Page 142 of A Debt of Darkness

They’re trying to amputate my soul and steal my will—and they’ve got a fucking surprise in store.

My eyes snap open and meet the vicious gaze of a predator homing in on his kill. The red glow burns through the dim room, trying to intimidate me into cowering.

And I will not.

I refuse to show one ounce of fear.

I refuse to give the cunt one gram of respect and my eyes burn with an anger running as hot as hell.

“She’s startling,” he says, edging closer as his head tilts. “Dazzling. Those eyes.”

His hand reaches toward me and stops, catching my attention before he runs his finger along the metal bar between us. My eyes follow the lines he traces, making out the cage that contains me above him. He wants me to know fear and accept it, and I show him none, holding the goddamn line as I accept I’m in a goddamn cage suspended in the fucking middle of a room.

“They say you can’t choose your mate,” he says, tilting his head in the other direction. “I wonder what Henry has done to earn you, my dear.”

He pushes the metal, and the cage swings, gently rocking backward and forward as my stomach turns. The swaying movement doesn’t calm me and my nerves fire warning shots that this is far from ideal. It’s the canary singing in the coalmine and I’ll be damned if this becomes my swan song. I’m caged, but not dead yet, and that’s the hope flying through my soul and setting it free.

“Shall we find out?”

My eyes flick back to his with pure defiance. An unreserved act of rebellion so fucking bold it could light the darkest night. The room has only black, but my rage burns with the heat of a thousand suns, and the twilight trying to descend won’t be mine.

I’ve been through worse than this.

I’ve broken worse than him.

I’ve beaten insurmountable odds before—and I don’t need to win this fight. Not outright.

I just need to hold on. I need to not drown in the despair he’s trying to create. I need to stay afloat long enough for Henry to make it here. That’s the battle, that’s the fight. It’s this asshole against my determination, my resilience against his endurance.

And it’s going to be a fucking long night by the time we’re through.

“It’s a pity,” he continues as the cage keeps swaying. “You’re quite attractive. You won’t be. Not when I’m done.”

I hold his gaze and his eyebrow arches as I stare, unflinching and unafraid. He steps closer and I tilt my head, mirroring his movements as I stare down at the fucking asshole beneath me like he’s a piece of shit. Because he is and I want the whole damn room to know exactly what I think of him.

The first point is scored.

We both know it. We both count it.

And he doesn’t fucking like it.

“I’m Marcus,” he says, hissing through his bared teeth. “I assume Henry mentioned me?”

He didn’t. And my expression betrays exactly why I think I haven’t heard of him. His features sharpen, drawn in the pale light illuminating the room as we familiarize ourselves with the other’s features. I’m learning his lines and contours, his tells and his behavior. I’m gleaning anything I can from the darkness, trying to gather any information to turn to my advantage.

I’m playing against someone who’s doing the same. Someone who’s far more experienced, more powerful, and who I can’t hope to match. Except, I know I’ve played this game before and I know I’ve held my own. I didn’t win, but I didn’t lose, and that’s good enough today.

But there’s another difference my brain doesn’t want to admit, and the tightening of my chest pleads with me to remember. Henry didn’t want to hurt me. He didn’t want to inflict any more pain than necessary. Just enough. Only enough. Exactly enough to achieve what he wanted and not one bit more.

Marcus won’t be the same.

He won’t hold back. He won’t show mercy.

He’ll use whatever he can, whenever he can, and he’ll enjoy every fucking second of my agony until I break or bend or bow.

“I see,” he says, disappointed. “He left you vulnerable.”

“Stop playing with your fucking food,” Rowan says, marching forward and rattling the cage until it shakes violently. He throws his arm out and the chain swerves as it reels, forcing my cage to careen behind it as it races to catch up with its center.

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