The pain didn’t fade—it migrated. From my back to my ribs to my hips to my legs. Every injury demanding its due as the elixir forced my body to heal at an unnatural pace.
Finally—finally—the fire began to ebb. The agony dulled to a throbbing ache, then a distant soreness. I lay there gasping, trembling, my fingers clawing weakly at the floor.
White dots floated across my vision. Through the haze, I caught a glimpse of eyes staring down at me.
Blue eyes. Not silver.
Shit.
Ari.
I gasped for breath. Through my tangled hair, I could make out the dungeon walls. Still here. Still trapped.
Despair crashed over me. I'd hoped—stupidly, desperately—that it had been a nightmare. That I'd wake up somewhere safe. But there was no waking up from this.
Ari wrenched me up and shoved me against the wall, locking my wrists into the chains. I craned my neck, searching. Darius. I needed to see him. Needed to know he was still alive. But the dungeon was empty. Just me and the silence and the growing dread that I'd never see him again.
“Where’s…” I swallowed, my throat raw. “Where’s Darius?”
“Gone.”
The word pierced my heart, cutting it in two. Ari set me down and my legs crumbled beneath me. I was as weak as a newborn fawn.
“Is he…” A tear slid down my cheek before I could stop it. “Is he dead?”
“No. He’s with the queen.” Ari’s voice was flat. Cold. “You need to forget about him. He’s no longer yours.”
The cruelty in his tone cut deeper than Alanna’s cane. This was a man who had never known love. Who couldn’t possibly understand what he was asking me to do.
Ari pulled something from his pocket—a small pink bar wrapped in gold foil. He unwrapped it and held it in front of my face.
“Eat this.”
I dangled from the chains, my arms screaming from holding my weight. I barely had the strength to lift my head, let alone chew.
“What is it?”
“It’s called Eat Me.” His lips twisted into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “It’ll give you strength.”
I turned my head away. That elixir had knitted me back together—but it had hurt almost as much as the torture. Nothing from these people came without a price. Without pain. “Why should I trust you?”
I sniffed, trying to clear my head. A sweet scent cut through the stench of blood and damp stone. Strawberry? Something fruity and light, completely out of place in this hellhole.
But it could be just as bad or even worse than the elixir.
The pink bar was in Ari’s hand, inches from my face.
“You shouldn’t.” He grabbed a fistful of my hair and wrenched my head back, shoving the bar between my lips. “But you don’t have a choice.”
I wanted to spit it out. But my body had other ideas. The sweetness burst across my tongue—strawberry and something else. Some Elder Dimension fruit that didn't exist in my world. I chewed despite myself. Another bite. Then another. I hated him for it. Hated myself more.
I was nothing here. Weak. Vulnerable. Completely at Ari’s mercy.
But Darius was out there somewhere. With Alanna. And if I wanted to find him—if I wanted to save him—I had to get my strength back.
He needed me. For once in my life, someone needed me.
I hated this. Hated that I had to accept anything from him. But pride wouldn’t save Darius. Stubbornness wouldn’t get me out of these chains.
