Page 45 of Beg the Night

Especially me.

But maybe she’d finally realized the truth—that the claiming was her one and only ticket out of here. Or maybe she was finally accepting the fact that somewhere buried deep inside of her, she was a mystic.

New Girl had power.

I could feel it down in my soul. What was left of my soul, anyway.

Her eyes fluttered beneath her closed lids as she slept. She was probably cold. Exhausted. Starving.

I shouldn’t give a shit about any of those things.

But the damn claiming changed things. We were still a while away from the actual ceremony, but it was as if my body knew she was mine. My power knew it, too. The shadows under my skin sang, pulling me toward her.

Pressure built in my chest as I tried to focus on anything but her.

But it was no use. Trapped down here, forced to be so close to her, my thoughts consumed me.

Slowly, silently, I climbed to my feet. Fuck, every muscle ached. Whatever they’d used to knock us out at that ball had done its job and much, much more.

Not that I’d ever really known comfort. Maybe that’s why I’d survived down here for as long as I had. This life wasn’t all that different from the life I’d come from.

Breath held, I scooped her up from the floor, one arm under her knees and the other behind her back. Her head rolled onto my chest as I stood, causing me to inhale sharply. It was a mistake, because I was instantly engulfed in her addictive scent.

I laid her on the small bed in the corner of the room and as she shifted, I stepped back. She murmured nonsensically as she adjusted her body to the new position but fell still again quickly.

I picked up the jacket I’d tossed to the floor when I’d first woken up in here and covered her with it. As much as I didn’t give a fuck about whether she was cold, my power damn near insisted I take care of her. Like it would disobey me for her if given the chance. It was more of an annoyance to me than anything.

But at least this way I didn’t have to stare at her every time I opened my eyes.

I gave her one more glance, then returned to my spot on the floor.

It was quiet here. Lonely.

My chest ached for Mags. Wherever she was, I hoped to god she was safe. The dungeons? This place? It was the farthest thing from it. The only reason Director hadn’t used her in the claiming ritual yet was because she was more interested in my power than my sister’s, and I would have never agreed to participate if anyone had even looked at Mags the wrong way.

But with every day that passed, my control dwindled and the Ministry’s grasp on me grew tighter. It was fucking suffocating.

Less than two weeks until the blood moon. Until the claiming. Less than two weeks until this was all over, and we were out of the dungeons for good.

“Help me,help me, somebody help me!”

I bolted upright, my senses on full alert as my eyes adjusted in the dark room.

New Girl thrashed, arching off the bed.“Help me. Help me. Help me.”

Before I was aware that I’d moved, I was hovering over her, shaking her shoulders. “Athena! Athena, hey! Wake up!”

Her eyes popped open, her lips parted, and for a moment, all she did was blink up at me in confusion. Sweat beaded on her pale skin, glistened across her chest. “What happened?”

“You were screaming.”

Her eyes went wide, becoming the deepest, darkest pools. I could have fucking swam in the depths of deep brown. It was rare to see her this way—defenseless, unassuming.

“Sorry,” she muttered, her voice hoarse. “Did I wake you up?”

“Did you screaming ‘help me, help me’ wake me up?” I bit back a smirk. “A bit, yes.”

She sat up, and I stepped back. She took a few long breaths, slowly calming herself. Like this, she reminded me so much of my sister. I’d seen Mags go through this same kind of shit far too many times.

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