Page 89 of Taken By Touch and Torment

“I might feel broken right now, damaged beyond repair. But it’s your voice I hear when I dream of a possibility that one day, I might claim that wholeness all on my own. His love, your love, Penn’s and everyone else’s—it’s all going to help. But I see now that the more love I give myself, the more love I can accept from all of you.”

Snow’s grin wobbled. A mirrored tear fell down her cheek. “You don’t sound like an evil succubus to me.”

I let out surprised laughter at her dark joke, and she joined me, letting go of my hands.

“Or I’ve gotten better at it.”

Snow shrugged. She leaned in, the dark mischief in her eyes blooming. “Good. All jokes aside, you deserve to embrace who you are, Scarlett. You deserve to own your magick after feeling powerless for so long.”

I deflated, this conversation suddenly making me feel exposed. I was still caught halfway between shame and acceptance. My powers had helped me escape, and they’d hurt those who had brutalized me. But they’d also sowed uncontrollable chaos. I was still responsible for the deaths of two innocent humans. And for Rosalind’s death, too.

“I couldn’t agree more,” a new voice said from behind me.

My cheeks burned. I wondered how much he’d heard.

Rune was a shadow, by my side quicker than I could track. Guilt lodged in my stomach, reminding me that while I was safe, thousands of slaves weren’t.

I’d started something in that palace. Something that could be useful.

Rune watched my face, his smile falling the exact moment I went somewhere cold, dark, and empty.

“I heard you laugh,” he murmured, distracting me. He looked up at the ceiling, a dangerous smirk on his lips. “If I could’ve captured that sound in the painting, I would’ve.” He bent to kiss my temple.

“Oh, gods,” Snow said, wrinkling her nose as she watched us. “Go back to being a tortured warlord. I can’t handle this version of you.”

Rune snaked his arm around my waist and peeled his eyes off me to level his gaze on Snow. “Don’t you have naked forest frolicking to do with your coven, witch?”

Snow rolled her eyes, clearly fighting off a smile. When I giggled, both pairs of eyes flew to me.

“What do you want to do today, my love?” Rune asked.

The question was simple, a gentle declaration of my freedom and agency. But, to me, it was a field that extended forever. It was too big to grasp, reminding me of all the ways I’d been constrained and controlled before.

I knew everyone expected me to crawl into bed and refuse to leave again. But the thought of wallowing to that degree was not only humiliating, it was also shameful. I couldn’t do that to Rosalind. I couldn’t do that to Lana, Mairin, and the slaves I left behind. To the mortals who had already been sacrificed for Durian’s bullshit holy war.

None of them got the luxury of becoming a hollow shell of a person, so neither should I.

“I want to go out,” I said.

The briefest flicker of surprise shone in Rune’s molten brown eyes. “Done.”

“I promise I’ll see Penn, Eli, and the others soon,” I said to Snow. “But for now, I was hoping I could interact with people who aren’t going to treat me like…”

I struggled to find the words. Snow understood anyway, nodding and filling her features with warm understanding.

“No expectations, remember? You guys should go do something, just the two of you,” she said. “I’m volunteering at one of the care centers today before my shift at Odessa. Not the one?—”

Snow and Rune both froze, Rune’s hand halfway down the length of my hair.

“What?” I asked, looking between them. Rune’s face was infuriatingly blank, and Snow appeared uncomfortable.

Snow cursed. “I’m sorry. I’ve barely slept. I wasn’t thinking.”

Care centers? Like for traumatized trafficking victims?

I took a sidestep away from Rune, my heart panging. “You’re not sticking me in one of those places, are you?”

Rune tilted his head. “Fuck no. As if I’d let you stay anywhere but this castle.”

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