Page 23 of A Touch of Gold and Madness

Grim returned with the magnetic metal wrist cuffs moments later. He grumbled as he hobbled toward us, still aggravated by my assault.

“Hold out your hands,” the king instructed.

I rolled my eyes and offered Grim my wrists in annoyance. “Is this how you like your victims, Grim?” I sneered. “Bound and powerless?”

Grim’s nostrils flared. He backhanded my cheek with a resounding crack.My skull knocked into my father’s shoulder, furthering the blindingmigraine from his previous attack. I snickered despite the searing pain. The injuries only seemed to fuel my fire.

“Is that all you got, Grim?” The metallic taste of blood coated my tongue. Gathering it all, I spat on his face. Blood and saliva oozed down his crooked nose, deep crimson splattering his cheeks and forehead, giving him an even more garish look.

The knife dug deeper into my throat. “Go ahead, Father,” I taunted. “Please, cut out the foreplay already and just kill me, for fuck’s sake.”

“But, Gray, you know how I do things. I like to take my time,” King Forest said in a soft, yet unsettling tone.

I snorted. “You’re only wasting valuable time that could be spent doing more important things. But be my guest.”

“You can’t trust others to do the dirty work for you,” he said, the thick metal cuffs locking into place. My magic snuffed out in my veins. “I have to do everything of importance myself. Andthisis very important to me, daughter.” With a shove to my back, the king walked to the door with Grim at his side. He guided me forward, my hands stiffly cuffed in front of me.

My gut sank as I realized where he planned to take me. The prison cells were utilized for more than retaining traitors, Elementals, or Endarkened. The king used them to torture his prisoners, and he always ensured he was present for those events.

The elevator jolted to a stop.

Grim, having swapped positions with my father behind me, shoved me forward while the king walked alongside me. We made our way through the underground level of the prison. Dim lighting barely lit our way, and shallow cracks slithered along the concrete floor from years of wear.

The moist, frigid air crept into my bones, chilling me to the marrow. The oxygen was thicker as I fought to maintain even breaths and slow mymind. It was difficult, given that I fought back gags from the horrendous stench of decomposition and bodily waste.

The prison was a sprawling myriad of interconnected cell blocks. As we approached, groans and growls drifted through the metal bars, making the hair on my skin prickle with unease.

Morbid curiosity got the best of me, so I stole a glimpse inside a cell. Obscured in the shadows, a woman stared at me with wide and distant eyes. Her long, oily hair sat matted to her skull in bald patches. The silver irises of an Elemental stared back at me. The gold layer of skin cracked and peeled away in large swathes, while the remaining layers paled a ghastly dull hue, depriving her of all vitality. I looked on in horror at the shadows that painted her gaunt features as she reached her frail arm through the space between the bars.

Then, in an act that stunned me, the Endarkened woman dropped onto one knee, her breaths raspy. She said nothing. But when she pressed her forehead against her knee, I faltered in my steps at the foreign custom.

Grim and my father strolled past her as if she weren’t there as they guided me past prisoners of different varieties. Most huddled against the wall, not acknowledging us as we passed.

We reached the end of the corridor, and a heavy metal door loomed above. My father typed in a code, followed by a jarring buzz that cut through the miserable silence. Like a death knell, a hard click echoed off the concrete.

Another hard shove to my back thrust me into the interrogation room, the cuffs digging into my wrists. I stumbled forward.

I needed to escape. Otherwise, I’d die in this dank dungeon. I couldn’t hand my father that victory.

I’d always had supreme vision, even amongst Kinetics. So, despite the void in the room, I saw their movements. I’d never disclosed this minor fact to the king, and I was currently grateful for that decision.

“Grim, I need some light. Back off some,” the king said as Grim’s magic absorbed any illumination in the room. They believed it gave them an advantage.

But if I allowed them to have light, it would destroy any hope of getting out alive. I didn’t plan to stick around in their chamber of horrors.

Taking advantage of the brief upper hand, I threw an elbow into Grim’s nose with all my strength. My wrists were still cuffed, but I wouldn’t let that stop me from fighting. My father heard the impact and lunged for me. I saw his silhouette and stepped aside. He collided with Grim, who fell to the putrid floor. Enraged, the king spun around to face the spot I’d previously stood, but I’d moved behind him.

With him unaware of my position, I silently snagged the knife my father held to my throat. With my wrists bound, I slashed it across the nape of his neck, then plunged it deep into his lower back. I missed his spinal cord, but still, the king crumpled to his knees.

“You defiant fucking bitch,” Forest ground out.

I couldn’t linger long enough for the king to heal. Taking hasty steps toward the door, something grabbed my ankle. I lurched forward, slapping my palms on the cold floor. “Don’tfuckingtouch me,” I said in a growl, slamming my heel into Grim’s temple.

I scrambled to my feet, ignoring the bruising on my knees and the stinging in my palms. I struggled to reach the door within my view.

“No.” The king’s labored voice reached my ears from within the darkness, still hindered by the stab wound. “Not you, too.”

His wordsalmoststopped me in my tracks.

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