I’d nearly cracked my molars from not screaming. But by the third time, Aric had started with the more sensitive areas first, and there hadn’t been any numbness to soften the shock to the system.
Twenty-five. Twenty-six. Twenty-seven….
When he cut along the back of my knees and elbows, I’d screamed.
I’d screamed until my throat felt as raw as my skin.
I stared at the smudges of dried blood as another shudder rolled through me. Aric had been right about something, though. No one had come when I screamed.
Thirty-five. Thirty-six. Thirty-seven. Thirty-eight….
The next breath I took was shaky as I continued counting.Forty-one. Forty-two. Forty—
Footsteps drew my attention and I jerked up my chin. He was back. Lurching to my feet, I winced as my skin stretched. The room swayed a little, a kaleidoscope of flames and gray walls as I steadied myself.
The door swung open, and Aric strode in like he was taking a walk in a park and not strolling into a torture chamber. I wanted to shout at him, but I saw that he carried a white paper bag. I inhaled, catching a faint whiff of meat.
My knees felt weak.
“Look at you, standing when I arrive.” The door swung shut behind him. “I’m impressed.”
All I could do was stare at the bag of food.
Aric followed my gaze. “Hungry?”
I didn’t nod or speak as he stopped a few feet from me.
“Is that why you’re not lying in wait or pouncing on me like an inept buffoon?”
I didn’t think my tactics were that of an inept buffoon, but he could say whatever he wanted as long as I got what was in that bag.
“Youarehungry.” Smirking, he unrolled the top of the bag and reached in, pulling out a loosely wrapped sandwich. “Sorry. I forgot how often you humans need to eat.”
My mouth started to water.
He peeled back the wrapper, revealing what appeared to be a breakfast sandwich. So, I’d been right. It was morning. “Actually, I didn’t forget.”
Shocker.
Stepping forward, he dipped his chin and smiled. Every muscle in my body locked up. Aric was…well, he was an Ancient fae. So, of course, he was strikingly handsome. And when he smiled, it transformed all those angles into something truly majestic.
And something entirely evil.
Because he smiled like that when he cut into my skin, and he grinned like that when I screamed. He beamed like he was right now when he led me outside, when it was too dark for me to get my bearings while I went to the bathroom.
“I just want you to know that I control everything,” he said as if he were suggesting that I check out a new TV show. “When you’re awake. When you rest. When you expel. When you eat. I control your every waking second.”
His words burst through my fog of hunger. Words rose to the tip of my tongue. I wanted to tell him that even though he may control all of that, he still didn’t control me, but I was hungry, and I needed to eat so that I had some sort of strength. It would be stupid to mouth off, so I wisely kept said mouth shut even though it ate away at a part of me.
Aric offered me the sandwich.
I eyed him warily, resisting the urge to snatch it out of his hand.
“Come on,” he coaxed. “It’s going to get cold, and I hear this stuff tastes even worse when it’s not hot. Be a good girl.”
Hatred swarmed me, hot and heavy. The tips of my fingers itched to dig into his skin, to rip at his flesh. Pushing all of that down was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do, but I managed to do just that as I reached out to take the food.
The stinging blow seemed to come from nowhere, knocking me back. My legs went out from under me as the room spun. I went down, my knee cracking on the hard floor. Stunned by the taste of metal flooding my mouth, I planted my hands on the floor and lifted my chin.
