“What about my friends? Priscilla and Emmie? I can’t leave them here.” I asked him quietly.
“Let me think about it, we’ll figure something ou—” Kian’s words cut off as his head snapped towards the door. In a flash, he had my mouth covered and was dragging me into the back, behind a stack of boxes that blocked us from sight of the door. I made to fight my way out of his arms when I heard the iron door creak open. I went still in Kian’s arms, and he squeezed me closer against him, like he was praying to Shalim for us both to disappear into the wall.
A familiar sounding pair of footsteps made a chill run down my spine. The wooden boxes had the slightest crack of light coming through where they stacked on top of each other, and I angled myself so I could see, praying the man on the other side wouldn’t see me peeking through the gap. But I had to truly see, had to know, what kind of a monster lay beneath the skin of the man I once thought had something sweet and gentle inside him—even buried as it was.
“Raziel, Raziel, Raziel.” Cyrus snickered as he stopped in front of the man. “I knew humans were incredibly dumb, but you’ve really taken it to another level.” I clenched my hands into fists, watching him gloat over a bound and tortured prisoner. I wanted to spring out and land said fists directly into his face.
Raziel just looked at him dryly, not giving him the reaction he was clearly hoping for. Cyrus looked frustrated for a moment, before he picked up the whip hanging on the wall nearby. A breath caught in my throat, and Kian clamped down harder on my mouth. I couldn’t even argue it was unnecessary, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep quiet. Not when I’d be forced to watch whatever Cyrus was about to do.
The glee on his face as he struck the whip down made bile rise in my throat. He snapped it down again and again, until Raziel finally let out a moan of pain.
“There we go!” Cyrus laughed. “I was starting to worry someone else had snuck down here—” A pang of fear hit me, and Kian’s arm tightened almost painfully around me before Cyrus’s next words made us both slump in relief. “—And cut out your filthy tongue!”
Raziel looked up at Cyrus from where he hung by his chained wrists, bleeding from old and new wounds alike, and spat right at him. I nearly clapped in amazed pride, but Cyrus’s eyes went glacially cold as he went to the cart against the wall, where all manner of torture implements rested. Fuck, would that be all it took for Cyrus to kill him? His pride was more delicate than he wanted anyone to believe, and a direct hit to it threatened him more than anything else.
Cyrus sauntered back to Raziel, twirling a sharp implement in his hand. This wasn’t any mere blade—oh no, this wretched man had grabbed what looked like a dagger, but sharp spikes jutted out along the edges. If used, it would not only stab, but repeatedly rip apart a person’s insides on the way in and out. I began to shake as Cyrus brought the knife to Raziel’s throat, and from the way Raziel’s already broken body sagged, I wondered if he gave up all hope of escape at that moment.
“Don’t worry, human. There’s still plenty of fun left to have.” Cyrus sneered a mocking laugh, before he slowly ran the bladeacross Raziel’s neck, not deep enough to kill him, but enough for blood to trickle down across the width of his neck. A grisly sight in an already damned place.
“Your little friends here, on the other hand, well…some of them have certainly outlived any use I may have for them.” Cyrus walked over to the man hanging across from Raziel, one who looked more dead than alive. His face was black and blue, swollen beyond recognition, while his arms and legs hung at odd angles, like they’d all been snapped.
Cyrus turned back to smile broadly at Raziel. “This one stopped being any fun days ago, but now, he’ll get to serve a higher purpose, one that will truly serve his masters.”
Cyrus ran the spiked dagger down the man’s already battered face, but as he said, the man didn’t react at all. A devastating sob rose up in my throat, but I swallowed it down before it could escape. My life depended on Cyrus not finding out I was here. He may have his own plans for me, but finding me here, with his brother of all people, would quickly put an end to his games.
Cyrus released the poor man from his chains, laughing as he fell to the disgusting floor. I didn’t know if it was good or bad that the human had no reaction, just sprawling where he fell. Did that mean he couldn’t feel the pain anymore? That would probably be for the best, but I couldn’t help but feel the instinctual wrongness of it—of a human body so far past its limits that it just gave up. With heartbreaking certainty, I realized it would be better for the man’s sake if he’d long ago checked out of the body he had no control over. I didn’t know what Cyrus was planning, but I was sure the man wouldn’t want to be present for it.
