Page 58 of Beg the Night

Athena watched, brows pinched in a mixture of confusion and pain. Delusion morphed her features, and her eyelids drooped as she fought against them.

Half the guards followed Director out of the dungeon, but the others stayed with the healer. When she was finished, she stepped back, and the man with the knife sliced through the rope tied around Athena’s wrists, then tipped the chair until she crumpled to the ground. He stormed out, dragging the bloody chair behind him.

The healer was the last to go, hesitating, head bowed, focused on Athena. Eventually, she left as well, though her steps were hesitant, like maybe she wanted to stay and help. Like maybe, like the rest of us, she was tangled in the ropes of the Ministry, forced to do this work for her own survival.

The moment the door clanged shut, I jumped out of bed and rushed to Athena’s crumpled body on the bloody floor. Her thigh gash was healed entirely. In its place was nothing but a light scar that matched the others. I quickly wiped the blood from her thin arm to make sure the healer had finished that one, too.

“Athena,” I whispered, pulling her onto my lap. “Can you hear me?”

Her eyes fluttered open and she trembled in my arms. “Thank you,” she breathed.

“Don’t thank me for anything,” I replied. “They stabbed you.”

With a grimace, she straightened and tugged at my hold. I refused to let her go.

Instead, I picked her up and carried her to her bed. “Rest, okay?” I pulled back. “You’ll feel better in the morning.”

“Wait—” She gripped my arm. “They can’t know.”

I froze, willing my heart not to take off again.

“Did you really feel it?” she asked.

Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I forced myself to hold her gaze. “Feel what?”

“Did you feel my power?” Her eyes widened, enticing me to dive into their depths. She looked…hopeful, maybe. Or scared? I couldn’t entirely place it.

“Sleep.” I placed a hand on her cheek and rubbed my thumb across her sharp cheekbone. It was stupid. I didn’t care about this woman. But this was for the best anyway. Every man here was watching us, and this would convince them otherwise. “We’ll talk about this later.”

I stayed by her side until her eyes fluttered closed.

Athena had a secret all right. And now I was holding tight to it right along with her.

EIGHTEEN

athena

Everything hurt and I was dying.

Okay, maybe I was still alive, but honestly, dying might be preferable to this pain.

And whatever softness I imagined Sinner showing me last night was long gone. We’d been training for two hours now. He’d woken me up and forced me to eat. We’d been doing this ever since.

I needed to work my muscles and gain strength so the next time the cowardly guards who worked for Director decided to impale me—his words, not mine—I could fight them off.

“You’re not even trying,” he complained.

I wiped the sweat from my brow. “I can assure you, I am trying. But thank you for that constructive feedback.”

I turned my back to him and gulped in one lungful of air after another. God, he wasn’t even fazed by this. Since I’d arrived, he’d done nothing but lie in bed and read that damn book, yet he blocked punch after punch like I was nothing more than a pesky bug.

Or maybe I wasn’t any stronger than a damn fly. No. I refused to believe that. I’d hold tight to my dignity and keep trying.

But it wasn’t looking good.

“These guards are powerful, and they’ve been training their magic for years. You have to be smarter than them, Athena.”

Athena.Every time he used my name, it sent a chill through my body. But I shoved my reaction down and turned to face him.

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