“No,” Jocelyn breathed.
The table was slick with congealed blood, entrails splattered across it. The stench of decay filled the air, flies buzzing as Gideon stepped closer, his stomach twisting.
But that scent…
“Oh, gods,” Gideon breathed, because that was the scent of the witch missing from the cottage. A part of him hated the relief he felt that it wasn’t Sin, but of someone else. Clearly someone of importance in Audrira and Jocelyn’s lives. He cradled Audrira’s head against his chest as she cried.
He urged her out of the room at the sound of her gagging. And held her close until they found Sin’s room.
He couldn’t pick up her scent until they found another trapdoor. Upon opening it, it was clear that they had a separate dungeon cellar, and that was where Sin slept.
The cellar had but a cot, and a small, barely standing table, where one dress was folded on top of. That was it. One shitty pillow and flimsy blanket lay on top, and if Max were there, Gideon couldn’t imagine the rage he would’ve felt.
This was where she had lived for a hundred years.
“Fuck,” Gideon tensed so hard he jerked, alarming Audrira, when he saw the hook on the ceiling in the corner of the room.
Jocelyn’s eyes were wider than he’d ever seen them, filled with shock and contemplation.
There was domination, and then there was whatever the fuck this was. He took in the blood stains on the floor, and wanted to gag.
No wonder she blew up her parents. He couldn’t believe she only waited until they nearly cooked her alive.
Though, he didn’t think she did it on purpose. Audrira had told him it was her power being released after being sealed for a century. He had no doubt it would’ve happened either way.
He understood why at first. When he first saw Sin, her eyes looked as dead as Oliver’s. If she had been given the opportunity to truly use her powers to inflict pain onto others, he wondered if she would’ve ended up just like him.
Though after today, Gideon knew Oliver wasn’t totally gone.
With tears still streaming down her face, Jocelyn grabbed Sin’s old tattered dress.
“Let’s go get that little witch,” Audrira said, a bit colder than normal.
Gideon followed her silently, understanding that she was in pain. He followed her as she mounted her horse.
A few hours later, they rode through the desert, faces covered with torn pieces of Audrira and Jocelyn’s skirts to withstand the sand. Where they would find Sin, hopefully save her if they made it in time, and then further north until they found his mother.
They had travelled through the desert and into a damp forest by the ocean, only a few miles north of the docks and pirates.
Outside a bustling town, there were houses for families that preferred the quiet.
One of them held Sin.
It took them little time to track her scent, and Gideon swallowed with fear that it was because too much blood had been spilled.
She may have been half fae, and could heal faster than most witches at rest, but there was always a breaking point.
Approaching an obscure structure in the middle of a patch of palm trees, they tied their horses to one, and crept towards it.
Gideon’s hand abruptly pressed against Audrira’s chest at the sound of screams. Not Sin’s. It was screams of frustration, screams belonging to two voices.
Audrira narrowed her eyes at Gideon, then closed them, focusing her senses towards the structure. “I found her,” she whispered. “She’s alive. They’re angry because she isn’t responding to their torture.”
A low, quiet growl formed in Gideon’s chest. A reflection of pure disgust at the kind of people who would do such things.
Jocelyn winced, but Gideon couldn’t tell if it was because of the torture, or from whatever the fuck she held in her satchel.
Withdrawing his sword, he marched towards the building. He took one step, and was held frozen in place.
