Page 80 of Taken By Touch and Torment

A man stepped out from the shadows, completely unaffected by the unearthly winds.

His hands rested casually in his pockets. His eyes were nearly as dark as his hair, and when I met them, their intensity pierced straight through me. He wore coal-colored, elegant attire. But nothing was as pitch black as his tattoos, his cloud of deadly onyx.

He was a dark god, a being that didn’t belong in this realm.

My body trembled with fear—recognizing the brutal coldness in his features. But my soul reached for his, drawn to that confident, devastating smirk.

I peeled my eyes from Rune just in time to see the firebird sharply descending, talons outstretched. Durian’s eyes had never appeared more wrathful.

Fucking think, Scarlett.

Nope. No time for thoughts, only instincts.

I reached a hand toward the firebird. I had to keep up my charade. It was the only way I guaranteed my survival either outcome. I needed to stay on the board, to ensure my succubus games remained viable no matter what happened.

It only took three seconds, barely enough time for my eyes to flit from Durian’s to Brennan’s, before shadow vines had wrapped around the poor firebird and jerked it back. It took that same amount of time for Brennan and Durian to deftly jump ship, allowing the bird to crash into a building behind them. A small object flew toward us at an inhuman speed, light reflecting off metal. More firebirds called in the distance.

Beside me, Rosalind let out a sound that twisted my guts into knots. It was a cross between a scream and a gasp, like all the air had been knocked from her lungs. My wolf screeched to a halt, whimpering.

Rosalind had fallen to the ground, a dagger lodged in her stomach. She was panting, confusion drawing her beautiful features tight. Her wolf nudged her hand and then looked to me.

I clumsily jumped to the ground. “You can’t leave her,” I whispered. “We can’t leave her.” I stepped forward, but my wolf growled, startling me. Someone—I thought Rune—yelled an order in the distance, but I couldn’t make it out.

In a flash of vampire speed, Durian and Brennan stood twelve feet in front of me, and Rune was just as far from my back. The wolves took off.

I knelt by Rosalind’s side. She stared up at me, rapidly blinking. She mouthed just one word.

Go.

“Do not take another step!” Brennan roared at Rune, and I felt wind at my back.

“Pet clearly wishes to stay with her Master,” Durian spat. “I have men waiting to?—”

“I tire of your sniveling, meaningless words. They will no longer be tolerated,” Rune said, his tone ice.

My neck grew hotter. A tear slid down my cheek.

I glared at Brennan and Durian, my vision blurry. “Why? Why would you hurt her? She didn’t do anything wrong—we were both kidnapped.” Even in my terror, I continued to lie and manipulate. I continued to use the only weapon I had.

“I missed,” Durian said with a dismissive wave of his hand. His lip curled. “You will be punished severely for speaking to your Master that way, you useless whore.”

“What did I fucking say?” Rune roared. Foundations crumbled, the air grew dark, and a flood of screaming shadows moved past me and slammed into Durian and Brennan. “About. Hearing. More. Of. Your. Nasty. Words.”

Rune’s voice boomed, as if he were speaking to every born in Hatham, or perhaps every being in the realm.

The ground beneath Durian and Brennan rotted. I couldn’t see them through Rune’s onslaught of shadows, as if they’d been swallowed by death and void. Glass and rubble fell from nearby buildings. A creature dipped from the sky. The light in Rosalind’s eyes went out. She mouthed go one last time before a line of blood spilled from her mouth and the muscles in her face fell slack.

It wasn’t blood that rained from the sky and flooded the streets. It was wrath. Mine and Rune’s both, twisted up together the same as our souls, the same as those giant roots in our home village.

I screamed when strong hands grabbed me, dragging me away from Rosalind’s unmoving form. My body was once again a doll to be moved at will. My stomach dropped, and my legs planted on something that felt like rough, reptilian skin. I saw nothing but darkness. I flailed around, and too many limbs held me still, their grip firm yet gentle.

“Shh, baby,” a voice whispered in my ear, breath cool and tickling.

Baby. Not pet, not whore, not worthless cunt.

“You’re safe,” Rune said.

I shook, blinking away visions of Rune torturing me in sociopathic silence for hours on end.

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