Vengeance on replay *harsh content warning*

Poseidon let out a heavy sigh as he stepped into the gloomy room of his mournful son. His eyes traveled over the long faces of the others in the room before landing on the still body that lay in the bed. It pained him not only to see such grief on the faces of his sons and daughter but also on Shelly. He even felt bad for Russ as he set on the opposite side of the bed as Arei, both men gripping a pale, thin hand. He ran a hand through his disheveled hair. "I know you'd all rather stay by her side right now... but there's something you need to see." When Russ and Shelly stood with the others to follow him, he lifted his hand. "I think it would be best if the two of you stayed behind..."

Russ shook his head. "Whatever it is, I want to be a part of it." He looked back at Jos, sadness in his eyes.

Poseidon let out a tired huffed. "Very well, but I'm warning you the content of the security footage isn't for the faint of heart... or stomach."

Russ stiffened with resolve. "If it involves her and what happened after she was taken from my palace, I have every right to know."

Poseidon arched his brows. "If you say so, but you may look at her and the memories the two of you shared a bit differently after..." His eyes moved to Shelly, question heavy in them.

Shelly shook her head as she set in the seat Russ had abandoned. "I'll stay here... In case she wakes up or something..." Her eyes moved to Jos's pale, still body. "By some miracle..." She whispered.

Poseidon frowned. "You may be waiting a long time for that, I'm afraid." He shook his head as he turned from the room. "If the rest of you will follow me..." Poseidon held open the door to the office as everyone stepped inside. "Is it ready?" He asked Peg who was setting in front of a computer, a large screen displaying a paused video overhead.

"Yeah, I believe so." He turned toward the others as they all took seats except for Arei and Russ. Russ stood awkwardly by the door while Arei leaned against the large desk in the center of the room. Peg nodded toward several empty seats. "Come, have a seat, there's plenty. It's going to take quite a while to play through all the footage that involves Jos."

Russ nodded as he looked around the room. "Where's Drake? Shouldn't he be present for this?" He asked as he took the chair Ry kicked out for him.

Peg chuckled at the question. "He and the other, younger vamp are resting in one of the rooms on the guest wing. They're both a bit shook. You'll all understand soon enough, no doubt." He sent Russ a wink before turning back to the footage. "I've backed it up to the day they first brought her there. There wasn't much that happened... the first day." He let it play through on fast forward as the guards could be seen bringing in Jos's limp body and shackling her with heavy chains and metal cuffs. He flipped it over to the outside of the cell where Vivian stood with several other guards. She handed them several syringes and vials. "The most troubling thing about this part is figuring out where she got all the tranquilizer drugs. It would have had to been leaked by a member of the council. I already backed it up to Marcus's visit... and death... at no point did I see an exchange of goods there."

"She would have had several opportunities outside the DeMarco compound to acquire them. We can check the visitor logs at the Embassy and see if she went there." Ry said.

Peg typed out a message on his cell phone quickly before moving his attention back to the screen. It showed Jos waking up as Vivian and six guards entered the cell. There was no audio, but it was obvious by the expression on everyone's faces that the late head of the vampires was taunting Jos. Several people in the room gasped as Vivian dug a sharp, spiked nail into Jos's neck and then tasted the blood on the tip of the nail. Jos was hit and punched, even kicked when she'd fallen weakly to the floor of the cell. This had happened multiple times throughout the many hours of film each time ending with the guards injecting Jos with more tranquilizer.

Rage bubbled in everyone's veins, especially Arei, Russ, and Chary as they watched some of the guards sneak into the cell and have their way with Jos's either limp or struggling body. With a furious growl, Arei grabbed and smashed a vase off the wall above the screen. "How much more of this is there?!"

Peg frowned as he sped up the fast-forward. "Unfortunately, every hour of every day until she finally escapes..."

"You could hardly blame her for going full Kraken on them." Chary muttered as she watched in equal rage. "I almost feel like finishing off the two boys who remain for good measure."

Peg slowed the film as Jos's eyes flickered open right before two guards entered the cell, her bloody and bruised body lying motionless as they made their way inside. "This is where she escapes. The guards got cocky and careless." He said pointing as one of the guards stopped the other from drawing up the drugs.

Arei's arms tightened across his chest as his lips peeled back over his straight, white teeth in anger as the man flung her back to the concrete slab. His harsh expression shifted into excitement and admiration as a tentacle emerged from her back. "That a girl, kitten." He muttered as he leaned forward, watching more intently as Jos fought for her freedom.

Ry arched a brow at his brother as Jos took out ten guards in a matter of seconds. "Kitten? really? You might want to look into changing that nickname if she survives."

"OH DAMN!" Chary called out with a joyful clap, pulling Ry and Arei's attention back to the screen.

Several more guards were now rushing Jos as she stepped out onto the front lawn, but it didn't stop her. Everyone's mouths dropped as several tentacles shot out and grabbed hold of the guards, pulling one toward her and biting off his head with one wide-mouthed bite. Arei and Russ involuntarily moved their hand to guard their privates.

