6. Erebus

Gumbo grumbled impatiently at my feet, and I stroked along his skin while I watched the scene on the monitors unfold, laughing. I reached into the desk drawer and pulled out a bag of marshmallows, placing a few on the floor near the gator. They were his favorite snack, even if Minos disapproved of me feeding him sweets.

Most people didn't realize that gators were opportunistic feeders. They only needed to eat once a week. Sure, they ate things like fish, turtles, and snakes, but they wouldn't turn down potato chips, sausage, or the occasional human.

"You'll ruin his appetite," Minos muttered, and I flipped him off, my focus returning to the computer. He never wanted me, or Gumbo, to have any fun. Everything was too serious with him.

Adeline's acid burn was less than she deserved. Secretly, I had hoped that tug of war managed to take two of them out, but disfigurement would have to do since that didn't happen. Even if it was temporary. She wouldn't leave the house alive.

My attention moved back to my little nightmare. She was perfect, even with soot covering her cheek. A vision of heaven and hell wrapped in a pretty package. Her angry outburst earlier showed me a part of her she kept hidden from everyone around her.

Darkness swirled beneath the surface of her skin, and even though the walls of the house separated us, I could almost taste it. All night, I had been rooting for the thick thighed, raven-haired beauty, hoping she would make it. My dick had been harder than it had been in months. Seeing her crazy slowly inch its way out had me imagining her legs wrapped around my head while I plunged my tongue inside of her sweet pussy.

People said thick thighs saved lives, but they forgot how easily they could take them. I would gladly meet death while I suffocated between the silky flesh, my face covered in her arousal.

The next game was originally supposed to be a version of Four Square, but my heart lurched when I thought about Harper Leigh being forced to take part. With every bounce of the ball, the walls would slowly close in around them. I had attached knives to the panels to ensure that at least someone in the group bled out on the floor.

I didn't want that to happen, not until I had a turn with the woman I was staring at on the screen. If anyone was going to make her bleed, it would be me. The thought of her blood running down her skin, pooling between her breasts, made my cock throb, and I adjusted the way I was sitting, praying my brother wouldn't notice.

"Minos, I have to have her. She's meant for us. I know she is," I said as I stroked the bracelet on my wrist, thinking of one made of midnight black hair. I'd remove all the others if I could just have hers decorating my arm.

Minos closed his eyes and sighed deeply while rubbing at his temple. "Erebus, we've already discussed this. I'll consider it if she lives. The thing you need to be focused on is getting vengeance for Vi. You know what these bastards did to her."

Everything he said was the truth, but he forgot we could punish her in our own way. It seemed wasteful to discard someone like her. After we rectified her past behaviors, we could keep her. Surely, she would be easier to deal with than Gumbo when he was throwing a fit.

Minos had already caught me printing off a still of Harper. The last thing I wanted was for him to give me more shit about her. He didn't think she would make it out alive, but I fixated on just that. If she lived, she'd be mine. Ours.

When he turned his head, I pressed a button on my keyboard, shutting down the mechanism that controlled the walls in the next room before hitting play on the video. Harper hadn't figured out why they were stuck inside the house, which seemed strange. From everything Vi had said about her and the way she played our games, she was too intelligent not to have pieced together the puzzle placed before her.

Evening had settled outside, painting the sky in black and deep indigos. Lightning bugs flew through the sky, the green lights flickering intermittently. The group of friends that had once gathered outside had mostly disbanded, choosing to hide indoors, away from the swarms of mosquitoes that plagued Louisiana's southern evenings. Over the video, the heavy bass from the music drifted in the air, adding to the symphony of insects.

Two of the men stood by a patio table. They spoke in low tones, and from the quality of the feed, it was difficult to decipher exactly what they had said. One pulled something from his pocket and deposited it into the cups the other was holding. Afterward, he opened the back door and ushered his companion in, both vanishing from sight.

Harper turned to her boyfriend and the other female while crossing her arms over her chest. "What did Ray and Conrad put in those cups?" she demanded, her voice edged with anger. Even over the monitor, I could feel animosity rolling off her in waves.

Landry lowered his voice and attempted to placate her by touching her shoulder. "Babe, I'm sure it was nothing. You know how they were."

Harper shoved his hand away and glared in his direction. "Exactly. I know how they were. Quit playing dumb." She seemed like she was one second away from completely losing it on him, and I grabbed a marshmallow from the bag, waiting to see what happened next.

Landry gripped his hair and pulled. "I don't know what you want me to say, Harper Leigh. I can't ask either of them now because they're dead. This is ridiculous. I just lost my two best friends, and you're giving me shit over what? We don't even know who drank those drinks. Maybe they did."

I narrowed my eyes at the monitor and decided I didn't really want to know what would happen next. Over the system, I spoke calmly. "Now, now, children. As much as I'm enjoying this lover's spat, I need you to proceed to the next room. You'll enjoy the game we have planned."

Harper was the only one who would enjoy anything, but she didn't know it yet. I couldn't wait to see the look on her face. The remaining three players took hesitant steps into the space where blades covered the walls. I had to act normal, so I didn't draw attention to myself. "The game that we're going to play is four square. Hopefully, everyone is familiar with the rules."

"There aren't four of us anymore," Harper shrieked at me. My dick hardened at her defiance. It was something that I would have to fuck out of her, yet another thing to punish.

I smiled to myself. "Well, you'll have to improvise. Every bounce of the ball brings with it an extra special surprise."

I typed on the keyboard in front of me, acting like it was business as usual, even if it was anything but. Feeling extra jovial, I hit play, letting music bleed over the speakers. Harper scoffed, and my smile widened. She had no idea what was in store for her.

"Clock's ticking," I stated, sitting back in my chair. My little nightmare picked up the ball and bounced it across the painted lines on the floor to Addie. I let it go on for a few moments and said nothing.

Suddenly, Harper caught the ball and turned, looking directly at the camera. It was almost as if she knew exactly where it was. "This game is boring," she mocked. "Surely, you and Jack can do better than this."

She'd given us nicknames. My heart fluttered in my chest at the fact she thought so much of us. Slowly, I stood and leaned into the mic. "Minos, we have a slight technical difficulty. We need to improvise. Grab Charon and Thanatos. It's time to have a little fun." He grunted at me as his fingers flew over his phone.

I grabbed my mask, securing it so that none of my face was showing. Harper hadn't earned the right to see what I truly looked like. "Don't kill them. Not yet, at least." I stalked to the door and stopped. "And Harper? She's mine."

He probably thought it was so I could teach her a lesson for mocking us, but that was the furthest thing from my mind. I needed her more than oxygen, just one taste. She would learn something tonight. The first thing was that her body belonged to me.