He yanked.
She screamed.
The acrid smell of sex was on his breath. She tried to turn away, but his hold was unforgiving. “Please, Tor,” she cried. “I’ll give you whatever you want, just please don’t hurt me anymore.” Tears mingled with the drippings from her nose and fell to her breasts.
The only warning she had was his snarl. In one fluid motion, he let go of her hair and swung his fist. The resounding crack against her jaw echoed against the porcelain bathing chamber. Xia fell to the floor with the copper tang of blood filling her mouth, heartbeat pounding in her ears as blurry black boots stepped in front of her.
“Get up,” he snarled. “Do not force me to make you.”
She could. If she just lay there and didn’t move, maybe it would make him so angry that he’d finally end her. She wantedto. It would have been so easy. However, as she prepared her heart to concede, a darkness coiled around her soul. Xia cried, willing it to lay down and die with her, but it refused.
Fight,the demon inside her seethed.We are more than this.
She swallowed.
Do not give him the satisfaction of your death. It is a spurn of your worth to fall to such filth.
Her wet hands pushed against the tile.
You do not relent.
Her knees pulled beneath her middle.
You do not back down.
She placed her wobbling feet against the tile.
You do not accept defeat,it hissed.
Xia straightened and matched his stare with a scowl as blood trickled down her swollen lip. Flashes of blood lit skies and crashing waves danced across her vision as her song flooded her veins. The same serpent that called forth the storms rattled in her chest poised to strike. His smile was venomous as he watched her rally, and Xia squared her shoulders in challenge.
His fist was buried in her stomach before she could speak. Xia folded over and barely managed to keep its contents from spewing. She gagged as the pain lanced through her torso.
“Stand up.”
It was a challenge as though he was saying, “Let’s see how much I can give before you break.”
“Stand the fuck up!”
Fury exploded behind her eyes, serpent hissing inside as she straightened and spit in his face. Her pink-tinged saliva coated his skin and he stood in silent rage before wiping it from his eyes.
“You’re fucking dead.”
His hand was back in her hair. Xia screamed and clawed at his death grip, her feet kicking in every direction as she fought tostop her fate.The Devil dragged her back to the porcelain tub and kicked the back of her knees until she was bowing before it.
Not a word passed between them as he used his iron grip to shove her head beneath the water. Her body grappled as it tried to save her, hands pushing, feet kicking and head thrashing, but he held steadfast. Tor thrust her forward until the lip of the tub had nowhere to go but through her, the crack of her ribs echoed like a bomb in the water.
Healing salts in the water burned her eyes and ran like a river of lava into her lungs. She spit and sputtered, hands clawing at her porcelain grave, but she wasn’t strong enough to break the surface.
She was going to die. Gods, he was going to kill her in this fucking prison. The moonlight would never touch her skin again, and Brooks…
She’d never hear his voice again. Never laugh at his obscene jokes or pretend to be wrapped in his arms. The darkness inside her roared, fighting to be free as she gulped lungfuls of water. Xia sobbed, one last plea to the Fates as her vision blurred. Just as she started to fall, his grip lessened. A moment later, he lifted her from the water and tossed her aside.
Voices murmured off to the side, but her choked sobs overwhelmed the small space, quickly drowning out the Devil’s angry whispers as she retched. The Devil pulled a towel from the rack to dry his hands before throwing it to the floor and stepping over her. He bent and grabbed her chin, forcing their gazes to clash.
“I’ll be back. And when I am, you’re done.” He ran a hand through his tousled blonde hair slicking it back into place and straightened his button-up shirt.
In mere seconds, the battle ended and Xia was left to suffer in the wreckage.
