Chapter 19

The darkness swallowed me whole, deeper and colder than I thought possible. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. The metallic taste of panic lodged in the back of my throat as my nails—torn and bleeding—clawed at the coffin lid above me. Dirt poured through the cracks, cool and gritty against my fingers. My nails kept breaking more and more as I scratched and screamed, my voice raw and ragged, but no one answered.

I was buried alive.

The air thinned progressively with every terrified gasp, my chest heaving as I struggled against the crushing weight of the earth. My mind was a jumbled mess of dread and fury.

Fury at Darius.

Fury at myself.

And dread that this would be the end. Forgotten. Trapped. Alone.

A loud banging sound tore through the suffocating silence, jolting me out of the nightmare.

My eyes flew open, and I was met with the sight of cold steel mere inches from my face. My breaths came out heavy, sweat clinging to my skin as I tried to piece together where I was.

I blinked rapidly, the oppressive darkness around me slowly giving way to dim light seeping through the edges of the safe.

The banging came again, a sharp, jarring sound. My heart stuttered.

And then the lid opened.

The sudden brightness stung my eyes, and I winced, recoiling slightly as a shadow figure loomed over me. Jace’s face came into focus, his expression taut with a frown, a glimmer of something I couldn’t place swimming in his sharp eyes. Relief? Guilt? Annoyance? I didn’t care.

Rage boiled over, white-hot and unchecked. I bolted upright, fists flying before I could even think.

“You son of a bitch!” I screamed, slamming my fists against his chest, his arms, anywhere I could reach. He stumbled back, startled, but I followed, clawing at him, pushing him. My words tumbled out, a venomous mix of curses and accusations. “You left me in there! Do you know what that did to me? Do you even care? I thought I was going to die, you asshole!”

“Elise, stop—” Jace began, his voice obvious with exasperation.

“Don’t you dare!” I cut him off, my hands gripping his shirt and pulling him closer. His frown deepened, and I caught sight of a deep, bleeding gash on his cheek, fresh and raw. Good. He deserved it. They all did.

Jace tried to grab my wrists, to still me, but I wrenched free, slamming my fists into his chest again. “You think this is funny? A joke? Let’s lock Elise in a fucking steel coffin and see what happens?” My voice cracked, as my fury bubbled over—though, on the inside, I was fighting against bursting into tears. But I refused to let it show. I refused to let him see just how scared I was—and the extent of how far my fear ran for enclosed spaces.

“We were trying to keep you safe!” Jace snapped, finally catching one of my wrists. His grip wasn’t tight, but it was enough to hold me in place. His gaze bore into mine, a mix of frustration and something softer, something he was trying to hide.

“Safe?” I spat, yanking my wrist free. “You call that safe? I couldn’t fucking breathe, Jace. I thought I was…” My voice wavered, and I swallowed hard, forcing the words back down. “You don’t get to tell me that was for my own good.”

“What the hell is going on here?”

The deep, gravelly voice sent a shiver down my spine, and I turned to see Darius entering the room. His dark eyes scanned the scene, landing on Jace crouched beside the safe with his bleeding face and me standing above him, shaking with rage. His expression darkened.

“What did you do?” Darius demanded, his gaze fixed on me.

“What did I do?” I laughed, the sound bitter and humorless. “You locked me in there, you bastard!”

Darius’s jaw tightened, and he strode forward, his imposing frame towering over me. “You were safer in there than out here,” he said coldly.

“Bullshit!” I snapped, stepping toward him until we were chest to chest. “You had no right. No fucking right to do that to me.”

His patience snapped. In an instant, Darius grabbed my wrists, yanking me forward and pinning me to the floor. The breath rushed out of me as his weight pressed down, his thighs straddling mine, effectively trapping me.

“Enough,” he growled, his face inches from mine. “You’re alive because of us, princess. Because of me. You want to throw punches, fine. But get this through your thick, spoiled, diamond-encrusted, pink-obsessed skull: you’re not the only one dealing with shit.”

I squirmed beneath him, my anger blazing hotter at the audacity of his words. “Let me go, Darius,” I hissed, my tone mean and venomous.

He didn’t move, his grip tightening just enough to remind me who was in control. “Not until you calm down,” he said, his tone clipped.

But calming down was impossible. Not when his body was pressed so intimately against mine.

My breath hitched as I became agonizingly aware of the heat radiating from him, the weight of his thighs pinning me in place, and the unavoidable—and painfully noticeable—rock solid, and not to mention huge, lump pressing against a delicate spot between my legs.

My face burned as realization struck, and I froze, my fury momentarily eclipsed by a wave of mortification. Darius noticed. Of course, he did. His lips curled into a faint, knowing smirk, and I wanted to die on the spot.

“Something wrong, princess?” he drawled, his voice laced with mockery.

Psychotic fucker. Getting a hard-on from my suffering.

“Get off me,” I ground out, my voice shaking with a perfect combination of anger and embarrassment.

“As you wish,” he said, leaning in closer for a moment, his breath warm against my ear. “But remember this: next time you lash out at us for saving your life, you’ll regret it.”

With that, he shoved himself off me and stood, his gaze ice-cold and scheming. But before I could regain my composure, he reached down, grabbed my arm, and hauled me to my feet.

I barely had time to process what was happening before he shoved me back toward the safe.

“No,” I gasped, panic flooding my veins. “Don’t you fucking dare—”

The door swung open, and I dug my heels into the ground, twisting and struggling against his grip. But he was stronger—by far.

“Darius, please,” I begged, my voice breaking. “Don’t put me back in there.”

“You need to learn a lesson,” he said, his tone devoid of sympathy. “And this is the only way you’ll understand.”

Before I could fight back, he shoved me inside, the unfriendly steel biting into my skin. The lid slammed shut, plunging me into darkness once more.

“Darius!” I screamed, pounding on the lid. “Let me out! Please!”

My fists ached as I hammered against the steel walls surrounding me, my voice growing hoarse with every plea.

Unsurprisingly, no response came. Just silence.

Tears streamed down my face as the darkness pressed in, oppressive and cruel. My throat burned, my voice cracking as I screamed until there was nothing left but sobs.

I swear, they are going to pay hard for this.