Page 136 of Owned

I was trapped.

“The wedding date is already set...” I said.

“Do you understand the stakes, Avril?” The woman’s voice again. “This is your chance to reclaim control over your life. Over the man who holds your fate—and ours—in his hands.”

But what did control even mean?

Tears burned my eyes, but I wouldn’t allow them to fall. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing my despair.

“I won’t do it. I don’t trust you not to give me a spell that would destroy me in the process!”

I glared up at them with as much hatred as I could summon. No one moved. And then one member lunged forward, their hand a blur in the dim light. A stinging slap connected with my cheek and sent a shockwave of pain through my skull as my head rocked back. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth, coppery and bitter, as I sprawled on the stone floor.

“How dare you reject us after what you’ve done!” a woman’s voice spat. “You murdered my daughter! Stole her magic right in front of my eyes!” The woman scrambled back as her comrades grabbed hold of her arms. “I told you we should have killed herwhen we had the chance!” she cried. “That would send Lucian a message he’d never forget!”

Cara’s mother.

I remembered her haughty face all too well.

I groaned as I pushed myself back to my knees. I tasted the salt of my own blood, and the memory of that night—but it wasn’t shame I felt. It was justification. I hadn’t asked for this life; I hadn’t wanted it—but when I’d discovered that I had no choice; I hadn’t turned away from it, either.

The woman’s shouts continued even as she was dragged back into the shadows.

Ragged breaths rasped at my throat as the gloom swallowed the woman’s rage.

But her words echoed in my ears and in my thoughts even as the memory of Cara’s wide eyes invaded my mind.

I spat a mouthful of blood on the stones.

“I won’t do it,” I panted.

“You will,” a voice replied.

A suffocating silence descended on the cell as they departed.

The crash of the door made me jump, and I glared into the shadows, desperate to see the outline of some escape—but even as I thought I’d found the edge, it melted into the stone and left a seamless wall behind.

No door.

No window.

No escape.

I swallowed hard, but the metallic tang of blood still lingered on my tongue.

With a shuddering breath, I closed my eyes and searched for the pulse of my blood bond with Valen, Bastian, and Titus.

I had to believe it still existed despite the magical barriers strangling my abilities.

I pressed my lips together as I focused all my energy on the fragile thread that bound us.

I pictured Valen’s enigmatic eyes, his chaotic spirit intertwined with mine, and Bastian’s wild laughter echoed in my mind like music. Titus’s icy demeanor flickered in my thoughts, a shadow of menace that made me shudder.

I could feel them—but it was faint.

The keylines were too strong, but I tried to will my voice—anything—through that magical bond.

But the wards surrounding me were a cruel fortress, and I strained against the invisible barrier, pushing harder. But nothing— I wasn’t strong enough to break these spells.

---