Page 157 of Visions & Shadows

I’m worse than Ares.

“No!”Raighne’s voice thunders through my mind right before the bathroom door opens and he comes inside.

When Raighne picks me up, I rest my head against his shoulder. He carries me to a bedroom and gently places me on the covers before he lies down beside me. I snuggle against his chest as his body engulfs mine.

“What do we do?” I ask.

“We’ll deal with everything once you’ve had some rest.”

I take deep breaths of Raighne’s scent, and the next second, I drift off to sleep.

Chapter 28

Alchera

Ares is standing over mewith his whip, ready to begin another day’s torture.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Alchera. Please forgive me,” he begs as tears roll down his face.

I don’t understand why he’s crying.

“Ares?” I look into his light blue eyes, alive with pain. He lifts his arm to hit me, and I reach out to him. “You can fight her. Please don’t,” I beg.

My plea doesn’t stop him from bringing the whip down over my broken skin.

“No,” I sob. “Please stop.”

The words echo around me, and I realize it’s not my voice, but Ares who’s begging.

I find myself in some sort of cave, and I can hear water dripping, the stench of rotten eggs filling the air.

I glance wildly around, and when I see a weak and beaten younger version of Ares lying on the floor, I gasp in horror.

Adeth raises her arm high and brings the whip down hard on his back.

When she raises her arm again, I race forward and throw myself over Ares. I cover him with my body and brace myself for the impact, but the whip goes through me.

Ares grinds his teeth, and when I look into his eyes, I know that he sees me.

“Ares!” I wake up crying his name.

I’m slumped over Raighne, my face pressed against his stomach. His hand brushes over my hair, and I wrap my arms tightly around his waist, pressing my whole body as close to him as possible.

Tears spill from my eyes. I can’t believe Adeth did that to Ares, and then she made him torture me. How could she be so sick? How could she do that to her own son?

“Alchera?”

“Yeah,”I whisper, trying to hide the conflicting emotions I’m feeling.

“What did you see?”

“It’s just a nightmare,”I lie.

“Then I should’ve been able to see it.”

Shit. Right.

I let out a heavy breath.“Don’t worry about it.”

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