“You must serve the rest of your punishment now, Lia,” he says patiently as he hands me over to his two personal guards. They push me against the beam, only this time, they angle me so the hard corner of the beam digs into my back. Ropes lash me from just under my breasts to my knees. My breaths are shallow; I’m tied too tightly to inhale deeply.
The Prince strokes my cheek with a finger, then dashes away one of my tears.
“You are a monster,” I hiss.
With a small shake of his head, he glances at the guards. One of them digs his fingers into the hinge of my jaw while the other forces a thick piece of cloth between my teeth, then ties it around the beam, pinning my head to the sharp edge and gagging me at the same time.
“That is for your foul tongue.” He leans in and brushes his lips to mine. Looking me up and down, he sighs and lifts my bound hands. “I do apologize for these.”
My scream is muffled by the gag as he squeezes my broken fingers, and my vision turns glassy.
“I never meant to harm you, Lia. You must believe me. You do, yes?” Touching his forehead to mine, he repeats his words, only this time, he does not speak aloud.“You believe me. I never meant to harm you. If you had not disobeyed, you would not have been hurt.”
“If I had not disobeyed, I would not have been hurt.”
Deep inside, I know that is a lie. But I cannot help myself from agreeing with him. From trying to nod my head, even though it is a futile gesture bound as I am. The Prince smiles at me, and his face transforms into something beautiful.
It is all a lie.
My heart knows this, even though my eyes deceive me. He tosses the end of the rope to the guards, and they raise my hands over my head, tying a knot to a hasp well out of my reach. The movement thrusts my breasts forward, and in the cool air of the room, my nipples pebble under the thin white silk.
“You are a vision like this,” the Prince says. “Your pain is intoxicating. I could live off of it for centuries. And I will.” He kisses the tears from my cheeks, and I cry more for him, unable to stop, which only makes his influence over me stronger.
“By the time I return, Lia, you will have forgotten all about the dragon.”
The guards leave, followed by the Prince, and my head pounds, my thoughts at war with one another. Nothing makes sense to me, least of all, the Prince’s words.
What dragon?
* * *
Roarke
The Fae move so silently, I don’t hear the King and the Prince enter the room. Then again, I can only hear my own thready heartbeat in my ears. The guards have not moved from their stations at the door, and I have remained silent.
I pour every ounce of energy I have left into sensing Aurelia. The tether between us is frightfully tenuous, but it has not frayed completely.
Aurelia, please, my darling. You must find what is hidden deep inside you.
A small spark warms me, but only for a moment, because the King grabs a chunk of my hair and pulls my head back to meet his gaze. “A dragon in our very midst. How fortuitous.”
“Fuck you.” I spit in his face, and he steps back and wipes his cheek with a chuckle, then nods at the guards.
“You may begin.”
The snap of a whip is quickly followed by blazing pain licking across my back. They strike time and time again, until my skin splits and blood runs down my naked body.
Pain can be overcome. I send my mind soaring above the trees, my dragon in control. My brothers, Kipling, Camdyn, and Dameon, rise up to meet me, and we play as younglings over the wildlands that are now part of Alaska.
I have not seen them in a century, and I ache to know if they are even still alive. We were hunted for so long, separated, and alone. Until I’d heard their call.
I stay in this dream for hours, only dimly aware of what is going on around me. I know the guards have moved on to other forms of torture. I can vaguely sense the temperature in the room dropping, blunt impact to my thighs, my ribs. But walling off my mind keeps the worst of the agony at bay. The wind ruffles my hair as I soar over the tops of trees and dip down to skim a wing tip through the water.
Whatever happens to me now, I will endure until the end, and perhaps then, I will find peace.
Chapter Twelve
Aurelia
