Page 59 of Mud

“How did you know to find Taland, and how did you make your way here?” Kaid raised his hand toward me, his raven feather between his fingers, and the black flames of his magic danced their way in the air toward me.

I tried again, in vain, to push myself back, to knock the chair over, to do anything it took just to get away from the Blackfire that was no doubt going to hurt a lot—even more than my leg. My mouth opened and part of me wanted to talk, to tell him the truth, but I didn’t dare.

Taland had given me this address, but he apparently hadn’t told his brothers that. And I’d already betrayed himonce, had cost him everything. I was not going to betray him a second time.

So, I clamped my mouth shut again, and when the Blackfire slowly wrapped around my neck, ice-cold and heavy, I instinctively searched my surroundings to try to find a way out. Foolish, I know, but one hopes even in the face of the end.Especiallyin the face of the end.

Unfortunately for me, there was no way out of this place.

The room had a tall ceiling—possibly over two stories. There was a set of metal stairs far to the left that led to a door in the wall—the only one there. No windows, no other lights except a round one hanging from the ceiling by a long wire in the middle of the room, straight over my head. I couldn’t tell exactly what hid in the shadows the light didn’t reach.

“Well? Don’t you haveanywords for us?” Kaid said, moving his fingers as he worked his magic lower down my back, under my soaking wet shirt and lower. Goddess, it feltawful,his magic. So filthy. So cold. So deadly.

And no matter how hard I was trying to unchain my wrists, it wasn’t working. All I did was make the brothers laugh. Make Taland smile wider.

I deserve it, I deserve it, I deserve no less—yet I still didn’t feel even a tiny bit better. Or lessbetrayed,which was absurd. My own audacity astounded me, but I blamed it on the fact that I was going to die soon.

No—I was going tohurtsoon first, then die.

“It’s so crazy to me that someone like you would come all the way here, regardless of how you managed it,” Kaid continued, slowly stepping around and behind me, putting his hands on my shoulders just as his magic that had wrapped around my torso like a second skin squeezed.

The pain burst inside me like it had been there all along, just waiting for the right second to begin torturing me. Impatiently waiting.

A scream came out of me before I could bite my tongue because I didn’t want them to hear what they were doing to me. It was enough that they would see—but it was too much. I couldn’t keep it in.

Then Kaid was in front of me again, a big smile on his face, aproudsmile as his magic retreated a bit, let me breathe without feeling like I was drowning on air.

“Wow—that was amazing,” he said. “It works so much better—can you tell? My Blackfire works so much better!” Laughter, then he abruptly stopped. “Oh, wait. Was that why you were shot and not healed? Did they try to kill you, too? Your own people?”

Tears, tears, a lot more tears, these angry ones.

No,I wanted to say.

My people wouldn’t turn on me, I wanted to say.

But I couldn’t because they had, and they would no matter what became of me.

“I don’t see why not,” said Seth from a few feet away. “She’s worthless.”

“Nah, nah, she’s not worthless,” Kaid said. “She’s just Mud.”

The ceiling, the house—the entire fucking sky could have fallen on my head, and I’d have been less surprised by something that I already knew.

Something I hadn’t been able to think about.

Something I hadn’t been able to say.

But Kaid said it. He said it loud and proud, and now they were all laughing, and I was crying, shaking, such a fucking mess.

There it was.

I was Mud,stainedjust like Madeline said. My magic was gone, my colors mixed, useless. I was no good to anyone for anything anymore—now for real.

Iris, I felt so small. So unimportant. So eager to get this over with. I blinked the tears away and my eyes found his again even while his brothers laughed, and Taland still smiled as he looked at me. He still smiled and played with whatever it was in his hand, and he enjoyed the sight of my pain. He enjoyed the sight of his brothers laughing their hearts out, of me shaking, crying, begging him with my eyes to just get this over with already. Kill me so I didn’t have to endure anymore.

I was Mud. My life was as good as over now.Please have mercy and end me now.

He didn’t.

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