“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
Panic floors me. “Tell me where he is!”
“He’s in pain—I can tell you that.”
A snarl rips from my lips as I try to lunge for him, but it’s no use.
Has he kidnapped him?
Got him chained up?
Is he torturing him?
Bile rises in my throat at the endless possibilities.
“Get him out of my sight,” Ryker dismisses me like I’m nothing.
I’m roughly shoved backwards, but my head is spinning.
“Wait–” he calls out before we reach the door to the basement stairs.“Let’s give him a parting gift, shall we?”
I attempt to turn my head back to him, but a fist lands in my gut, and I keel over with a huff. Then another until I’m winded on the floor. They all take turns kicking me until bruises start forming and my skin splits.
Ryker’s laugh echoes around the room as he stops dead in front of me. “Remember when your precious mate lay nearly unconscious,” he says with fake sadness. “The way he cried, begged, and held onto life. I’m gonna make him do that over and over until he’s nothing but a bloody mess.”
I tighten my fists as I listen, but wish my ears had burst instead.
“That weak little thing,” he purrs. “No one to protect him now, huh?”
The tone in his voice tells me everything I need to know.
“We had a deal,” I grit.
Ryker’s eyes light up at my reaction. “And I told you not to let anyone look for you.”
“Leave him alone,” I heave before another kick lands in my back, and I cry out. “He’s not part of this.”
“I’m gonna tear him apart,” he whispers with a sickening grin. “Break you into pieces.”
I attempt to shake my head, but my neck is stiff. “No.”
“Maybe then you’ll finally be nothing, just like your mate. I’ll take pleasure in killing him for going against my orders.”
A growl leaves my lips as I stand within a flash of light, my body groaning in protest. “I’ll fucking kill you.” I lunge for him out of instinct, and all he does is send me back to the floor with one swipe of his hands.
“I’d like to see you try.”
I’m fizzing inside, fizzing with resentment. Deeper than I’ve ever felt before. It’s alive, and present, and completely alien. A type of anger I have never experienced. It’s not just anger. It’s intense wrath—years and years of torment at the hands of my blood.
The man who should have loved me but doesn’t even know the meaning of the word. And yet, here I am, at his feet, exactly where he wants me. I refuse to let this be my fate when he should be the one in my position.
I stare up at him as he starts to walk away, the heels of his boots clicking against the floor. I’m tugged upwards and dragged back down to the basement as every inch of my skin starts to sizzle. I can’t control my breathing; my chest gets tighter with every inhale I take. My emotions are heightened, and it sends me into a spiral.
When I’m thrown back into my cell, Fi and Lula surround me in a second. “Goddess,” Fi murmurs. “What did they do to you?”
I shake my head as I pant. “Necklace,” I demand. “Give me your necklace.”
Lula races to take it off before placing it in my hands. My nose wrinkles as I let my rage grow through my veins, into myheart, so deep that all I can feel is pure hatred. I place the necklace on the ground as I tune into the tiny piece of metal.
