Page 59 of Beg the Night

“I wasstabbed in the legyesterday, remember? Why are you insisting on turning me into a soldier today?”

“You were healed, weren’t you? This is for your own good. Now, try again.”

Yeah, I was healed. I vaguely remember the warmth of the healer, the same warmth I felt the first time.

And again, something about them seemed sofamiliar.After Sinner laid me in my bed, I’d had the dream again, the same one I had after the first time I’d been healed. That the person healing me was my sister, not a mystic from the Ministry.

But then I woke up, and any soft memories of sisterly love vanished.

Sinner and I worked in silence after that, other than when he’d laugh at my weak hits. For hours, he pushed me. He didn’t ask me about my power, and I didn’t ask him about what happened last night with Director.

If he thought he’d discovered my alleged power, he lied about it. Why? If Margaret’s life was on the line and he really had sensed something, wouldn’t he be itching to spill what he knew?

I hoped with all that I had that Margaret was far, far away from the Ministry’s grasp. But deep down, I knew better. Director would never let her escape when Sinner was still here. Not when she could be used to bend him to the Ministry’s will.

So, I numbed my mind, focusing on the physical pain. I let my muscles ache, let my bones scream at me until I couldn’t hear my own thoughts.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Time morphedinto one long stream of eating and sleeping. Director did not come back. The guards did not return to torture me. That was the tiny perk in this ongoing hell.

Sinner barely spoke to me outside of our training sessions. After a few days, my muscles started to get used to his tactics.

But it wasn’t like that would ever be enough. Time was not on our side.

I had three days. Three days until the claiming ceremony. Three days to decide whether I’d really go through with it.

The sinking feeling in my gut answered that for me. I was in too deep. This was happening.

I sat on the edge of my bed and ate the dinner Sinner had kindly brought me. I’d argued at first, but like he’d been doing since I woke after being stabbed, he reminded me that I needed all the energy I could muster. We never knew what the Ministry would do next. Return with their blades? Pump sex drugs into the dungeon again? Yeah, eating this strange meal would definitely help in that situation.Not.

For reasons unknown, the air in the dungeon was thicker, more tense than usual. Everyone was on edge. As if we were all very, very aware of the ticking clock.

Sinner included.

I wanted to ask him about his magic. I wanted details about the extent of his abilities, what he was really capable of. But I couldn’t bring myself to speak to him about anything meaningful after our night in that cell. I couldn’t look at him without seeing the way his lips had been pressed to my thigh, without feeling his hands on my body. God, even thinking about it made me blush. Iwas constantly very grateful that this dungeon offered very little sunlight.

Sitting alone on my bed seemed like a much better idea.

When I wasn’t sleeping or thinking about the doom looming over my head, I thought about Margaret. I missed her. I missed her so much that I actually hated myself a little for letting her worm her way into my cold heart.

She had to be okay. My sister would have upheld her side of the bargain. Right? Chest tight, I set my plate on the floor and fell backward, staring up at the ceiling with a sigh. I used to think I could trust Katherine, but doubt was slowly infiltrating my thoughts. The reality was, I didn’t trust anybody.

I hadn’t for a very, very long time.

Katherine had been my friend once. Really. But throughout our teenage years, we hadn’t gotten along. The four of us siblings had always had our issues, but more so Katherine and me. We fought. My parents had been the type to sit back and watch the chaos rip us apart rather than step in, but I was fine with it.

I was a fighter. Always prepared. Always ready for conflict.

Katherine, though? She was sneaky. She wasn’t the type to get angry and roll her sleeves up. No, she was the type to harbor a grudge for months. Years, even. One time, I’d accidentally ruined her favorite sweater, and she refused to speak to me—even look at me—for an entire winter.

When she disappeared, I assumed she was dead. It was easier that way. Though after seeing her—gifted with powers I never knew she possessed and working with the Ministry—I questioned everything. And now she, too, thought I was harboring some secret magic.

Was she right? Did she know more than she was letting on? Had she left so she could find the Ministry? Could she have really believed in what they were doing? Could she have knownabout the magic I possessed? Maybe she’d seen it, sensed it, and so she’d left to find the Ministry so she could turn me in.

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