“I did, however, sell her for a hefty price. Who knows where she is now? Or if she’s even alive.”
Max growled until he was screaming like an animal, pulling on his chains with such force that his muscles bulged, veins straining beneath his skin. The metal cuffs bit into his wrists, tearing at the flesh as his entire body trembled with the effort. His vision blurred, red with fury, as his roar echoed through the dungeon.
“Which is exactly why you’re in here. It was the same thing I did when I was younger, to make sure I didn’t go on a rampage, killing everyone. Don’t you understand those feelings aren’t real?”
“Let… me… GO!”
The king ignored his demand. Max was so filled with manic rage, he barely noticed when his father stabbed him. He felt his insides shred as the blade twisted into his abdomen.
But Max was no longer Max. The shift in him was unmistakable, his eyes darkening as reason slipped away, replaced by something primal, feral. His thoughts fractured,replaced with a singular need—to find Sin. His muscles coiled, his breath ragged and animalistic, as if every ounce of humanity was being stripped from him, leaving only raw, predatory instinct.
He was now a male who wouldn’t let anything stop him from finding his mate. The King moved fast, but not fast enough—Maximus bit onto his father’s ear, ripping it off.
The King bellowed in pain as Max’s face dripped with his blood.
If they didn’t let him go, he’d pull on the chains until his hands were ripped off. With the help of a witch, they’d grow back. Something Sin could learn to do if he could hurry up and go to her.
“Why is he like this?” the King murmured, tilting his head, as if studying a curious specimen.
“Let me go now, or I swear to every god, to every devil from every realm, that your demise will last centuries, and not a single deity will want your pathetic soul.”
“You shouldn’t be acting like this.” The King ignored the threat as he grabbed his son’s jaw, keeping his teeth away. Max stared back with mania in his eyes, ready to lose those hands.
Guards ran to his sides and held onto his arms.
“When I had my mate assassinated…” Max’s gut sank at his father’s admission. “I felt the pull, the need to go to him, but it was nothing like this.”
Maximus bellowed, and the dungeon walls rattled in response, like a monster acknowledging his pain. The guards flinched, their eyes widening in unease, some exchanging nervous glances. The sheer power of his voice seemed to shake them, their confidence faltering as the intensity of Max’s rage reverberated through the stone.
His father laughed. “Ah yes, that must be it. You fell in love with the peasant.” He laughed louder as he backed away, inchingcloser to the table. “What a silly emotion for ignorant fools.” At that, he grabbed the pincers before approaching Max again. “Hold his arm steady,” he ordered the guards as he grabbed Max’s hand. “You will agree to marry the Princess of Landon and swear to it, or we’ll keep doing this until you do.”
The King didn’t give Max a chance to answer before he pulled off his thumbnail.
Max growled through the pain—nothing compared to what he imagined was happening to his little blade. He clung to the memory of her laughter, the way her eyes would light up when she smiled, or the warmth of her body as she pressed against him in the stillness of the night. He remembered the softness of her hands as they traced his scars, and the vulnerable look in her eyes when he traced hers.
That was what he needed to get back to. That was what kept his rage burning, his desperation clawing at him to break free. He would not fail her. Even if she hated to kill, not all blades were meant to. And she was one. Even if she was a blade crafted with the finest steel and decorated with the most precious gems, only for everyone to admire its beauty, she was still a blade.Hisblade.
Another nail was ripped off so aggressively it also tore out a tendon. A cry escaped him, but only because an intense wave of rage and guilt filled his chest, and it wasn’t his own. Sin knew he was getting hurt, and there was nothing he could do to stop her from feeling it. He was only grateful she confirmed she was alive.
Sin.
Rather than words, her love and sadness filled his chest.
Don’t worry about me, he said down the bond.I will be fine.Wewill be fine. Do you understand?
He longed to hear her voice in his head, purposefully directed at him. So he would know she accepted him. He could feel heropening up to him slowly, even when she tried to force herself not to.
He gritted his teeth, forcing down the scream from the pain. His father had already removed his fingernails, demanding compliance, but Max refused. Now, the King was peeling the skin from his fingers down his hands.
I’m okay, he whimpered, failing to sound normal.
He could feel her intense sadness in waves, and knew she was crying for him.
He cried with her.
* * *
Max didn’t know how much time had passed. He didn’t know how long his father had stayed torturing him, nor how long he had been unconscious from the physical shock. The King kept trying to keep Maximus awake with brands, but eventually, nothing could keep him conscious.
