Page 287 of The Sins of Silas

“She’s lost it entirely,” Cedric chortled.

I begged for the stranger to come back, but he didn’t. Not as my remaining nails were removed.

Not as a branding iron was brought out. Not as it was pressed flush against my chest.

I screeched as the iron sizzled my skin off.

Silas had gone through this. Silas had survived it.

I will not break.

I would free my people. I would kill Ulric.

Only then would I join Silas in the afterlife. Not before.

So, I repeated that mantra. Repeated it as my skin was repeatedly branded and burned. Repeated it as my skin was whipped. Repeated it as my feet were put in iron boots, and the bones in them were crushed, leaving me unable to stand. Repeated it as I was flayed and cut open and stitched back up for them to do it all over again.

I will not break.

I will not break.

I will not break.

Chapter Eighty-One

LENA - THIRTY DAYS LATER

I’d grown used to being enveloped by darkness, nothing but the occasional sound of dripping water keeping me company as I sat alone in the corner of my cell. Sometimes, like today, I would hear creaking and groaning from up above, which usually meant someone would be coming down to interrogate me.

But this time was different. This time, they hauled me out of my cell for the first time in a month, lugging my broken frame up several concrete steps. I felt like crying when the cool nighttime air kissed my skin.

I was surprised I was still breathing, but as they tied my weak and starved body to a rack in some outdoor courtyard, I knew I would surely die. I knew that as the machine pulled and stretched my limbs to unnatural lengths, my arms and legs would be ripped free of my body.

I was still, my eyes unfocused as they restrained my limp body on the device.

I had held on this long, and I had not broken, despite the sadistic torture they had subjected me to. But still, I had failed. I would not escape here. I couldn’t save anyone and would not get justice for those I loved.

I hadn’t seen my friends the entire time. I didn’t know what horrors they had also endured. I begged to know if they were still alive, but no one listened to my pleas. It was just the same question over and over and over.

“Where is the Weapon?”

I had choked on a sob as they secured the rope around each wrist and ankle. I had tried with all my might the past thirty days, hoping to see the stranger with the white glow. But he never appeared. Neither did Asael.

Once I was secured to the torture device, the soldiers left the courtyard, leaving me to lay in dread until they returned to harm me. To end me.

All I wore was a thin tube top and underwear, and as I peered down at my body, a muffled cry left me.

My hip bones and ribs were entirely visible beneath my skin. My legs were frail, my flesh all shades of purple, yellow, and brown from the beatings. Scars were littered everywhere.

I am so tired…I don’t want to fight anymore.

During the first couple of weeks here, I wasn’t offered anything but water. I had been given one meal since.

My heavy gaze slowly slid upward, taking in the sight of the thousands of stars twinkling in the sky.

My face began to crumple, and as I accepted that my final moments were upon me, as I stared at the countless pinpricks of light, my mother's words filled my head.

“Count them, Lena. Count the stars.”

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