Page 58 of Queen of Vengeance

I watched on bated breath as she peered out through the bars, looking either way.

We all looked away simultaneously as the guards slowly walked past our cell, looking in disdainfully.

Dineta waited a few moments more before signaling to Miller that the coast was clear.

I turned around just in time to see Miller roll up his sleeve and punch the stone wall in the corner where it was weakest.

A few pieces broke off and slapped against the ground.

Miller picked up the smoothness of the stones and handed it to me before sitting down out of breath.

“What are you?” I couldn’t help but question him. It was obvious to me that he wasn’t human, since he said he made potions, and his brute strength was far beyond that of a human.

He had to be some kind of magical entity, but I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what he was.

Miller pinched his mouth before looking down and pushing back the hair that covered his ears. It was the first time since he had come here that I had seen the top of his ears.

They were bloodied and poorly stitched together.

The area around the stitching also appeared to be inflamed.

A gasp pulled cold air into my lungs, “Who did that to you?”

“The guards. One of them thought the ears of an elf were offensive to look at. He then proceeded to take great pleasure in cutting off the tops of my ears. I thought there were laws in place to protect prisoners from cruel and unusual punishment.” Miller gave a breathy and weak laugh, but a tear escaped his eye before he could stop it.

“My God, Miller, I’m so sorry…” My heart wrenched with the injustice that was done to him.

It made me realize that my problems weren’t the only things happening.

There was a much more significant issue at play.

“Don’t be sorry. Just be strong. We can’t allow this place to break us down. They can imprison us and beat us, but they cannot destroy us. A great change is happening in the world, and we must do everything we can to stop it, or our world will never be safe for people like us.” Miller raised his head again, pushing down whatever feelings surfaced. As much as I hated to admit it, he was right.

I wanted to wallow in self-pity for the injustice done to me. I wanted to just lay here and rot away. But that would be too easy. That would mean that Jax won, and I cannot allow that reality.

“Well, go on then, Miss Master Potionist. Show us what you’re made of.” Miller waved his hand with a warm but knowing smile.

“I will.”

22

JAX

The sunlight began peeking into Jax’s room in the early morning hours. The light cruelly crawling into his room typically woke him up, but sleep evaded him the night prior.

He watched as his white ceiling turned to golden. Despite being awake for hours, he didn’t move much because of his wounded shoulder. He never imagined his best friend, Zane, having the capacity to bring such harm to another person.

Zane was always such a gentle person.

“I guess it doesn’t matter how long you’ve known someone. You never really know them.” Jax padded any guilt he felt with his self-righteousness. “I was only doing what was best for the both of us, but now I will just do what is best for me.”

Jax slowly got out of bed, holding his sore shoulder as he did so. From where he sat on his bed, he could look straight ahead at the full-length mirror in the corner of his room. He sat and stared at himself long and hard. He didn’t look any different, but he did feel different. He was becoming the exact person he promised he would never be.

The revulsion he felt at his Uncle Diesel was a distant memory.

Jax found that he rather admired him now.

Diesel took what he wanted, no questions asked. He didn’t worry himself with the feelings of others, and he certainly didn’t allow other people to hold him back.

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