“Your fear is also correct.” Riven smiled sweetly at her. She raised her middle finger at him and crossed her arms. Riven looked at me, flashing his dimples in a challenging smirk. We were the last two. The most guarded.
“I fear nothing,” he said. He gritted his teeth as his body contorted with pain. It lasted longer than before, as if punishing him for lying so freely.
“Why would you do that to yourself?” I whispered.Riven laughed, the sound loose and reckless. He tipped his head back against the stone, dishevelled strands of hair falling over his brow as torchlight skimmed over the hard planes of his body. His eyes snapped to mine. Grey but with an underlying brightness, alight with something feral. His smile slowed, turning deliberate as his gaze held mine, unflinching. The air tightened between us. His chest rose with a slow breath, muscles rolling beneath skin as if he were savouring the effect he was having on me.
“Oh, darling. I like the pain,” his voice had dropped an octave, and he ran his tongue along his teeth.
“Lyra?” Orin asked. I reluctantly dragged my eyes from Riven to Orin’s tension filled face.
“If I don’t answer, will the time run out eventually?”
Orin shook his head. “No, we will be trapped in this room for as long as it takes.”
What was there to even say when I feared so many things?
“I fear my father,” I whispered. The shackles loosened their relentless grip, and I sighed.
“Keep going Lyra,” Dreya encouraged with a small smile. I took her encouragement and took a deep breath. “I fear that I will be killed.”
For a moment nothing happened. Then pain invaded my senses in aggressive waves. White. Hot. Blinding. I gritted my teeth.
It left as quickly as it had started. I opened my eyes, panting. Riven was watching me closely, his eyes filled with curiosity.
“I fear I’m going to break everything I touch,” he whispered, keeping his eyes trained on me. His shackles groaned.
“I’m scared of chains,” I said back, pushing myself uponto my knees. The shackles released a mere fraction. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hadley raise her eyebrow. Orin looked away.
“The dark frightens me,” Riven said casually.
“Good Gods, why are you two so stubborn? It obviously needs something that isdeepfor you. Just get on with it,” Roman groaned, pacing the cell like a caged animal.
“I fear I will never be free,” I whispered, cheeks reddening with shame.
Crack.
“But most of all, I fear myself.”
My shackles exploded, debris scattering over my scratchy cotton shift. I swiped a single tear away with a shaky hand. Dreya offered me her hand, helping me to stand.
“Thank you,” I whispered, tilting my chin higher and avoiding eye contact with everyone.
“Just you now, Riven. Come on, get us out of this cell,” Orin encouraged.
“Why?” Riven scoffed. “So, you can fool command into thinking you’re fit for leadership?”
Orin closed the distance in two strides and drove his fist into Riven’s face. The crack echoed off stone.
Riven’s head snapped to the side. Riven’s lip split as he grinned up at Orin, blood smearing against his white teeth and dripping down his chin. “That was cute,” he said hoarsely. “But I honestly thought you’d hit harder.”
Orin snarled and slammed his fist into Riven’s stomach. The breath tore from him in a sharp, ugly sound, his body folding for half a second before he straightened again, laughter bubbling up dark and broken. “You can do better than that.”
Orin’s fist came down again. Andagain. Riven’s head rocked back against the wall, a dull crack as stone met bone. Bruising bloomed across his cheek, dark and fast, his lip split further, blood smearing along his jaw. But Orin’s blows kept coming, relentless and furious.
“Stop,” Dreya snapped, stepping forward, but Roman caught her arm, shaking his head hard.
“Bohdi?” I asked, my voice higher pitch with panic that had started to pump through my veins. What if Orin didn’t stop?
Bohdi hovered at the edge of it, shooting me an apologetic grimace. His hands flexed uselessly, torn between intervening and knowing Orin wouldn’t listen.
