Page 32 of Barbi and the Villain

“What is your name, soldier?” The King takes a step forward, addressing Ivan without even acknowledging me.

“Ivan Rogers, Your Majesty.”

“Ivan.” He nods. “You shall be handsomely rewarded for catching her.”

“I was right, was I not? She’s bad news.”

“You are, indeed, correct,” Damien continues, sparing me a disdainful glance. “I have just found out that she is the Dark One’s lover. She must have been trying to avenge her dead lover.”

W-what?

“He’s lying! I don’t even know the Dark One,” I hurry to say, though it falls on deaf ears.

“Kill her! Kill her!”

I blink, stupefied.

The crowd is asking for my death, cursing me for being related to the Dark One in any way.

With a wave of his hand, the King silences everyone.

“Ivan. Take her to the dungeon,” he instructs my captor. Turning to the crowd, he continues. “She will be executed on the day of the new moon, as is our custom for anyone related to the Dark One.”

People start clapping and praising the King—and wishing me a torturous death.

Great.

Just as Ivan drags me away from the crowd, Jocelyn suddenly stops him.

“Wait!”

With slow, dignified steps, she comes toward me. She wrenches the sheet from my torso and takes PomPom out of it.

“You may go,” she says, cradling PomPom in her arms.

I’m too stunned to say anything but stare at my little baby as she gets farther and farther away from me.

Ivan purposefully digs his fingers painfully into my scalp, relishing hurting me. But I don’t care. All I can see is PomPom and the fact that these evil people took her from me.

Tears stab at my eyes, and a rage unlike I’ve ever known overtakes me.

I thrash violently, screaming out for PomPom until Ivan has no choice but to slap me—so hard I see stars. Still, it’s no match for the heart of a grieving mother as her child is taken away from her. So what if she’s not human? She’s my everything.

“PomPom!” I call for her, hoping she might wake up and run to me.

But she doesn’t. She’s still out of it.

“Let me go, you brute. Let me go,” I continue to fight him, especially as we go down dark stairs that lead to an even darker corridor.

Fear creeps down my spine.

There are dirty cells on either side of the corridor. Some prisoners are still alive, but others have wasted away, only a pile of bones remaining in their wake.

Good Lord! I gulp down against the wave of terror that engulfs me.

He drags me to the darkest corner of the dungeon where there’s barely any light. He only stops when he reaches the last cage—smaller and dirtier than the rest. Opening the latch, he throws me inside.

“Fucking bitch. I knew you were bad, but I didn’t realize I was traveling with the Dark One’s whore,” he spits at me.

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