Diabolus: The Lost Phoenix

Chapter Thirty Two

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS VIOLENCE

KAI WOODS

Caden doesn't try to hide under that anger and cockiness anymore; being cut, having no hands, his face shows nothing but burning pain now. At first, they all try to show themselves. But when I start, they cry like puppies.

A single tear rolled down his cheek, down his blood red stained face. His eyes, now filling with tears glistening in the dim light, bouncing unbearable pain through the atmosphere. Do they ever learn? How many times will I have to do this until they realise?

No one can mess with me. No one.

I grab a few coins of gold when Caden looks at me, turning it in front of his eyes, just inches away from him, to let him see its shine, the thing he wants the most.

"That's what you wanted, right? To be rich with all this gold?"

I chuckle before throwing the coins back to the pile and straightening myself, looking at him from the height; hopeless, helpless, but most importantly, heartless. I might be heartless myself, in moments like this; but my values aren't money or treasure. It's love. Loyalty. Sacrifice. Devotion. Family.

"But you know what? It's more important to be rich from the inside."

"I would like to make his dreams come true, then."

Brent's voice echoes through the place and I take a step back from Caden; my job here is done, I know that the moment I see Brent's eyes, burning with desire for revenge, and a hellish smile, playing on his lips. And I don't mind, I get him; if I was him, oh God. I would feed Caden's own limbs to himself.

With quick moves, he goes straight to the boiler where Aaron keeps stirring the already melted gold. Before pulling out a big syringe; the one that's never used for medical treatments, he turns to Caden. Looks at him. Really looks at him. Reads him. Like everything was hurting him the way it hurt Avery.

"This is going to hurt as hell."

He quickly gets the boiling liquid inside the syringe, and as fast as he can, walks to Caden. With one fast movement, he rips a part of his shirt, where his inner elbow is. Where he could reach his veins easily.

And I know that in that moment, he lost his humanity. He would do every brutal thing to Caden without even blinking. Without thinking. He would rip him into pieces using only his hands, until there's nothing but a pile of blood left. But also, I know that the softness of him is still there. He's doing this for Avery; and yet he's also not doing what he wants, just because of her. Unlike Beverly, Avery wouldn't be able to understand those things. She would never look at him the same way... even if he would do it for her.

Instead, he controls himself, even though it's so hard for him. I know that because of his shallow breath and clenched jaw; there's so much hate inside him, and yet both of us know that Caden's death will change nothing. There will be one bad person less in this world, but it doesn't mean that Avery is not in danger anymore.

That's why the treasure has to be destroyed.

"Just know one thing, Caden."

One move, and the needle is inside Caden's vein. Brent slowly pushes it, and the shiny, but boiling hot liquid flows into his system. In an instant, Caden arches his back, his head drops backwards as he widens his eyes to up to the ceiling. But no sound comes out. No screaming. Nothing. That's when I know, we've done enough.

"Now you're made out of gold, but you will never be as rich as Avery is."

I watch the almost empty syringe, and how Caden's body starts to shiver in pain. Not like a person that feels cold, would shiver; he's almost squirming, but it seems like the blood that he lost and the hot gold inside his system did its job and took away all of his energy. The liquids flowing from his mouth, the foam, that breaks through the sock and flows down to his chest is the nastiest look I ever saw; but he deserves all of it.