Chapter 3

Seraphina’s POV

“Something heavy,”

I told the bartender, my voice a hollow, floating above the bass vibrating through the floorboards.

He dropped a heavy glass jar in front of me, sloshing with something neon and toxic. I muttered a thank you, lifted it, and swallowed it whole.

Liquid fire tore down my throat, making my lungs seized, a violent cough ripped out of me as hot, furious tears spilled over my lashes. A hand landed on my back, heavy and soothing.

“Back off,” I choked out, shoving the hand away, before snapping my head forward, gasping for air that felt too thin to breathe.

I took another sip after regulating my breathing, letting the numbness creep in, staring into the pulsing neon blur of the club. The bass a distant heartbeat in my ears.

Okay, so my life is officially over. No?

Asked to be a surrogate for Valentina and him?

The exact same guy I gave my heart to years ago, the one who left scars that never quite faded?

And now, just when I foolishly thought I might finally let someone else in, he gets snatched away by my own best friend. And neither of them flinches. Not an ounce of guilt. Not a shred of regret.

Just completely, utterly fucked up.

I slammed the empty jar against the counter. The bartender appeared like a ghost.

“More.”

He nodded, refilling the jar before turning away. I raised the glass to my lips again, letting the poison burn away the sharp edges of reality.

My bladder screaming, a sudden, desperate pressure building low in my stomach. I shoved myself off the stool, swaying dangerously, and caught a passing waitress.

“Restroom?”

She pointed down a dim corridor. I blinked rapidly, the hallway splitting into two before my eyes.

Stumbling down the left path, my head connected with a brutal, unyielding wall. A sharp cry slipped from my lips as I collapsed, sliding down into a crouch.

My stomach violently heaved, hot waves of nausea threatening to tear me apart.

A hand touched my shoulder. I forced my heavy head up, blinking through a dizzy haze. Blue eyes stared back down at me. Isn't this...

“Carrius?” I blinked, forcing myself to my feet.

My knees buckled. I clawed at the wall for balance, squinting through the spinning room at my sister’s husband.

“Are you okay?” His voice flat, a twisted, mocking smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

I blinked hard, rubbing my eyes to clear the fog, only for his face to morph into that of a strange, leering man in his fifties.

Revulsion surged up my throat. I shoved him away with a disgusted hiss, turning back to the corridor. Doors lined the walls.

Where the hell was the damn washroom? I would be humiliating myself any minute from now if I don’t find a place to pee.

One of the doors cracked open, revealing a cluster of shadows. I muttered a frantic, pleading plea to the figures and shoved my way past them, blindly diving inside.

Relief washed over me immediately I pee. Washing my hands and staring up at my reflection in the mirror. My dress clung to my skin like a second skin.

“Hey, mama.”

A purring voice scraped against my spine. I spun around, my vision swimming.

“Sorry—” I hiccuped, the alcohol burning the back of my throat. “Was pressed. Sorry I barged in.” I dipped my head in a clumsy, defensive bow and shuffle past him.

A thick, suffocating dread crawled up my arms, raising goosebumps.

My eyes shifted across the room, landing on five, maybe six distinct figures lounging in the dim light. 

Oh god. Panic spiked cold and sharp through my veins.

I lunged for the door, my fingers clawing at the handle, but a heavy hand slammed down on my wrist. I twisted, pulled, and fought with everything I had left.

When did I become this weak?

Right.

Since the day you let Valentina take everything from you without a fight.

A bitter, broken laugh tore from my throat right before I was hurled backward. My back hit something soft, and for a split second, my exhausted body craved the surrender of sleep.

“Nerve, huh? You think you can sneak in here and leave without paying the toll?”

A voice sliced through the dark. My eyes snapped wide open.

Six.

There were really six of them.

Before I could even draw breath to scream, two of them closed the distance. A heavy hand clamped over my chest, while another forced his lips down onto mine.

I gagged, tasting cheap liquor and sulfur, choking on a nausea so violent it blurred my vision. Their weight was an iron mountain crushing the air right out of my lungs.

The sound of tearing fabric cut through the ringing in my ears. A rough, calloused hand grabbed my tits, squeezing brutally hard. Another hand shoved down toward my pants.

I thrashed. I kicked. I bit down hard against the lips over my mouth until copper filled my teeth, but they didn't even flinch.

Their strength terrifying, and merciless.

One of them pulled his mouth away from mine. Panting heavily, I stared up at the towering silhouettes, the suffocating realization crashing down with the weight of a freight train.

“Just give up the fight, sweetheart,” one muttered, a sickeningly casual shrug in his tone as he undid his belt buckle. “We need a good time, and you walked right into the den.”

My chest constricted so tightly I thought my ribs would snap. What is happening?

He mounted the bed, pinning my legs down with his knees while his hands tore viciously at what was left of my clothes.

Another pair of hands locked my wrists above my head, tying me down to the frame with a strip of fabric while someone else ripped my underwear away in one violent pull.

“Fresh,” a voice chuckled, dark satisfaction dripping from the word.

Fresh tears broke free, hot and blinding, tracking down my temples as I watched one of them drop his trousers.

“Just let me go... please,” I begged, my voice cracking into a pathetic, shattered whisper that barely reached my own ears.

I wrenched against the bindings, tears burning my eyes until I couldn't even see their faces anymore—just shifting, predatory shapes in the dark.

A mouth descended back onto my chest, biting and sucking raw, while another hand invaded my body with a rough, clinical intrusion that made my soul recoil.

I squeezed my eyes shut, blocking out the room, the ceiling, the monsters.

Please.

Just a miracle.

Anyone.

Please.

Please...

A stifled, strangled sob choked out of my throat as a heavy, searing pressure tore into me. The pain, immediate, sharp, and agonizing, robbing me of oxygen as hot tears flooded the corners of my eyes.

He pulled back and slammed forward again, a cruelty that broke something deep inside my chest.

Then, abruptly, the weight lifted. The door clicked open and shut in the distance.

A soft silk throw caught against my shivering skin. Blindly, instinctively, I curled into a tight, trembling ball, pulling the fabric over my bare, bruised body, refusing to open my eyes.

The disgust didn't just sit on my skin; it pooled deep in my stomach, suffocating and heavy.