Slow tears tracked falling down my face as Cyrus tortured the man, making Raziel watch as he cut pieces off him. I choked back my sobs as much as my fury. I wanted to run out there, steal his dagger, and drive it through his fucking skull. I wished I hadthe claws needed to tear his face off, or the power to burn him to cinders—but I was helpless, knowing if I tried to fight Cyrus, the only result would be my death.
If Kian couldn’t get us out, we were all going to die here. Once the man had bled out completely and stopped offering any fun for Cyrus, he gave Raziel a twisted grin, spitting on him before promising he’d return. I choked on my tears, surging up to go after him without even realizing it. Thank the Old Gods Kian held me down, or I would have died via stupidity.
Once Cyrus was far enough away, Kian raced over to Raziel. I followed slowly, almost afraid to approach and see his state up close. He needed a healer, badly. But that wasn’t going to happen while we were stuck here.
Kian checked on each human, helping them sip water and move into slightly more comfortable positions, promising each it wouldn’t be much longer. They were all just as shaken, clearly more dubious about salvation after Cyrus’s theatrics. We’d already stayed too long as it was, so Kian reluctantly led me back up the stairs, parting from me at one of the landings and instructing me to go back to my rooms like nothing had changed. To not give anything away. I did exactly that. Making my way back to my rooms to prepare for the ball tonight.
Something I truly had no interest in going to. I couldn’t forget what I’d seen today. Cyrus and King Astraeus were worse than I could have ever imagined. True monsters, in every sense of the word. As vicious as any creature raised from the depths of Tartarus. My Fae soldier had been right about Cyrus. I had no idea what he might be capable of beyond what I’d seen already. Could it get even worse?
Thinking of the forbidden blood magic, I knew the answer was yes.
Wait…Kian was arranging for an attack by the Night Kingdom. Why would he do that if he’s helping the humans escape? Was itto create a distraction? And where exactly were we all going once freed? Dammit, I knew Kian couldn’t tell me, and I understood why, but all these questions were making my head throb.
Priscilla showed upnot long after I arrived back, and I sighed in relief. At least she could offer a break from the waking nightmare now haunting me. I couldn’t tell her about Kian, not without jeopardizing our potential escape. Nor could I reveal what I had witnessed. I couldn’t let on to anyone, or everything would be doomed. I felt terrible hiding this and the information about the blood magic, but I knew it was safer for her, and that was what truly mattered. I buried everything I’d learned down deep, to the point where I could get through tonight without breaking down.
Priscilla and I instead chatted casually as she curled my hair the way Cyrus wanted it, even though I preferred it straight. My eyes widened as she pulled out a ball gown that was a bit over the top for a human slave. Old Gods, Zerlina was going to kill me sooner than later once she saw this.
The dress was a gorgeous ombré, with a dusty pink bodice highlighted with gray embroidery, a sweetheart neckline that dipped low in the front, and two tiny sleeves that came off the bodice and circled around my upper arms. The skirt faded from light blue to dark blue as it fell to the floor and was covered with diamonds that started at the bodice and grew heavier in number near the bottom.
The dress looked like dusk itself, fading from day to night. Princess Zerlina would certainly hate what it represented—as did I. Cyrus was claiming me as his with this dress, disgust fizzled through me as I tried to shake off the feeling of being branded like cattle. I took a deep breath, reminding myself I could take this dress off, that Iwouldget away from him.
I just wasn’t sure how changed I would be on the other side.
The naïve girl who walked into Dusk Kingdom seemed almost unrecognizable to the woman I saw in the mirror, a woman planning to circumvent the royal’s devious plans with the lessons she’d learned. Maybe I wasn’t so different, but Ifeltdifferent—like Cyrus’s evil had rubbed off and dulled some of my shine.
“Look at you.” Cyrus breathed, and I spun around. He looked at me with wide eyes, raking over every inch of me. “You look even more magnificent than I thought you would, my dear. I’m going to have a horrible time tonight trying to keep my hands off you.”
When he reached me, he ran a finger down my neck and across my chest. My breath hitched, trying to keep my emotions buried. I had to play this game to the end, wherever that may lead.
“Your soon to be wife might have some words to say about that.” I flirted lightly, feeling nauseous as I did. There was finally hope, I just needed to suffer through him a bit longer.
