Page 44 of A Trial of Fate

“Hmm. Let’s try this one.” This time, the mage withdrew an iron-tipped arrowhead and scraped it across my chest. The iron immediately mixed with my blood, causing a deep burning sensation to spiderweb across my skin. “Oh yes! That is the same reaction I get with all my full-blood shifters. Interesting… interesting,” he squealed in delight.

Gods be damned… fuckingdelight? Was he seriously enjoying this?

His soul must be more damaged than the bodies of his victims chained to this table. I tried breathing through the pain. My animal was rattling inside me, pushing me to fight back, but there wasn’t anything I could do. All I could do was retreat inside my mind and try to keep my body’s pain from shattering my sanity.

Again, the mage healed me with his powers, and again, I was used as a cutting board for an array of weapons scattered across his table. Each time, he documented my physical reaction to differentweapons used and noted my healing progress before he was forced to step in. And each time, he healed my ragged body only to begin again.

My voice was raw from screaming. I couldn’t even speak if I wanted to. My mind drifted into a semiconscious state to escape the torment I was forced to endure. I followed the rhythmic sounds of the water below me, wishing it could carry me away with the current.

I thought of my pack and of my home. My family, Magnus, Julia, and Neera, whom I loved more than words could ever express. I pictured their smiling faces encouraging me not to give up and to keep going, no matter what.

I remembered Rhea, my feisty, honest, and good-natured friend who would never abandon me. Talon, the stable peacemaker of our group, who could make a joke about almost anything. Shaw, the watchful, patient scholar who searched for the beauty of the world despite witnessing such darkness, and finally, Gilen. My childhood friend who never shamed me for my mixed blood and showed me what a blessing my differences could be. My mate? Would I ever see any of them again?

“Interesting. Very interesting.” The mage halted his assault for a moment, examining the bite mark on my right wrist. “This will not heal. You passed out for a minute, and I removed the iron shackle around your wrists to heal it… but it would not react to my magic. I understand you animals like to mark yourselves with ceremonial tattoos, so the other arm is obvious. But this mark is truly enticing. You’re not mated, are you?”

I didn’t look his way or respond. I refused to answer any of his questions, and I was still woozy from the loss of blood and searing pain.

“Oh, that’s right. How could I forget? Shifters mark each other along the neck.” He brushed back my hair to examine my neckline. “Hmm… nothing.”

He turned back to the books stacked on his shelf as my eyes wandered to my right arm.Daxton. Closing my eyes, I pictured his face. The image of him was so clear to me that, for a second, I thought it was real. His storm-gray eyes, which captivated every part of my being, held such strength and unwavering courage. I clung to that courage, needing anything to find the strength to survive this. Footsteps announced the mage’s return, and I squeezed my eyes tighter, trying my best to keep the image of him with me for just a moment longer.

Hope. Don’t lose hope.

“I need more time and more sessions with you,” the mage exclaimed. “Hunters, return her to her cell. I will not be able to finish the experiment today.”

My wounds might have been healed, but my mind was on the verge of crumbling. I had no will to fight against the guards as they unshackled my chains and dragged me from the iron table. I called for my animal spirit to help strengthen me, to wrap me in a blanket of her power that would help keep me from faltering and giving in to this torture. I smiled to myself, sensing her there in an instant, flooding magic into my middle and saving a piece of my soul from dying right there on the table.

“You were supposed to dispose of her tonight. You know the captain does not approve of captives lasting longer than a few days. We need to move camp soon.”

The mage huffed a sigh of displeasure.

Oh no, he wasn’t happy?Sorry, not sorry there, buddy. Join the motherfucking club.

“Tell the captain it will be done the next time she is brought to me. And entice him with the offer to use his new weapon.”

I didn’t have to look up to know the hunters were grinning from ear to ear at hearing this news. Tiny and Thorn forced me to my feet and dragged me along the dark corridor to my cell. The water bucket wobbled as they dropped me near the far corner next to it. They turned to leave, locking it once more and leaving me alone in the darkness.

I curled my knees into my chest and allowed myself to cry. I cried until tears could no longer run down my face. I fell to my side in the strands of hay and tried to find some shred of comfort to fall asleep. As I closed my eyes, I reached out and prayed once more to the gods for strength. I asked the Mother to watch me during the day and the Father to guard me at night.

My hand traced over the scar on my right arm, and a familiar sensation of comfort curled around my chest. It stirred my animal, awakening her spirit and giving me a burst of energy that surged through my core. It wasn’t enough for me to sit up from the hay and start banging on the lock of my cell, but it was enough to keep me breathing.

Enough to keep me alive—for now.

Chapter Eleven

My kidnappers were liars. I shouldn’t have expected anything different, though, so I guess that was my fault. I believed that the next time the hunters dragged me from my cell would be my last, but, surprise, it was not.

The mage summoned me again … and just for fun, a third time to really seal in the torture. I had no grip on time. The only quiet moments of solitude were between our experiment sessions together. That was what he joyfully called them, anyway. Personally, I thought sick, sadistic madness had a better ring to it.

He said I was an anomaly that needed to be studied, whatever the fuck that meant. I really didn’t give two shits about what the mage wanted or what he was discovering. I was beyond caring about anything at this point. I didn’t know if it was the constant cutting into my flesh that was worse or the mind-fuck of him healing me right after he did it.

There was no way of guessing how long I had been trapped in these caves. Two days, three? Maybe a week? I never saw the outside world. I never smelled the fresh air from above or felt the rays of sun on my face. I was locked in a constant void of darkness that was slowly eating away at my soul.

My body had been sliced through enough times to destroy any thread of clothing I had when I came here. I was naked and numb as I waited in the deafening silence of my cell. I did, however, still find comfort in the melody of the trickling waters as they flowed in the open room of my torment. Nature’s music was singing to me. It was a lifeline I clung to. Music emanated from the different babbles of the water as it ebbed and flowed against the rocks.

This was my state of living, if I could call this living. How much longer could I hold out? What hope remained of a rescue?

I tried to be strong. I tried to be brave, but each time they came for me, I knew I was closer to reaching the limits my mind and body could endure. Shifters were strong-willed and adapted to enduring pain, but this was a true test. I hated to admit it, but I knew I was beginningto crack. It wouldn’t be long now before death would come for me.

---