“And…” her mouth twists. “He took…my ass.”
Time breaks.
The air leaves my lungs, wind knocked out of me.
I hit the floor. On all fours, I slam my hand down, hard enough to shudder the floor.
Because it wasme.
Aye, it was me who first split her open there. Me who tore her. Me who made her bleed in that damn dungeon.
Twelve inches, and I wielded my prick like a fucking sword in the Initiation—like it was some holy rite.
I tried to steal her power.
I want to crawl into the dirt and die. I want to rip myself in half. I want to set the pieces on fire and give them to her like some unworthy offering.
And then, she touches me.
Raphael’s eyes narrow in a silent warning. His gaze is sharp as a blade pressed to my throat.
But he doesn’t stop me. She’s the one who reaches forme.
Her bloody fingertips glide along my cheek, into the bristle of my beard, and I swear to every unholy star in the sky, I almost cry.
Because those eyes…
They don’t judge. They don’t hate. Theyforgive.
For fuck’s sake!—they’re full of the purest, most goddamn sacred mercy I’ve ever seen.
And I don’t fuckingdeserveit.
I drop my forehead to the floor, forehead pressed to the stone like I’m praying. But I’m not. No god’d hear me now.
So I just listen.
“I was nineteen when it happened,” she continues. “One of his other wives got pregnant.”
She swallows, fingers still grazing my jaw.
“It was my friend. My…” A pause. “My lover. He took us from each other. I didn’t see her for three months, and I can’t imagine the hell she must have gone through during those days.”
My fists clench, nails biting my palms.
I still don’t move. And I can feel her stare, practically whipping the scars open on my back.
“Then she started showing. I knew it was his. I saw her walking like a ghost. She was so hollow.”
She’s somewhere else now. Not with us. She’s small, smaller than ever. One sob assures me Raphael is causing her pain again, grounding her, keeping her here—inside our chains.
“I was asked to help with the birth.”
The silence is louder than any scream.
“She delivered a stillborn,” she says. “It was a boy.”
She swallows again. “I was holding him…when her heart gave out.” She fractures. “I watched her die.”
