Page 67 of A Kingdom of Broken Bonds

This goes on and on. My alabaster skin is blistered and peeling, each of my breaths laboured as I desperately fight for air. There is also a silent battle in my mind. During the short gaps between torture, I have to remind myself why I am here and that I must survive for the good of my people, my mates, and Felix. However, it is getting harder with each passing minute, and my energy levels dip, pain draining me. It is not only my energy that is dropping, but my blood too. They made a simple cut to my arm and pressed a silver coin into the opening to stop my body from clotting, so my blood dips slowly onto the ground beneath me.

Silver doesn’t kill or wound us like some myths would have you believe, and I can touch it without being harmed, but when ingested or it’s inside our bodies, it slows down our healing process. It is a smart way of keeping me weak, however, I do not know why they are keeping me alive. They said I need to die, so why not just kill me?

I glance at the far corner where Havoc and another male are talking in low voices, their eyes on me, gleaming with sick pleasure. That is why I am still alive—they are taking great enjoyment from this, my pain and suffering giving them a sense of godlike power.

I attempt to lick my cracked lips, but my tongue has dried up, the world spinning around me. I feel almost as bad as when Havoc rejected me. At least then I had my mates with me to help me through it. Now, I am completely alone in this, and the weaker I get, the more exhausting it is to hold on to my sanity. I am unable to feel my bond, completely cut off from Eli and Finnik, and I struggle to stay grounded because of this. In my sparse moments of clarity, I come to a conclusion.

I cannot wait around for someone to rescue me. If I want to survive, then I have to save myself.

The darkness within me is begging to be let out, my control slipping as it pushes against my boundaries. I know that releasing it is the only thing that will save me, but I fight against it out of instinct. I do not know what sort of monster I will become when it is released, or if I can call it back and return to myself. A pained noise between agony and frustration slips between my clenched teeth.

“How are you feeling, mate?” Havoc calls out, appearing in front of me with a wide, twisted smile.

Snarling, I jerk forward and snap my teeth in his face. “Do not dare call me that. You do not deserve the honour.” The word is an insult on his lips, something he is making a mockery of. Besides, he is no longer my mate, he has seen to that, severing the bond and the possibility of any type of life together. Just hearing the word revives me, giving me strength as anger courses through me.

“It is clear the gods were testing me when they made you my mate.”

Disgust makes his upper lip curl, and he shakes his head. He’s trying to offend me. For what purpose, I am not sure, but all he does is make me see just how deluded he is.

I attempt to hold back my anger and reason with him before I turn to my last resort. “I am giving you one last chance. Release me.”

Havoc just laughs, and the others in the room do the same, clearly finding my words amusing. They have no idea what they are about to face.

“Enjoy the sunshine, my dear.” Havoc turns from me and waves his hand in a gesture that I now know means pain is on the way.

This time when the light hits me, instead of trying to escape the agony, I absorb it, letting the darkness within me devour it as it grows, pressing against the boundaries of my skin. It pauses, and it takes me a moment to realise what is happening. It shimmers in my mind, waiting for something.

Permission. It is waiting for permission, one final barrier still in place across my mind. Even though I am writhing in pain, I take a shuddering breath and let a small, tight smile pull at my lips as I stare at Havoc. I narrow my eyes on him, and he has the decency to look uncomfortable. Good.

I drop the final barrier and release the darkness.

My body shifts and ripples, the pain replaced with a burning sensation as I become something… other. My eyes shift, and the light they direct my way no longer burns them, allowing me to see their faces clearly, including the looks of shock as they watch my transformation. My limbs extend, and my skin appears to become darker, and I swear I notice an iridescent sheen. My body feels stronger than I ever have in my life, and as I slip from my bindings, a phantom wind blows through the room, my wayward hair surrounding me in a silver halo.

Shouts of terror and confusion fill the room. Havoc looks horrified and lunges for the door, trying to get away. Coward. Several males jump forward with blades, all aimed at me. Now that their light is no longer affecting me, they are having to resort to physical weapons instead.

Not a problem, because I now have weapons of my own. The nails on my fingers have extended into long, vicious claws, and my fangs are far larger than they usually are, ready to feed. Their torture drained me, and I need blood. This body is stronger now that it has transformed, yet it will not stay so for long without refilling myself. Dispatching my kidnappers and feeding at the same time will be easy enough. They might as well be useful for something after everything they did to me.

With a speed I have never possessed before, I whirl around and I slice at the two males attempting to attack me. The tallest assailant gets too close, and I catch him in the gut. He falls immediately, uselessly clutching his stomach as he tries to hold in his internal organs. The other male is faster and manages to dodge the blow. He spins his sword in his hand, showing off his skills and demonstrating just how cocky he is, not caring that his companion is dying on the ground. He believes that he is going to kill me, and it is this attitude that will be his downfall.

Jumping forward, I back him into a corner, knocking away each of the blows of his sword with my claws, somehow instinctively knowing they will hold against the blade. He leaps to the left, leaving his right side open in the process and giving me the perfect opportunity to latch onto his neck. My fangs sink into his delicate flesh, his blood filling my mouth in an instant. I want to groan in pleasure as I drink the rich liquid, his life force restoring me.

Unfortunately, I do not have time to indulge as I wish, not when two more males are coming towards me, their swords raised. They are my next targets and will fall beneath my feral attack, death the only option available. As I spin around the room like a hurricane of teeth and claws, it occurs to me that while I am fully capable of creating this destruction on my own, the darkness takes away my more human sentiments and allows me to do what is necessary.

It isn’t some monster inside me or something I have been cursed with carrying like I always believed—no, this is me. It’s a dark, powerful part of myself I have pushed down and refused to acknowledge out of fear. If I learned to embrace this all along, then I could have been so much stronger and achieved so much.

Perhaps this is the hardship I had to get over to complete my part of the prophecy—learning to embrace this part of myself. I also feel the potential of something else within me. I have not discovered what yet, but when I do, it will change everything, I know it.

A sense of clarity has come over me. Finnik is my mate, just as Eli is, and holding back is not only hurting us, but the land. We are supposed to be together, all of us, Felix too. I need to get back to them and complete my bonds, sealing us together. Before I can do that, though, there is something I need to do first.

Bodies fall around me, and now that I am alone, I drop to the floor and latch onto the dying males, drinking deeply. I feed like a glutton, taking more than I need and revelling in the feeling of indulgence.

Full and finally sated, I stand and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. I’m a mess, my dress torn and covered in blood, but I do not care, not when there is one more person who needs to pay for their crimes—Havoc.

I stride up the stairs of the bunker, my hands tingling with power. The door to the outside is locked, but when I place my hands on it and give the lightest push, it buckles in on itself.

Light streams down on me, but it does not even make me wince thanks to the change in my eyes. Looking around, I try to get a clue as to where I am. We seem to be on an old, abandoned farm. I stand at the edge of a courtyard with a farm building lining the square, open space. My inner compass is telling me we are still in Trador, but I have never seen this farm before, so they must have taken me far from the main road. There is no one to be seen, and it is quiet. A loud caw rings out, startling me.

Looking up, I find a large crow perched atop a weathervane, watching me with far more intelligence than I would expect in a bird. It tilts its head to one side and seems to be watching me. I bow my head to it. I am not sure where this idea came from, but the darkness is telling me it is important to respect the creature. When it lowers its head in return, I feel shock, but the darkness is not surprised at all. It caws loudly once more before leaping from the weathervane and disappearing into the sky.

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