“Dakath,” I whispered, turning into his muscular chest, my hands smoothing over the tight, soft shirt he wore. My head fell back as I examined his handsome face, his gaze sparkling with an intense heat that caused my toes to curl. “Where have you been?”
Because I missed this—I missed him.
“Never far from you, Ky,” He promised, brushing his nose against mine. I loved his words, yet it still felt like we were worlds apart? Why did I feel like he was a figment of my imagination? My eyes welled with tears, desperation to wake and find them, to see them, filling me. The need to know that everything was as it was supposed to be—that we were together—clawed through me.
“He’s right,” Kolvar’s voice filled the space as he suddenly appeared behind me. “We will always be here for you, darling. We will always ensure you’re protected and safe. You’re everything to us.”
I turned around and inhaled sharply, seeing affection painted across his face as he cupped my jaw gently.
“To us?” I asked softly.
“To us,” Elijah agreed, approaching from the shadows of the dark, comfortable room. My chest squeezed. Being around the three of them inspired a reaction so strong it nearly caused my knees to go weak.
“To us,” I murmured, my cheeks heating. “I love that.”
“You are so strong,” Elijah murmured, cupping my jaw. “So strong, Kyella.”
My eyes watered. In this moment, suspended in time, I needed to hear those words. I couldn’t remember why he said I was strong, but I knew he was right. I was strong, and the pride associated with him acknowledging and praising that filled me with the feeling of euphoria.
“You’re also injured,” Kolvar suddenly growled.
Dakath made a concerned noise as I looked down, following the direction of their gazes. My stomach rolled. Holy shit. It looked as if my body had been flayed open by a dagger, and blood poured out of me like a fountain, saturating the carpet underneath us. A crimson sea wrapped around my ankles. I couldn’t bleed this much, not really…So this had to be a dream. Or else I would be dead, right?
I hadn’t died. I knew that.
At least I thought I knew that…
Sudden dizziness hit me as a choked sound escaped my throat, causing my knees to tremble. The warm, comforting hands of my men disappeared, and my body fell into the saturated carpet beneath me. A buzz of voices suddenly filled the space, causing me to squeeze my eyes shut. Why were they talking so loudly? Why did it hurt my head so much?
A panicked sob tore from my throat as tears welled in my eyes. My body throbbed with pain. It felt as if the minute my men were gone, a dam opened and pure agony was unleashed upon me. The pain didn’t feel acute like a new injury. Instead, I felt a dull pain that told me I was suffering through a previous injury. It was evident that something very bad had happened to me, something that made my brain fuzzy and caused pain to pulsate through my body.
My breathing felt rough and uneven, my pulse uncontrollably fast, and I called out as loudly as I could for my men. The cry was nothing more than a raspy whisper, and I began to tremble. My stomach rolled, and I nearly puked as the room shifted, and the wet carpet underneath me turned into hard wooden planks…
As I slowly came to, I felt something crawl over my arm. The sensation was a whisper of a movement that caused me to cringe. I tried to move my hand, to smack away the unwanted touch, but found I couldn’t from the exhaustion that was riding me so damn hard. Everything felt hazy, and the world spun around me in nauseating patterns.
Normally, I would try harder because I was sure it was a spider, but instead, I squeezed my eyes shut and ignored it. I didn’t care. I couldn’t care. Everything hurt too much to care about a spider.
Holmeth snapped my neck, and I survived. I shifted slightly, a gasp of pain falling from my lips as the rough wood of the floor scraped over my skin. Why would they unchain me? I was sure they would be back to torture me more—to try to force information out of me. Surely they wouldn’t risk Malakai’s wrath by showing up without answers.
It didn’t matter that my body was healing itself from the wounds they’d already inflicted. The pain radiating through me made it feel as if I would never be whole again. I couldn’t free myself from this imprisonment, which left me feeling more broken than physical wounds ever could.
Would I be broken permanently because of what they did? No. I refused to believe that I would be. I would heal, and I would escape. I would not let this be the moment that breaks me. I just had to hang onto my plan to escape and my belief in my ability to do so. The hunger for freedom had always existed within me, and I would reignite the flame of it. I refused to allow this to be my downfall.
After a long moment, I managed to crack my eyes in time to see a small, dark form scuttle past me. Its little paws marked the floor with bloody prints. The small creature momentarily stopped to sniff at me but kept going, deeming me unworthy of stopping for. At least that was something.
I had to sit up. That was my singular goal. That and trying to not think about how injured I was. The fact that they had done a number on me was becoming clearer with each passing moment. I had no idea how long they would be gone, but I wasn’t sure I could suffer through another round of torture and still have the energy to healandescape. I already felt so drained.
I tried sitting up several times, but my muscles weren’t working as they normally would. The grogginess was likely an aftereffect of the poison they’d forced me to repeatedly inhale. I stared blankly across the space, taking advantage of the momentary blessing that the bastards had yet to appear again. My body was actively healing, but my mental state and emotions were frayed from the exhaustion of what I was going through. My head felt groggy as I strived for a state of focus and concentration, refusing to let myself give into the fear that was threatening to overwhelm me. I closed my eyes and exhaled shakily, digging for the inner strength that would get me out of here.
I didn’t have a choice—I wouldneverreturn to Malakai.
I was alive and that meant there was still a chance to escape.
Slowly, the haziness that had seized my body and mind faded, and the sounds of the ship trickled in as I managed to keep my eyes open for longer and longer periods. A minute turned to two, which turned into several as time passed with each new passage of consciousness. Or perhaps my bouts of consciousness were longer than that. Honestly, my sense of time was skewed, and I couldn’t be sure.
My body started to feel somewhat better, though, and while there was still some moderate pain, it was far more manageable. I could breathe steadily, and I wasn’t shaking like before. The fog over my brian and limbs was almost completely cleared.
A sense of unease circulated through me, though.Malakai’s men had yet to come back down.In the entire time that I’d been conscious, they hadn’t disturbed me. While I was thankful to be alone, I didn’t trust the quiet. Anticipation of their eventual return left me feeling on edge.
