Please let me pass out. Please let this be a nightmare. I’ll wake up in Darius’ arms and none of this will be real.
“You bitch,” Darius snarled. “I’ll kill you for this. I swear to god, I’ll kill you.”
I heard the cane whistle through the air.
The first blow crashed across my back.
Burning agony exploded through me, knocking the breath from my lungs. I couldn’t scream. Couldn’t think. My vision went white at the edges.
I gritted my teeth, trying to bite back the scream clawing up my throat. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction. I wouldn’t.
The second blow landed. Fire ripped across my skin.
The third. My fingers curled against the barrel, nails scraping rust.
The fourth.
A scream tore out of me, raw and animal. Something cracked. Ribs. One, maybe two. Agony ripped through my entire body, fiery and relentless.
I coughed, and blood splattered onto the floor beneath me. My blood. Joining all the others who had suffered here before me. The thought should have broken me. Instead, something stubborn and furious dug its claws in. I wasn't done yet.
Pass out. Just pass out.
“Stop!” Darius’ voice broke. “Please, Alanna. I’ll do anything. Please.”
Every plea from Darius' mouth cut deeper than the pain.Stop. Please stop. Don't give her anything for me.I wouldn't beg. I refused to beg. But watching him do it was destroying me.
But Alanna didn’t stop.
The cane whistled again and crashed across my buttocks. Another scream ripped from my throat before I could stop it. Tears streamed down my face, mixing with the blood and grime on the floor.
Black dots swirled at the edges of my vision. The world tilted. Sounds grew distant—Darius shouting, chains rattling, Alanna’s cold laughter.
Please. Let me pass out. Let me escape this.
The cane fell again and again, each blow stealing another piece of me. My back. My thighs. My buttocks. Everywhere was fire and agony and the wet sound of skin splitting.
Death was coming. I could taste it—copper, bitter, alone.
My legs gave out completely. The only thing holding me up were the restraints cutting into my wrists. I coughed, and more blood splattered onto the floor—too much blood. Something was broken inside me. Something important.
“Alanna, stop.” Darius’ voice was barely recognizable. Raw. Destroyed. “Damn it, stop. You’re fucking killing her!”
Through the tangled strands of my hair, I could just make out Darius. My heart cracked. I'd just found him. We'd just found each other. And now I was going to die in front of him.
He’d stopped fighting the chains.
He was sagging against the wall, his wrists shredded and bleeding, his chest heaving. And his face…
He was crying.
Darius—my fierce, proud, unbreakable Darius—had tears streaming down his cheeks.
“Who is your queen?” Alanna’s voice was calm. Almost bored. As if she hadn’t just beaten me within an inch of my life.
Silence.
The cane whistled through the air again. I braced for impact.
