No matter how I look at things, there’s only one ending.
I’m going to die in here.
I just hope I can make it happen as quickly as possible.
Chapter 30
Vivian’s Point of View
Rule thirty:Complete dismemberment is key.
Ihold myself together just long enough to watch Leon and the guard leave the prison. The moment they’re gone, I crumble. Tremors wrack through my body, and my breaths come shallow and fast.
My usual strategy of shoving down emotions falls short when I can stillfeelhim on me. Warm blood trickles down my thighs, and I shudder at the feel of it. It reminds me that soon, something far more sinister will be forced into me.
Fighting back a gag, I turn and scrape my thighs across the dirty floor. Grit embeds into the wounds, but I don’t stop. I need the grime to feel something – anything – that isn’t him. My blood smears across the stone floor, but I don’t stop until my legs are rubbed raw. The sting barely helps.
I curl in on myself. Exhaustion radiates through my bones, and my chest feels like it rattles every time I take a breath. The hollow ache hurts more than any of my external injuries. He’s broken me, inside and out.
I start sobbing.
“Shh. Hey, you need to stop that. Now,” someone whispers from the darkness. Their voice is urgent and afraid.
My head snaps up, and indignation flares through me.
Seriously? I was screaming when Leon was here, and no one said a word. But now that I’m crying, that’s too much noise? My annoyance dampens my sobs, and I press against the bars, trying to see who the hell has a problem.
Across the hollowed-out center of the cave, someone waves through the bars. The drop between us is maybe thirty feet across, but in the dead silence, his whisper carries easily. “You can’t let it hear you.”
The hand retreats inside the cell, but it’s too dark to see anything other than a vague outline in the shadowed space.
Someone above us hisses a barely audible “shh.”
“Why?” I whisper back, welcoming the distraction. There aren’t any guards patrolling the paths, and I’m intrigued.
“The demon. It’s attracted to sound.” His whispered response is impatient, as if he would rather not continue this conversation.
“Uhm, okay.” I guess there’s something else in here that’s guarding us? I twist, looking around, but find nothing. Shrugging, I turn back to the prisoner. “Butthere are bars between me and whatever’s out there. What’s it really going to do?” My whisper gets a little louder.
There’s a slight shuffle, and the reluctantly chatty prisoner emerges into the light. His long dark hair falls limply around his face, and like me, black cuffs encircle his wrists.
His amber eyes are wide with concern. “The guards don’t bother coming here. They use the demon, instead. It isn’t deterred by bars. Make the slightest sound, and it will feast on your limbs.”
I purse my lips, considering his warning, before doing the only rational thing.
I start screaming at the top of my lungs. “LEON IS A COMPLETE SACK OF SHIT, AND I CAN’T WAIT TO BREAK OUT OF HERE TO KILL HIM!”
The man’s eyes widen in disbelief, like he can’t fathom someone being so stupid.
I don’t stop. If I have to choose between losing limbs or being raped, then I’m going to make sure this demon gets the snack of its life.
Wait… if these cuffs block all magic, does that mean I won’t heal?
A girl can dream.
“COME ON, DEMON! COME AND GET IT!”
A menacing growl rolls through the darkness.
