprisingly stylish and modern cut, considering where we are. Tattoos line her arms and neck, and even from this distance, I can see that one of her tits is hanging out of her shirt.

“What happened?” I demand again, wrenching my hand free of Abel’s and stumbling in Cain’s direction. His arms are extended, reaching for me, and I easily slide into his warm embrace. He rests his cheek on the top of my head as he inhales my scent, his body still trembling. Being mindful of the state he’s in, I gently zip his pants back up, ignoring his flinch and the sob that’s wrenched from his throat as I do so.

Abel turns to stare at the unknown female, and I don’t need to see his expression to know that pure and unencumbered rage will be emanating from his eyes.

“New inmate,” he hisses, smoke wafting around him. “Since the others were busy, Cain offered to go meet her.”

When inmates arrive in the Labyrinth, they’re usually unconscious so they won’t see the entrance and exit, though the constantly changing pathways make it virtually impossible to escape anyway. Usually, the inmates are confused and groggy when they first wake up. Oh, and terrified, especially the females. My guys make certain that no one is taken advantage of when they first arrive. But after that? All gloves are off.

“I misread the situation,” the girl protests immediately.

The growl that leaves my throat is utterly inhuman and unlike any sound I’ve ever emitted before. Even Abel whips his head in my direction, and I know shock is splayed across his face.

This…this…

I try to think of an appropriate curse word but come up blank, too lost in my rage.

This woman hurt Cain. And though it was unintentional—no doubt, she was merely trying to seduce him—I still see red. Surprisingly enough, there is no jealousy intermixed with my other emotions. I know that all of my guys are completely, one hundred percent faithful to me.

But my anger lives inside of me like a living, breathing entity.

Through Abel’s eyes, I watch as my glassy white gaze turns a bleeding, crimson red. My face begins to change and contort as pure and unfiltered power rushes through me. All I can think about is hurting the woman the way that she hurt Cain. Making her pay?—

I allow that thought to cut off abruptly.

What am I doing? This isn’t me. I don’t hurt people, even when they deserve it.

Cain continues to tremble in my arms, his breathing coming out in shallow gasps, and I rein in my turbulent emotions. Still, guilt swallows me whole, like the swooping, gigantic maws of a monster.

“Cain,” I whisper, coming back to myself and allowing my rage to abate. I’m shaking almost as erratically as Cain is, but for an entirely different reason. But I can’t focus on me right now, not when one of the loves of my life is falling apart in my arms. “Baby?” I say the endearment almost hesitantly as I brush through his unruly blond hair.

“N…in…Nina,” he stutters out, gripping my arms like they’re life vests and he’s adrift at sea.

“Yes, my love.” I slide out of Abel’s head and focus instead on how soft Cain’s hair feels underneath my fingers. How his heartbeat steadily recedes to a normal rhythm. How his breathing evens out as he relaxes in my embrace. I’m dimly aware of Abel instructing the girl, Natalia, to leave, but I’m not able to hear her response.

“Fuck, Nina!” Cain curses abruptly, and then his lips plunder mine. I can feel his tongue sweeping across my lips, but before I can open for him, he pulls away. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. She wouldn’t stop touching me. I tried to get her to stop. I tried. She wouldn’t stop. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Why didn’t I fight harder? Why did I just collapse, crying? Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!”

“Cain…” I hesitantly place a hand on his shoulder, and his entire body stiffens.

Voice muffled, he confesses, “I didn’t want you to see me like this.”

Indignation fills me as I grab his cheeks, forcing his hands to drop to his sides. I can’t see him, but I imagine his eyes are focusing anywhere but on me.

“You don’t want me to see you like this?” My voice comes out harsher than I intend it to. “You don’t want me to see you breaking apart, is that it? Cain, I love you. I love you so freaking much, it’s surreal. I want to see all of you—the good and the bad. I want to be able to help you, the way you guys so often help me. Why won’t you let me?” Throughout my entire speech, I stroke my thumbs up and down his cheeks. With each track I make, I catch a new teardrop.

“Because I’m supposed to protect you,” he whispers, his forehead pressing against mine. “I hate that I do this. I hate that I fall the fuck apart all the damn time. What type of husband will I be to you if I’m such a goddamn mess?”

And I hate the way he speaks of himself—as if he’s anything less than pure perfection. As if he thinks I’ll ever judge him because of his past and the consequential flashbacks. Kai once explained what it was to me—PTSD. Apparently, it happens when someone experiences something traumatic.

The twins were apparently unwilling prostitutes in a club created by some sick man named Boris. They were often sold to both men and women for pleasure. I can’t even imagine the type of pain they went through.

That type of trauma…it leaves a scar on you, one that isn’t always visible. There isn’t a simple bandage you can slap over the wound to call it healed. No number of stitches can staunch the steady flow of blood from the opened wound.

I hate that my men are hurting, and I hate even more that they feel they need to hide it from me.

If I could, I would take all of their bad memories and…

A lightbulb metaphorically turns on in my head.

Uneasiness skirts through me at the absurdity of my idea, followed immediately by overwhelming happiness. Because if this works…

For now, I continue to brush through Cain’s tangled hair with my fingers, peppering kisses across his scalp and down his cheeks. He sighs in contentment, and I know the worst of his panic attack has subsided.

“Nina?” Cain’s raspy voice circles around me, warming me from the inside out.

“Yeah?” I don’t dare raise my voice above a whisper, almost as if anything else is capable of disrupting the tranquility we have found ourselves in.

“I love you,” he whispers hoarsely.

“I love you too.”

And I make a vow, right then and there, that I’ll protect them from any monsters who dare try and harm them. Even the monsters raging a battle inside of their own heads.

Even myself.

