His hand clamped down on my throat, immediately cutting off my air. He lifted me clear off my feet, his grip tightening as I clawed at his hand. The fragile cartilage of my windpipe ground together. “I wanted your screams before, and I got them.” He smiled. “Now, I want to hear you apologize.” His grip loosened, letting in the tiniest bit of air. “Let me hear it,so’lis. Apologize.”
“Fuck,” I rasped, “you.”
Kolis’s eyes briefly closed, and then he sighed as if I were a small child who had disappointed him.
Without warning, I was flying backward into the alcove. I crashed through something—a table? Sharp glass sliced through my back as I felt something wet that smelled like whiskey. I hit the floor hard on my side, the air whooshing out of me.
I can handle this.
Breathing raggedly, I put my hand down and pushed up.
Kolis stood before me. “Apologize.”
“Go fuck yourself.”
The corners of his mouth tightened, and then he moved, the back of his hand striking me across the face. Starbursts exploded behind my eyes, and I smacked into the side of a crimson settee, knowing the skin of my cheek had split wide open.
I can handle this.
Lifting my gaze, I spotted the still-intact crystal decanter, lying among the bits of ruined furniture and shattered glass. It looked pretty solid. Snapping forward, I gripped the neck and whirled as a hiss of pain escaped my tightly sealed lips.
Kolis caught the bottle, ripping it from my grip. “Now. Now.” He set the bottle down on the small end table. “Let’s not go wasting more good whiskey.”
Spinning, I extended my leg, aiming straight for his—
Kolis vanished.
Either he moved that fast, or I was losing the ability to track him. I stumbled, catching myself on the settee.
“Apologize,so’lis.”
His words once more stirred the hair along the nape of my neck, sending a shiver down my spine. I drove my elbow back, this time connecting with a hard wall of muscle.
Kolis grunted out a laugh. “What was that supposed to do?”
Clearly, nothing.
Absolutely fucking nothing.
And that infuriated me.
I whipped around—
He drove his foot down on the back of my leg, snapping the bone. A short, strangled cry escaped as red-hot pain shot up and down my leg.
I can handle this.
His grip burned my arm, and another bone cracked. Then another and another. Both legs. Both arms. The pain…it was everywhere. There was no escaping it. No way to breathe through it or hide from it.
Kolis picked me up by the throat, and before I could break his hold, before I could really feel the raw fear taking root in every fiber of my being, he slammed me down, back first, onto his knee.
Something cracked somewhere deep inside me, and thatsnaprang dully in my ears as pain came in a bright flash, shorting out every nerve ending.
Kolis let go, and I fell to the floor. I didn’t feel the impact. My legs and arms had no feeling, but inside, I felt wet and cold.
“Hmm,” Kolis hummed, drawing my wide eyes to him. He loomed over me, one side of his still-bloodied lips curled up. “I think I broke you.”
I thought he had, too.
