A figure sprints down the hall, away from us. Luca. I smother the urge to chase him and rip his lungs from his body. I run to Asmo. “I’m fine,” he says, and the bond in my chest warms. I run a shaky hand through my hair and tell myself everything’s okay.
But then Elle screams.
I stand and turn, ready to fight Hell for the people I love.
My knees buckle.
Cora holds Elle by the throat.
Chapter 46
ELLE
Cora gripsthe back of my head, her fingers tangled in the roots of my hair. My eyes are wild as I look from Mae to Marik, praying that they have some plan to get me out of this.
“If this is who you choose, then she’s mine now,” Cora snarls in Marik’s direction. Her nails dig into my scalp. I squeeze my eyes shut, desperate not to make a sound. I refuse to give her that. “We had a deal, remember?”
Marik holds his hands up, palms facing us. As if she can be reasoned with.
“What is this, Marik? What is she to you? She’s a nobody,” Cora spits.
Marik glances from Cora, back to me. His eyes are frenzied, panicked. He doesn’t know what to do. Any attack on Cora will surely kill me. There’s no reason for her to keep me alive.
She’s right. I am just a nobody. My parents are nobodies, just a seamstress and a carpenter. Just a nobody girl from a nothing town.
My hand twitches, ready to blindly fire at this cunt who holds me hostage. But she binds them behind my back. Hot breath tickles my ear as she whispers, “I will cut your hands off if they move again. Or I’ll just kill you. Do you understand?”
“Fuck. You,” I grind out.
The pressure on my scalp eases. But then, a lick of pain shoots up my spine as she digs her iron-sharp nails into my antlers, nail piercing bone. A scream crawls up my throat and cuts through the air.
“Cora!” Marik’s voice booms over my scream. “Enough. She has nothing to do with this.”
Her nails dig deeper and my vision blurs. The room flashes to black and I try so, so hard to grasp onto consciousness. But it flickers with every wave of pain.
“Liar,” Cora spits. Her hand on my antlers retreats, and I fight the bile that rises at the lingering pain. Any relief I had is temporary, because her hand now grips my throat. I gasp at the feeling of her nails embedded in my neck. Warm blood trickles down, between my breasts, dipping below the collar of my dress. My heart rate doubles and I urge it to slow, to stop pumping blood faster.
Marik’s eyes darken as they track the blood. Mae and Asmo stand frozen in place as they watch the scene unfold.
Cora cackles, and the hair on the back of my neck raises. “I see…” she mutters. “Does she know? When were you going to tell her, Marik?”
My mind races at her questions. Do I know what?
Do I know what?I fire at Marik.
He ignores me.
“Take me,” Marik says, taking slow, measured steps toward me. “Take me, Cora. I know I messed up. Let me make it up to you.”
Cora’s nails dig deeper. My back arches in pain. I don’t know when I started crying, but tears stream down my face in silent pleas.
Marik drops to his knees. “Please, Cora. Take me instead. I beg you.”
Why? Why are you doing this for me?
“How sweet,” Cora’s voice drips with apathy. But her hands rip from my neck and she tosses me to the side like trash. Asmo dashes toward me and pulls me to my feet, back to Mae. She stares at my neck, at the five different holes still streaming with blood.
When I look back, Marik is in Cora’s arms. They embrace, and my stomach roils. Cora’s hands wrap around his waist, slender hands clinging to him.
