Page 6 of Beg the Night

“I can’t help you.” I squeezed my eyes shut, preparing myself for the pain that knife would bring me. My legs were now numb, my body’s self-preservation instincts kicking in after the dozens of shallow wounds the nameless man had created. “Please, just stop.”

The worst part? I caught that bastardsmilingas he sliced into my flesh.

If I had any magic at all, I would use it to kill everyone in this creepy, underground establishment.

“That’s the thing,” Director said softly, stepping in close and angling over me until her perfectly smooth face was inches from mine. “Youwillhelp me, Athena. You’re too stubborn to see that it’s for your own good.”

My brain was too tired for riddles, too exhausted to comprehend what this psychotic person was talking about.

“Are you familiar with the claiming?”

My vision blurred. “Can’t say I’ve heard of it.”

A devious smile appeared on her face. “You’re in luck. And we are too. Tier threes are powerful, yes, but during the blood moon, if the claiming ceremony is performed, we can harness the power from two mystics and wield it. This is how we win the war, you see. We wait until the blood moon and then we strike. We will be virtually unstoppable.”

My stomach twisted into a painful knot. “You want me to complete the claiming ritual? What even is that? Doesn’t sound fun.”

She stood and crossed her arms over her chest. “You must mate with a tier three on the night of the blood moon. The transformation that happens to both mystics during the ritual will render you as one of the deadliest weapons in existence.”

Mate?I really wished I had enough energy to look shocked. Was she saying what I thought she was saying? She wanted me to havesexwith a mystic on the night of the blood moon so shecould harness the power I didn’t even possess? If they were this out of their minds, it was no wonder the Ministry kidnapped women under any suspicion they might be a mystic.

This was a dream. A very bad, sick, demented nightmare that I would be waking up from any minute now.

“You can’t possibly think I’d be willing tomatewith someone so you can steal our magic. Did you forget the part where I’m not even a mystic?”

Director turned away and spoke in low tones to the man with the blade.

Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t make out a word she’d said.

When she turned back, her expression was a shade harder than it had been since I’d met her. “We’ll see about that. We’ve just missed the blood moon, so you’ve got a month until the next. A month to change your mind, Athena, and I’m confident you’ll come to your senses soon enough.”

God, if you’re listening, just kill me now.Maybe this lady would come to her senses and understand that she sounded like a total lunatic.

“Take her to the dungeon,” she ordered.

I could barely feel my body as I was untied from the chair and forced back onto my feet.

“I’ll check in on you in a few days to see whether you’ve changed your mind. I think you’ll find it is in your best interest if you do.” She cocked her head to the side, dragging her attention down my body once more. “The other mystics will show special interest in someone like you.”

With that, she was gone.

Before I could inhale a steadying breath, I was dragged farther into the underground cavern, closer to the smell of death. The ceiling was so low in some parts, the men escorting me had to duck so they didn’t smack their heads on the stone.

Because that would be a real shame.

As we continued, I tried to pay attention to each turn we took, tried to burn every defining landmark into my memory so that I could get out of this prison the first chance I got, but the path was long and confusing, and by the time we made it to a barred, steel door, I’d lost hope that I’d remember. It was darker here, and this door was heavier than the rest. One key slipped into keyhole after keyhole, and the reinforced steel creaked to life as the men spent a handful of minutes undoing the locks.

The door cracked open, and I instantly regretted fighting so hard to stay alive. A massive, cavernous space just beneath the earth opened up to this strikingly disgusting pit made of rock walls and metal reinforcements. At least thirty men stared back at me from inside thedungeon, as Director called it. These were not the Ministry men I’d spent the last several hours with, though. These men looked just as shitty as I felt, some sitting on the dirty floor, others standing along the walls, each one looking at us like it’d give them great pleasure to snap our necks.

“Welcome to hell,” one of my captors whispered in my ear as he shoved me inside.

I landed hard on my knees on the stone floor of the nasty cave as the door slammed shut behind me.

Hell, indeed.

THREE

athena

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