The cage was barely large enough to sit in, so she just lay there in a fetal position. Her legs had long since stopped cramping, and now, they just felt numb. Her arms hung like dead weight where she had them wrapped around her knees. Her shoulders were raw where the metal collar chafed her neck. The air was thick with blood and chemicals, sharp enough to sting her nose every time she dared to breathe in too deeply.
The only good thing was that there was no more screaming—not from her, and not from the others.
The worst part was the quiet.
It was somehow even worse than the hunger.
Because it wasn't just the ache in her stomach. It was deeper. Gnawing. Eternal. She had eaten one of the meal bars yesterday—maybe the day before—but her body hadn't stopped crying out since. Human food did nothing. It rotted in her mouth. Her stomach burned with need, but not for bread. Not for vegetables.
Not for anything that could be considered human food.
And the thing inside her knew it.
It was always moving now, twisting and coiling like dark smoke behind her ribs. Some days it felt like oil, thick and sludging through her veins. Other days, it was more like teeth. Hungry. Aware. It had a shape—shifting, slick, inky black—and it pulsed behind her heart with every shallow breath.
It didn't speak, not in words. But it wanted.
It wanted out.
And it was growing stronger.
Seraphina blinked slowly, her lashes crusted with grime. The corners of her eyes burned. Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, and every inhale felt like breathing glass. She didn't bother trying to call for help. Not anymore. Help didn't come here.
Only the scalpel.
Only Adam.
She would kill him if she got the chance. If she ever got out of the cage.
The thought stirred something in her. The blackness inside curled, pleased. Her pulse quickened, and the hunger pressed tighter against her bones.
No.
Not like this.
She pressed her forehead against the bars, letting the cold bite into her skin. Her muscles trembled with exhaustion, but she kept her breathing steady. Or tried to. She could still feel herself unraveling. Cell by cell, inch by inch. Not human. Not anymore.
Then… footsteps.
Soft.
Not Adam.
Not the guards.
Her vision blurred as the door opened—not to the cage, but to the hallway beyond—and someone stepped through.
One second, she was alone, and the next, a woman was crouched in front of her cage. Tall. Strange. Pale eyes glinting like candles. Her presence was wrong in all the right ways—serene, calm, dangerous, not like Adam, who was clinical in his cruelty. This woman radiated heat and power.
Her voice was low, soft.
"Hey, Sweetness," she purred, crouching just outside the cage.
Seraphina didn't answer. Her body was too tired, and her throat too torn. But her gaze shifted slightly enough to watch the woman reach forward.
Fingers brushed her cheek. They were warm. Real.
She wanted to flinch away, but didn't. Couldn't. It had been too long since someone touched her without latex and needles.
She opened her mouth, wanting to talk, but her throat was too raw for words to get out. 'Are you here to save me?' she wanted to ask, the words forming clearly in her mind.
The woman's hand didn't hesitate, even as it smeared through dirt and dried blood. She made no comment about the mess—just touched her gently, as if none of it mattered. But she didn't seem to be able to hear her.
But that didn't matter. Seraphina couldn't remember the last time someone looked at her like that.
Her hair was a matted mess down her back, and her skin clung to her bones like damp paper. Her stomach had given up trying to growl. Her lips were cracked, scabbed, barely hanging together.
But still, the woman smiled.
Still, she stayed.
"I am," the woman assured her, her blue-ish white pigtails so at odds with everything else. "Just make a wish, any wish. I'll even make the first one free, if you want. Tell me what you want me to do, give me your wish, and I can make the world bow at your feet."
'No!' Seraphina gasped. She wanted to shake it, just in case the word wasn't heard, but her head was getting so heavy that she could barely hold it up. ' I don't want the world to bow. I want revenge. Can you give me that?'
"I can give you that and so much more," the woman purred, her voice close now, rich like honey stirred with smoke. "But I need to know what revenge looks like to you. To say the word is easy, but I want to do you justice."
The words barely made it past Seraphina's mind before she answered, her thoughts ragged but sharp.
'I want them all dead,' hissed the voice in her head—not the creature's, but her own.
And when the woman smiled, Seraphina knew she'd heard it.
"I need you to listen to me," the woman said. "You have a demon seed inside of you. Wrath, if you want to be exact, but because of that seed, you have more options than others. I can keep you alive until you merge with your demon. Then, you can take your own vengeance. You don't have to die in this cage if you don't want to."
Sera's head shook before she could even process the offer.
'Too tired,' she thought, the words like ash in her throat. 'I want to end it all, but I don't want THEM to win. I can already feel myself changing into whatever they were trying to turn me into. I want to die a human; I want to die as me.'
"Okay," the woman said, brushing her thumb across Seraphina's cheek, collecting the salt of her tears. "Then I can send you back in time," the woman continued. "I can make sure that you are reborn to a time and place of your desire, and you can get revenge for yourself. The demon seed will still be attached to your heart, so you'll keep your powers and memories and have the strength of Wrath to keep you going."
That simple act—treating them like something sacred—nearly broke her, and Sera rested her cheek against the other woman's palm.
That black thing inside her shifted, intrigued.
But it was her choice.
'I want that,' she said, voice inside her head again. 'I want to get my own revenge. But I don't want THEM living a good life in this timeline, either.'
"Ah," the woman purred, nodding. "A girl after my own heart. How about this, I'll burn down this lab with your body inside. You will die a painful death, but then be reborn. Anyone who participated in what happened to you will be punished. What do you think? Is that acceptable?"
Seraphina forced her lips to move. It hurt. Her skin split with every word, her blood falling to the filthy floor of her cage.
"I want them to suffer for a long time. I've been in this cage for three years; I want them to suffer for at least the same amount of time. Can you do that?"
"Sweetness," the woman murmured, gently tilting her face up so their eyes met. Her illusion dropped like ash from her skin, revealing what she really was. Scarred. Terrible. Divine. "I am Lucifer, the Devil, Queen of Hell. I can do that and more. You want them to suffer? Then, for three years, I'll deliver Hell on Earth before finally putting them out of your misery."
Seraphina exhaled slowly, the taste of blood thick on her tongue.
'Price?' she whispered—soft, not from fear, but contentment.
"I've already taken it," Lucifer said with a smile. "Your tears are to make sure that the lab is destroyed. Your life to make sure that you are reborn. Your blood to make sure that they suffer for three years before they are finally granted death."
Seraphina nodded once, her limbs going slack. Her eyes slipped shut.
'A year before the apocalypse, please,' she whispered. 'That will give me enough time to be prepared.'
"Anything for you," came the answer.
Letting out a trembling breath, Seraphina smiled softly as the fire engulfed the lab. The pain of being buried alive was nothing compared to the hunger of the creature inside of her.