“Don’t you dare lose consciousness,” he growled. “The healing properties won’t work if you’re inert.”
I wheezed, “Who told you that? The Necromancer? Or the dead man?”
Sweat pooled beneath me, soaking the filthy mattress. My skin was drenched, my body reeking of blood and sickness.
Balthazar pried open the edges of my wound with his clawed fingertips, peering inside with a satisfied hum.
“The elixir seems to be working,” he said. “Show some gratitude.”
I sucked in a ragged breath. Gratitude? My entire body was on fire, my mind barely clinging to consciousness.
“It’s hard to be… grateful… when I can barely… think,” I rasped. “You weren’t supposed to… gut me… like that.” My voice was a strangled mess. “You were only…”
I fought to keep my breath steady. Damn it. Focus.
“Supposed… to scare them… away.”
The pain was unbearable—like I was being burned alive from the inside out.
Balthazar twirled a hand in the air, and the candle flames sputtered. “Oh, I think Olivia and Emily were suitably horrified,” he said, voice rich with amusement. “I do love toying with them, especially Olivia. Watching her squirm, seeing her afraid… There’s nothing quite as satisfying.”
He chuckled, his teeth gleaming in the candlelight. “Besides, I had to make it look real. I couldn’t exactly tell them you’ve been working for me all along, now, could I?”
An angelic smile spread across his devilish face.
I forced my lips to move. “I suppose… not…” My body was seconds away from shutting down. “Still… I didn’t think it would… hurt this… much.”
Balthazar withdrew his fingers and picked up the vial again.
“I missed a spot.”
“No!” I thrashed weakly, my arms flailing.
“Oh, yes. Be the warrior you are. My strongest soldier yet.”
Another stream of silvery liquid splashed into my wound.
The pain was indescribable. My flesh hissed, steam rising from my belly as the tonic burned through my insides.
I screamed—a sound ripped from the depths of my soul.
A man was never meant to look down and see his entrails. But when I lifted my head, that was exactly what I saw—pinkish-white, glistening under candlelight.
Balthazar pressed a firm hand against my chest, flattening me to the mattress.
“Stay still and let the medicine do its magic,” Balthazar murmured, his voice almost soothing. “I’ve seen its effects before. I’m not just using you for torture.”
No—but he was enjoying every second of it.
The pain dulled to a slow, aching throb, pulsing through my body like a heartbeat. I wiped the sweat from my brow with a shaky forearm and exhaled a ragged breath.
“You weren’t supposed to hurt me like that,” I said again, my voice hoarse. “I pledged to work with you because I revel in darkness, not because I have some masochistic desire for suffering.”
Drained, I struggled to prop myself up on my elbows.
Balthazar’s expression darkened. “When I summoned you, I told you to follow my orders, not to make your own choices. Did I ask you to marry Emily?” His lip curled in disgust. “She’s nothing but a fragile, whimperinghuman. Do you want lovers? I can provide you with lovers. A man like you craves something… darker. You should never have settled for Emily. No, you need someone much more depraved.”
He placed the vial on a small, polished table against the wall.
