Three days. Tucked into the corner of the damp, cold room, Ava mumbled to herself, her face buried into her knees so as not to rouse the Sang that hung from the ceiling like bats. Progenitors, she’d heard Oliver call them. The darkness in the room gave no indication of time itself. Only Oliver arriving to check on her between long intervals, as he had each morning, suggested that entire days had passed between.

Prayers. She’d never prayed for anything in her life. Not when her father had tormented her as a child, not when her mother abandoned her and Ryke in a back alley, forcing them to survive amongst a host of predatory demons, and not even when Ryke had turned on her, giving new meaning to living in hell. No, she’d always been a survivor, taking care of herself without use for prayers.

Until then.

“Gods of Obsidius, forgive me for my insolence, for I lack understanding. Forgive my transgressions, for I lack direction. Restore my faith, and I shall continue to worship you for all of my immortal life.” Straining her muscles, she pulled her knees tighter to her body and squeezed her eyes, concentrating on the next words. “Protect me from this uncertain demise. Grant me this prayer, and I vow to walk this earth in your name.”

For three days, she’d sat in the room like a fly caught in a spider’s web, waiting for one of the creatures to swoop down and bring her nightmares to life. For whatever reason, they’d kept their distance from her, watching her with their glowing eyes in the darkness.

She’d heard the screams of the succubi. Knew damn well the horror they’d be capable of, if they decided to swarm her. Oliver had told her that it wasn’t unusual for all three to have their way with a single female, so when she’d woken from the drugs he’d given her, to knock her out inside the cold tomb, she’d felt like fresh meat for the slaughter.

Oliver had also said that the pheromones given off by the Sang virus they’d been injecting into her would prod the creatures into their mating cycles.

Any day. Any moment.

She’d been starved, left naked and dirty, to the extent that she couldn’t stand the smell of her own skin. A strong scent that’d surely made her presence known, even when she’d kept herself tucked quietly in the corner without moving.

Still, those things hadn’t bothered with her.

A boom echoed inside the room, and Ava lifted her gaze to see Oliver standing at the door, peering through the small square window and wearing a mask of frustration.

How badly she wanted to kill him. To dig her claws into his flesh and watch his eyes go wide with horror as she tore his organs right out of his body. She’d keep him alive just long enough to watch him suffer.

Another part of her wanted to laugh hysterically at his failure, to throw it in his face that months of preparations had been for shit.

And then she’d slice him open after, of course.

Grinding her jaw, she curled her hands into fists at the thoughts slipping behind her eyes. But at the fluttering of wings above her, the visuals faded quickly, and Ava turned her attention toward one of the Sang that twisted its head as though curious, its lip curved into what she surmised as a smile. Could it read her thoughts? Most species couldn’t penetrate the Nephilim that way. Only a select few that she avoided at all costs. Not much was known about the Sang, though. Centuries of extinction had all but wiped them out of the demon taxonomy.

Abandoning her torturous thoughts, she slipped back into her fear, in hopes that its sudden interest in her didn’t mean she’d flipped the damn rutting season into gear.

It didn’t move, though. Only stared its unnerving stare, inviting her to fall into the madness of hope. Hope that maybe she’d be spared.

The hinge of the door squealed, reverberating off the walls, and her gaze shot toward the hulking silhouette in the doorway.

The opened doorway.

The beastly thing she’d first met in the butchering room of whatever this place was stared at her with one good eye through its deformed gorilla face. The metal plate covering its other eye caught the reflection of light from somewhere down the hallway. She’d once been afraid of the beast, but not even its grisly, muscled form could surpass the fear that the Sang had instilled in her. Mentally counting off the seconds, she slid her legs beneath her, hoisting herself into a pouncing position. The crazed desire for escape overpowered the faint warnings beating through her skull. Ones telling her she’d never make it.

Reaching out beyond the doorway, he maintained his stare, and tossed something toward her. It fell just a few feet from where she pressed her fingers into the concrete like a runner waiting for the gun. Allowing a quick downward glance, she grimaced at the severed human leg that’d begun to turn a grayish tone.

The scent hit first.

Like rotted meat that should’ve made her want to gag, yet didn’t. Her bottom lip trembled with the realization that it smelled oddly delicious. So delectable, in fact, she stole another glance. And another. Her mind quickly becoming so consumed by the proffered meat that she didn’t immediately notice the Sang beside her, feasting on other scattered limbs tossed into the room.

Ignore it, she told herself and clamped her eyes shut, willing the effects of the smell away. When she opened them again, the beast stood with his feet set apart, arms crossed, watching the creatures feast.