Abel is nothappy when I tell him I need to confront Natalia by myself.

And honestly? I’m not either, but she needs to understand that what she did was wrong. I have no doubt that if any of my other men had bared witness to Cain’s breakdown, she would be six feet under by now, female or not. Metaphorically speaking, of course. According to Damien, there’s no location here to bury bodies. Instead, you need to bring the bodies to a private shoot that sends them straight to an incinerator.

I use Abel’s eyes for guidance until I spot Natalia in conversation with a stone-faced Braelyn and her girlfriend, Jenny, all three of them crowded around a table in the cafeteria. They turn in my direction when I enter, their conversation instantly abating with my presence. I notice that Braelyn’s lips are curled into a prominent frown, wrinkles appearing around her eyes, and Jenny looks troubled. Natalia, on the other hand, does not look upset. Instead, she sits smugly at the table, resting her head on her arms.

I pull out of Abel’s head as soon as I’m near enough and slam my hands down on the table.

Resisting the urge to snarl, I begin, “Look, I understand you’re new here?—”

“Is this about the fucker who freaked out?” Natalia asks with a scoff, and instantly, the sound grates on my nerves. The precarious control I have on my emotions, on my anger, is slipping through my fingers like butter. I take a deep, fortifying breath, attempting to get myself under control.

The last thing I need is angel-ing/demon-ing/human-ing out, as Rion calls it.

I don’t trust myself. Not completely. There’s so much about my lineage that I don’t know, and I’ll never put other people in danger because of it.

“His name is Cain,” I manage to say, my hands gripping the table so harshly, I’m afraid my fingers are going to snap in two.

“Fuck off.” She releases a disgruntled snort. “He was practically begging for it. If anyone should be under investigation, it’s him. As soon as I arrived, the bastard was pawing at my tit and pinching my nipple. He was going to rape me!” Her voice raises to a deafening pitch, and behind me, I hear Abel hiss. I can tell his demon is near the surface, wanting to be set free and obliterate this horrible girl who dared to imply such a thing.

But he’ll allow me to handle this, both as the Queen of the Labyrinth and his fiancée.

My voice is the equivalent to thunder rumbling over the ocean at night, where the only sound you hear is the whoosh of the waves and the growl of the sky. “I know what rape is, Natalia. Cain knows what rape is. And I’ll always take an accusation seriously. But this? This is a blatant lie, and you know it. By lying, you’re invalidating the feelings of thousands and thousands of other women, and men, who have actually faced sexual assault.” I’m…shaking. My body trembles as if someone placed a live wire beneath my skin and it’s currently jerking back and forth, leaving sparks in its wake.

“Oh, please. The bitch baby wanted it.” Natalia releases a semi-desperate laugh, almost as if she’s willing Braelyn and Jenny to join in. Both women remain silent. “He was practically sucking on my nipple. Maybe that’s it, huh? Maybe you’re just jealous that he wanted me. Though I don’t understand why you would be. You already seem to be in a relationship with his brother. Unless…unless you’re the prison whore? Hmmm. I can see that. The poor little blind girl passed around by the inmates. I can’t say I wouldn’t mind tasting your pussy, though. I imagine it’s the same as sucking cock? I’m pretty good with my tongue…as your demon lover can attest to.”

Rage steals the air from my lungs. I can barely think straight over the incessant pounding of my heart.

And for the first time in my life, I slap someone.

I remember from before that she’s nearly a head taller than me, so I make sure to raise my hand. I hear the satisfying crack of flesh meeting flesh, and then silence descends in the cafeteria.

A woosh of air betrays Natalia’s intent, but before her hand can connect, she releases a wail of agonizing pain.

I slide into Abel’s head immediately, unsurprised to see him directly behind me. The hands touching my shoulder now have onyx-colored talons where his fingernails once were. No doubt, he’s almost completely demon.

And in front of us, sobbing pathetically, is Natalia, holding her hand to her chest.

Holding her hand with a knife in it to her chest.

Damien stalks from the shadows resembling a gorgeous avenging angel. My avenging angel. With a nonchalance befitting his status, he stops when he’s mere inches from a sniveling Natalia and rips the dagger straight from her flesh.

“No one hurts Nina,” he hisses, his voice laden with menace and a pinch of his trademark darkness.

“That was so fucking hot, Bambi,” Abel whispers in my ear. “Do you feel how hard I am?” He presses his boner against my back as flames enter my cheeks.

“I don’t know what came over me,” I confess. “I just hated the way she was talking about Cain. Hated it. I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

“The bitch deserved it.” Abel’s voice loses the playfulness from only seconds earlier. We both watch as Braelyn and Jenny drag a still crying Natalia out of the room. I have no doubt that they’re going to kill her. It’s a dog-eat-dog world in here, and my guys didn’t become the kings by showing leniency.

Technically, in the hierarchy of the prison, I’m supposed to deal with the female inmates. Oftentimes, I allow Braelyn to enact vengeance, so she’ll decide if Natalia is allowed to remain alive. Female rapists are just as bad as male rapists, despite societal belief, and I won’t shed a single tear if Natalia is deemed guilty.

For a brief moment, pain eats away at me, consuming me. I’ve never been this callous before, this desensitized to death, and I’m not sure I like the new Nina I’m turning into.

But at the same time, I can’t find it within me to feel even an ounce of guilt.

I have no doubt that if Natalia had the opportunity, she would’ve raped Cain. It’s one of the most horrendous sins, in my mind. Murder has all sorts of possible justifications, but no one who is sane can come up with one for rape. Which is why Natalia needs to die.

Maybe my time here is truly making me a monster.

Or maybe I’ve just learned how far I’m willing to go to defend and protect the people I love.