I blinked lazily as my consciousness returned. My head wasthrobbing,and my mouth was so dry I wanted to gag.
Speaking of gags, I was pretty sure I had one in my mouth. Something had been stuffed flush against my tongue, and it felt like there was tape holding it in.
It took several moments for me to register that I couldn’t move. Panic ripped through me as I realized I was tied down to something… Achair?
With the one small ounce of sense I still had, I forced myself not to thrash against the restraints.
Instinct told me to do my best to keep my captors from knowing I was awake. I needed time to think and get my bearings. So, I forced myself not to groan and struggle like I wanted to. Instead, I took a deep, slow breath through my nose and peeked out through my eyelashes.
I was in an unfinished basement. The dimly lit, concrete room flickered as the bare pot lights sputtered overhead, allowing me to take in my surroundings.
Gabriel and that Hazai guy were standing in the center of the large, empty room, conversing with each other like they hadn’t just fuckingkidnappedme.
Their casual, relaxed demeanors infuriated me. It took everything I had not to start screaming at them through the gag stuck to my face.
I flexed against my restraints, attempting to draw my legs together, but found they were tied to each leg of some sort of strange chair. The middle of the seat had been cut out. Only the outer edges remained for my thighs to rest on, but between my legs, there was nothing but open air.
“And you found aqueeningchair… I haven’t seen one of these in centuries,” Hazai purred, stepping closer to me and examining my prone form like I was a new piece of furniture Gabe had brought home for him to inspect.
Gabe chuckled, his citrine eyes shining with amusement as he watched Hazai examine me.
“They’re actually not that hard to come by. Found it online. I thought we could have some fun with it,” Gabriel said, his smooth voice rolling through the room like honey. “She’s awake, you know.”
My heart stopped in my chest at the auburn-haired man’s words, and Hazai laughed.
“Oh, I know. I figured we would just give her a minute to adjust before we got started. Maybe she can watch us play with her brothers first.”
My eyes flew all the way open at the mention of my brothers, and I growled into my gag, only to find myself staring at a very amused Hazai right in the face.
“There she is,” he purred, reaching out to run his knuckles tenderly over my cheek. I jerked away from him so hard that the strange chair scraped across the floor, and Hazai laughed.
“So feisty. You’ve always been a scrappy little witch.” He grinned, and I frowned.
Always?
“Enough games, Hecate. Come out and play. My revenge won’t be as sweet if you don’t even know it’s happening.”
What the fuck was he talking about?
I glared at him, unable to respond. His green eyes flashed with annoyance.
“Fine. It’s gonna be like that? We’ll just have tomakeyou come out,” he rumbled before pulling away to join his partner, who was looking slightly bored.
“Wake her brothers up. We’ll start with them.”
“I thought you would never ask,” Gabriel purred, sending me a cocky smirk. I narrowed my eyes at him and let him see how much I fucking hated him.
I’d trusted him!
Like a fuckingidiot!
His lips curled up at my glare, letting me know the message had been received.
“I think she’s angry with me,” he commented dryly, and Hazai chuckled.
“Welcome to the club. She’s always angry at me.”
“What the fuck are you two talking about!?” I screamed into my gag, but it came out as:mmmphh mmphh mmmm!
