Page 20 of Beg the Night

Margaret screamed again, something about how ridiculous this all was.

Yes, it was freaking ridiculous. I didn’t have any powers. I wasn’t a mystic. I was an ordinary, dull earthly. I didn’t belong here.

But that didn’t stop Director from believing I was hiding powers.

The man with the blade raised his arm again, and I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing myself for another hit.

But none came.

Instead, a gasp echoed around the stone walls.

I blinked my eyes open, dumbfounded by what stood before me. Orwho.

Sinner was standing in front of me with a thick hand wrapped around the man’s wrist, keeping the weapon frozen in midair.

The whole room had frozen in surprise, actually. I couldn’t see Director from here, but I could imagine the shock spreading across her face. She was probably just as confused as I was, though I wasn’t sure I was seeing all this correctly since each wave of pain threatened to pull me into unconsciousness.

“I’ll do it,” Sinner said.

What. The. Hell? Blood poured freely out of my leg, and my head spun.

Director cackled lightly. “You’ll do what, exactly, Tier Three?”

Sinner slowly let go of the guard’s wrist. “I’ll perform the claiming. If she really has power, it will be exposed then. She won’t be able to hide it from a three once she’s claimed.”

I opened my mouth to argue, only to choke on a mouthful of blood. Had I bitten my tongue that severely? And was I really hearing this all correctly?

Or had I lost so much blood that my mind was creating a false reality?

Yeah, that had to be it.

When the guard with the knife moved again, Sinner’s chest rumbled with fury. “She’sminenow. If you touch her again, I’ll kill you.”

Margaret knelt at my side, murmuring something about me and her brother that I couldn’t fully comprehend.

I was too focused on Director, who hadn’t immediately shut this idea down. She couldn’t really be considering this, right? There was no way she’d pair me with a tier three for a claiming that I had no right to take part in.

Was the Ministry really that insane? I shook my head. Of course they were. How else had they earned their horrid reputation?

“You’ll willingly claim with her?”

Sinner stood, slightly rigid, with his hands clamped behind his back. “Yes.”

“And why is that? You haven’t been exactly forthcoming in the past.”

He took a long breath, his focus sliding over to me.

I froze under his scrutiny. Nothing but distaste and hatred lingered there. Disgust, even. Hell, I didn’t blame him. I was feeling all the same things.

“Maybe I’m ready to get out of this shithole.”

His words were so sharp, Director actually stepped back. But she quickly recovered, huffing a laugh. “Well, well. Our tier three wants to cooperate now, and we might have what we’ve been looking for since this war started.” She turned to me, one brow arched. “Isn’t that right, Athena?”

Blood now ran down my chin and dripped onto my thighs. That didn’t stop me from glaring into that bitch’s face. “Like I’ve said a million times before, I can’t help you. Find someone else for him to perform your weird claiming ritual with.”

Director laughed again, sharper this time, as she sauntered around me. For an instant, she was completely out of sight, so when she grasped my hair and yanked my head back, I couldn’t stop the surprised, pained gasp that escaped me.

“You will perform the claiming. Either that, or you die. Those are your only options. The blood moon is in three weeks. I expect you to get acquainted with your claimed now that you’ve beenspoken for.” She shoved my head forward, sending a shooting pain down my neck.

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