Page 89 of The Sacred and the Tormented

They rounded a corner and froze at the site of a male relieving himself against the already damp wall. Conall lunged for him, knife drawn, and before the male could adjust his pants, Conall tore the blade across his throat, splattering blood all over the stone floor.

Conall wiped the blood on his pants before sheathing the weapon. She stared, watching the crimson sink into the crevices before following the line in the stones. Conall didn’t pause. He simply gestured for Gavin to keep moving. Arianna noted the way Gavin’s face had gone pale.

They kept running, climbing staircase after staircase and running down hall after hall. Rugs replaced the previous bare floors. Paintings and vases began lining the halls. Curtains hung over drafty windows. It seemed with every step, the entirestructure came to life spreading color and warmth that felt so at odds with the castle’s outward appearance.

Gavin paused at a door and Conall crept forward. Voices echoed from the other side and Conall pressed a finger to his lips. He unscrewed a canteen and used a bit of the water to draw a rune over the handle. The mark glowed then the lock clicked and Conall cracked the door open to peer inside.

She stepped forward and rose up on her tip toes to look through the tiny top window.

A pair of Fae dressed in white cloaks emerged from another doorway, dragging a limp prisoner between them. Fae. The prisoner was Fae. But he was far too skinny, evidenced from his protruding ribs and cheekbones. He wore nothing more than a pair of torn, battered shorts. Chains dangled from his frail wrists and the look in his eyes. That damn hollow look—

Anger flared through her anew and hoarfrost coated the carpet at her feet. Conall backed away and no one reached for her as Arianna blasted the door wide open.

Those holding the male between them stared at Arianna in shock before she formed a spear of ice and let it fly straight through one of their skulls. His companion dropped the injured Fae and tried to raise his hands, but ice was already crawling up his legs, covering his torso, and finally his face.

Her body shook with rage. They didn’t deserve mercy.

Conall approached slowly, giving her a wide berth. He knelt and withdrew a set of keys from the pocket of the dead Fae, then turned to help the injured one lean against the wall.

The male’s breath was ragged, his eyes open but not quite seeing.

“It’s okay now,” Conall assured him. “We’ll get you out of here.” Someone handed Conall a cloak and he draped it around the male’s shoulders.

“Don’t leave her.” The Fae’s voice was broken and raw. “Please,” he rasped. “Don’t let them throw her out like—like all the others.” His shoulders shook, voice breaking.

Arianna stepped toward the room they’d dragged him from and peered inside. Her eyes widened, bile rose in her throat, and Arianna tore her gaze away, bracing one arm on the opposite wall as she struggled not to heave.

She covered her mouth with one hand, trying to shake the horrifying image of the Fae female inside. Her chest had been split wide open, ribcage sawed in two and Arianna was pretty sure the red clump floating in the jar on the table was the female’s heart.

Blood soaked the sheets and had dripped onto the floor. So much blood—Arianna vomited then Rion was at her side, rubbing circles on her back as he kept watch.

Conall peered inside next and cursed, slamming his fist against the wall.

The male still slumped on the ground didn’t react to any of them.

Gods, what kind of monsters had her sister?

“Why?” She kept her gaze on the floor, willing her nausea to pass. “What was—” Arianna wasn’t sure she could even form coherent sentences.

“He’s searching for the link to the bond,” Conall said, voice dripping with menace. “I told you, he’ll do whatever it takes to be rid of it.”

Arianna’s gaze drifted to the frail Fae male again. The hollow look in his eyes wasn’t due to the chains or any torment his body had suffered. It was because he’d seen the single most important person in his life torn apart. He’d watched his mate die and had been powerless to stop it.

Arianna turned away from him. The bond wasn’t something physical, surely Vairik knew that by now. Was this tobe her fate if he captured her or Rion? Would he kill them in front of one another just to see what might happen?

Every Fae who’d been blessed with the bond could tell him it wasn’t something physical. It ran deeper. It was part of their soul, etched into the very fiber of their being.

Arianna strained to listen for more heartbeats. There were a few, but as she lifted her head to count the doors along the hall, she realized the corpses likely outnumbered those still alive.

She clenched her fists. She was going to kill Vairik. Him, Niall, and anyone else who felt it was acceptable to treat Fae like animals.

A deafening crash had them all starting. Arianna spun, her heart skipping a beat as she watched an iron door slam shut, blocking their way back down the stairs.

Her skin prickled, every instinct roaring at her to move as another door slid from the ceiling and slammed shut even closer.

Without a word, one of Conall’s warriors grabbed the male from the floor and began running. Rion grabbed her hand as another iron wall slammed down, sectioning off each room one by one.

They sprinted down the hall, Gavin leading the way.

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