She had to get out right then. What if mealtime was what they’d been waiting for? Perhaps Oliver had intended to starve them, and once he’d sated their hunger, they’d be looking to mate?

Without a second thought, she darted forward.

A slam at her throat jerked her head back, while her feet shot up from beneath her, and the cold concrete slammed against her spine. A crushing blow to her skull radiated down into her limbs, and Ava flinched at the ache throbbing in her head. She allowed her fingertips to drift across the steel around her throat, squeezing her neck.

She kicked back to loosen it’s stranglehold, and her chest cracked with a deep cough, one that set her ribs rattling.

The snort from the doorway drew her attention to the beast. He stood with a smile, those fucked up teeth mocking her in all their ugly deformed glory.

“Fuck you,” she rasped, sucking in a breath.

The sliver of light filtering in dimmed as the beast slammed the door shut, and the sounds finally reached her ear.

Sucking. Moaning. Feeding.

She tipped her head back, taking in the upside down view of all three creatures hunched over like vultures, each with a limb held at its face.

Her tongue puckered again, and a tingle skated down her spine. Scrambling to her knees, she crawled across the floor toward the leg that lay waiting for her. With a hard swallow, she lifted the cold flesh to her lips and closed her eyes, the rot and putrid aroma taunting her to bite down.

A whimper leaked through the small gap between her teeth, but the decayed skin as she rammed it between her incisors trapped it inside her mouth and her lips sealed it with a moan. Ava loathed the ecstasy that danced across her tongue with the first trickle of blood. As if she’d been thirsty her entire life up until that very moment. Nails digging into the tough flesh, she sucked every drop, until her jaw ached. Turning the meat over in her hands, she bit into another part of the leg and sucked again. And again. Again, until the limb carried a few-dozen bite marks and had turned a sickly shade of white.

Ava tossed the leg aside and turned her attention toward the Sang still feeding from their pile of human remains. No doubt, the beast had given them more on purpose, to throw her in the middle of their feeding, because having had a taste of that delicious blood, she damn near considered diving amongst them for more. Instead, she scavenged their discarded pieces, sucking the last of the blood from each chunk of meat, until a fossil-white tone gave them the appearance of discarded chicken bones.

Once she’d finished, Ava tucked herself back into the corner like an animal and waited for them to attack her, her body re-energized by the blood, but trembling with fear.

Minutes ticked by, and she crouched there, waiting, until all three of them climbed the walls and returned to their upside down perch from the ceiling.

* * *

A loud clang had Ava’s attention shooting back toward the door, where Oliver stood. She scratched at her skin that’d begun to itch beneath the grime. Had four days passed already?

Muffled screams tensed her muscles and Ava braced herself, as a naked redhead and a blonde stumbled into the room and tripped forward, their hands smacking against the concrete. The beast stood over them, and when he ripped the tape from their mouths, the screams sharpened, prompting Ava to cover her ears. At the slam of the door, the two females scrambled to their feet, knocking at the small window, behind which Oliver stood with a smug grin.

“Shhhh.” Ava placed a trembling finger to her lips. “You’ll wake them,” she whispered.

Craning her neck toward Ava, the blonde’s terrified expression shone back perfectly in the darkness, and her gaze trailed toward the ceiling and back to Ava.

What Ava must’ve looked like, naked, dirty, and chained to the wall like some kind of animal.

One split second of paralysis, and the blonde fell into a frantic screaming, twisting back toward the door, slamming her hand against the glass. “Please! Don’t do this! Please help us! I’m begging you!”

Ava tucked her legs in tight and rocked to the beat of panic pulsing through her. Whatever calm she’d summoned in the last three days was quickly doused by the woman’s terrified screams. Shut up, shut up, shut up. She clamped her eyes shut, still holding her hands over her ears. For one brief moment, she fell into a peaceful stillness, until she opened her eyes again.

The blonde had disappeared, and a single high-pitched scream sliced into the dull white noise inside Ava’s head, while the redhead continued pounding against the door.

A dark shadow swooped in from behind her, and in the next blink she disappeared, too.

On a whoosh of breath, Ava lifted her gaze toward the ceiling. Above, the creatures twitched and jerked, their wings wrapped tightly in front of them, between which strands of blonde and red hung down like party streamers. They held the females against them, upside down, and for one brief moment, it was blissfully silent.

In the next breath, the familiar agonized sounds that Ava had heard for months filled the room. Shuddering at the thought of what was happening behind those wings, she tucked her head back into her knees and pressed the palms of her hands to her ears.

Gods of Obsidius, forgive me for my insolence, for I lack understanding. Forgive my transgressions, for I lack direction. Restore my faith, and I shall continue to worship you for all of my immortal life.