Ry chuckled as he arched a brow at them both. "Bet y'all will think twice before sticking your dicks in mouths from now on."

Arei glared down at his brother as he kicked the leg of his chair. "Shut it..." His eyes moved back to the screen and flinched as she repeated the action to three more guards. "I'll admit, though, it is alarming... and quite impressive..."

"You've not seen impressive or alarming yet. Just wait until she gets inside the office." Peg commented, watching the screen with intrigue. "I think she could give Chary a run for her money even during a PMS-induced bitch fit."

Chary stuck out her tongue as she flipped her younger brother off, but her eyes never left the screen. Her eyes widened as twenty guards rushed into the pristine, white office and opened fire. The speed and precision of each tentacle as they operated independently was amazing... and horrifying. Chary's hand shot to her mouth as it formed an amused O. "Well, there's a first!"

Ry tilted his head as he watched. "Did... she just shove... each of their heads up the other man's ass?" His eyes bugged as a tentacle shot through the last man's anus and out the first man's mouth followed by a bloody squirt from both ends as it was just as quickly retracted. He wiped his hands against his jeans as he sat back in the chair. "Well, that answers that... I guess..."

"Answers what, exactly?!" Russ muttered as he leaned forward in stunned disbelief.

"You may want to turn away for this next part..." Peg said as he paused the film. "It gets a bit gross here..."

"A bit gross? She just tentacle-fisted six men after shoving their heads up each other's asses... how could it get grosser?" Russ barked out as Ry and Arei both arched brows at their brother in disbelief.

Peg shrugged as he resumed the video. "Don't say I didn't warn you." He nodded toward the screen as Jos began her assault on Vivian DeMarco. "What I wouldn't give for audio on this part..." He zoomed in on both women's faces. "You can tell whatever they're discussing here, has Vivian threw completely off her game."

Arei blinked twice, not believing what he was seeing. "Are those..."

"The children of Nyx? Yes..." Poseidon said. He continued watching in silence as the others in the room began watching the shadowy figures lurking around the edges of the camera's views instead of Jos and Vivian. The figures seemed to move merrily around the room, feeding on all the fear and rage of the two women.

As Jos pinned Vivian to the top of the desk and pulled her intestine from her struggling body, movement caught her eyes by the door. She turned in time to watch Mattie stumble backward into another guard, falling as a tentacle shot past his face and into the guard's chest. The front of the young vampire's jeans became soaked with urine as blood splattered across his face and the still-beating heart fell to the ground at his feet for one last thud. She stepped out of the way so that he could have a full view of the woman on display. She was obviously begging for something. At this point probably her own death, rather than life... Jos tilted her head and asked the young vampire something before turning a wicked smile back to Vivian. She wrapped the last of the intestine around the pleading vampire's hands and sank her other hand into the woman's chest. Jos held the pumping heart in her hand, pressing it to Vivian's mouth, forcing the vampire to drink her own blood.

Russ turned away, feeling nauseous. "I'm not sure how much more of this I can watch..."

"I'd love to tell you it's almost over... but she decides to force the kid to help her with a bit of... interior design before she leaves..." Peg said as Jos pulled Mattie out of the office and down the blood-stained hallway.

"Oh no... kitten..." Arei muttered as he watched her force the trembling vampire to gather all the severed heads scattered throughout the hallway, then arrange them carefully on a table.

"Goddamn man..." Ry arched his brows in shocked uncertainty. "You sure you want her back? This is next-level shit right here. I mean what happens if you forget and leave the toilet seat up?!"

"Fuck off." Arei muttered as he continued to watch, equally dumbfounded. He shook his head. "This isn't her... She would never do this without just cause. They pushed her to this..."

"Do you think this was deserved? Just punishment?" Chary whispered in a low even tone.

Arei frowned. "Deserved... yes... Just... no..." His sad eyes moved to his sister. "But who are we to judge her. We've both done equally bad shit to less deserving people..."

***

Jos's eyes flickered open as her dark surroundings began to come back into view.

"Ah, you're awake..." Hypnos's rich, soothing voice enveloped her like a warm glove. He stroked her cheek with a long ghostly finger. "I had forgotten how overwhelming my siblings and I could be to others... regardless of their origins."

Jos swallowed hard, fighting the urge to push his touch away and sit up. Instead, she glanced around the cave. "Where are we?" Her worry-filled eyes met his. "Am... am I still in the underworld?"

He studied her with a warm smile. "Where else would you be, dear?"

She swallowed hard. "I... I had..." She frowned as she squeezed her eyes tightly shut, fighting against tears. {Could souls cry?}

"Had hoped to be returned to the land of the living?" His light chuckle seemed to shroud her in a tight hug. "You've only just arrived, my dear... and we still have much to discuss."