Page 127 of Secrets & Curses of Crimson

More.

They deserved more punishment for what they had done. My breathing was wild as I stared at the pieces of Luren. I spit on him.

I was out of control when I turned and found Jesper still lying in my darkness. He was struggling, trying to break free, but he would never know what freedom felt like again. My darkness was angry, but more so than that, I was.

“I’ve been daydreaming of all the ways I could kill you, Jesper.” I smiled when he started crying. “Nothing feels like it will be enough of a punishment for what you did to me.”

All of the things that Jesper did to me came crashing down around me. My sanity snapped. I swiped my hand out so that my illusion magic recreated the cell in the bottom of the castle that he had tortured me in. I sat Jesper up and pinned his hands above him on the wall. Jesper was shaking his head no.

I used my magic to show everyone what he had done to me so they would understand why I was doing this. My memories of being tortured by Jesper played out in front of everyone. They watched in horror as my memoriesprojected out. Walking forward, I used my dagger to cut his shirt off him. Then I started writing insults into his flesh.

He called out and thrashed.

“If you move, this will hurt worse for you,” I hissed his own words to him. Jesper stilled, but I wanted this to hurt him. So, I dug my blade deeper so that he had no choice but to move. He called out as loud as he could. A moment later, I stood with puffy breaths. I smiled at the words ‘Crimson’s bitch’ carved into the middle of his chest, among others.

“I just want you to know that I fucked Cassius on your throne after I slaughtered your guards.” My eyes shined brightly as his eyes filled with hatred.

“Ikilled all of your guards.Ikilled the assassins you sent for Petra and Sy.” I leaned down so I could stare at him. “AndImade your piece-of-shit mother gut herself in front ofmycoven. She died painfully as I promised her that I would make your death even worse than hers.”

Jesper was saying something behind my darkness that had him silenced. He was getting sluggish and hardly awake. That wouldn’t do. My hand swiped around us again, and now the illusion magic made us appear in a washroom. A nice, warm bath was drawn for Jesper. With my darkness, I lifted him up and put him in the water.Once again, I used my magic to show all the fae present what Jesper had done to me. I didn’t look to see what they all thought. I didn’t care what they thought, but I wanted them to understand that they condoned this behavior.

“You’re filthy,” I muttered at him, my own voice sounding like a stranger.

I released my darkness from his mouth so I could hear his pain and suffering. I stepped toward him, and he cried out for me to stop, but I wouldn’t, not until his heart stopped beating.

Glancing up at the illusion magic I played for all the fae, I saw them watching in horror as Jesper grabbed my head and held me under the water.

“Time to return the favor.” I smiled and stepped forward, grabbing Jesper’s head and shoving him down into the water. Jesper thrashed under me, but I held him down until he started to stop moving, then yanked him back up. He inhaled another deep breath out of instinct, and I shoved him below the surface of the water immediately.

When he stopped fighting, I pulled him up and took a step back. Jesper glanced at me, and his terror swarmed me when he looked at my face. I was sure I was terrifying everyone around me, but I didn’t care.

“Thea…” Jesper breathed. “It was all your father’s idea,” he cried.

I cocked my head to the side and stared at him like he was an idiot. Jesper stared back at me, probably thinking he was putting on a brave face. But I knew better.

“My father did not make you beat me or torture me. You did all of that on your own, Jesper. You didn’t need to be involved in the kingdom’s scams and deceit. You chose to do that, and now that greed will be the reason you die today.”

“I knew we should have fucking killed you!” he yelled. “I told your father that you were a lost cause, but he wanted to keep doing this stupid shit every year. I just wanted to kill you every year so that Cassius could never have you. I should have slaughtered his whole family while you were in Exile!”

I laughed.

“You?” I scoffed. “Weak. Pathetic. Coward. Useless. Dumb. Fragile man. You would never be able to get close to Cassius. He would have your body ripped into tiny pieces before you even knew it was coming.”

“Well, I still outpowered you at one point,” he sneered.

I clapped a big round of applause for the asshole.

"Congratulations, Jesper; you tricked me when I had no memories. You caged me like an animal only because you barbed my magic inside of me. Only because I let you barb it inside of me to save those I love. You used poison toweaken me. You were always a sorry excuse for a man. I’m sure your father died disappointed that you were his only heir.”

Jesper’s nostrils flared at my comment. It looked like I struck a nerve.

“And now, your kingdom will belong to me as the last heir of the Cerithian throne. As your sister by marriage, I will inherit all of it. But don’t worry; I don’t want your land. It will be split between Falgon and Akecia. Crimson will keep Cerithia. I will wipe your existence off of this realm after today. It will be as though you never existed.”

Jesper’s jaw clenched so tightly as if he wanted to say something to me, but he didn’t know what he wanted to say.

“Fuck you!” He spit toward me.

I stepped forward and slapped him across the face. Jesper stared at me.

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