Page 108 of Blood and Ruin: The Complete Series

“You’re… with him?”

After everything he’s done to her…

But none of that was real, was it? She faked it. Her frail body, the bruises and cuts, they were all an illusion.

Whereas every punch King landed on my body, every slice of a blade across my skin, every break of a bone, was real.

She knew this. She knew what he did to me and still… Still, she played her role, gaining my compassion, my trust. My love and just… laughed at it behind my back.

Despair so vivid, so real, it suffocates me and drags me under, holding me down. A tidal wave envelops me like a shroud. One so thick and heavy it layers upon me, drenched in agony and pain. So much pain.

I try to catch my breath but it’s no use, my chest constricts in on itself.

This is just a game to her, a role to play.

She has been with my tormentor all this time, and she fucking loves him.

Something inside me cracks and rips, spilling out around me, the last remaining pieces of me shattering.

I become hollow. Numb.

An empty shell, my broken pieces lay scattered on the ground.

“Why?” My raspy whisper can barely be heard.

My eyes burn as my legs give out. The guard’s grip tightens, painfully so, but it’s nothing on the agony I’m feeling inside. The mental torture from learning her betrayal, like a living, breathing entity as it slashes out at my body and mind.

Ignoring Kaladar’s delighted chuckle beside me, I look at Morana. “What could you possibly gain from this?” My voice is drenched in agony.

“When you first came here—”

“When King murdered my mother and kidnapped me?!”

“None of that matters now.”None of that matters?How can she say that?

“You—”

Power whips out, dragging me to the ground and out from the guard’s grip. I send Kaladar a glare, but he’s smirking at Al—Morana. Whipping my head towards her, I watch on in shock as a wave of green smoke circles her hand.

The hand that’s reached out towards me.

My shoulders drop, too heavy to hold up. She isn’t just an illusionist; she has power. She was never weak.

I push back the tears threatening to spill, not wanting them to see just how much this hurt. Like so many others, they will only find amusement in my pain.

“Was any of it ever real?” I ask her, needing to know if she ever cared. Even for a moment.

“Oh you poor, poor thing.” Disdain drips from each word, giving me my answer. “Cared? You were a job, a role to play, so King would get what he needed.”

“Which was?”

“Your compliance of course.”

“He fucking tortured me, for my damn compliance? Why the fuck would you go to these lengths?”

“We needed to see if you were what we were looking for. Turns out you are. But to find that out, we needed to… test your limits.”

Bile rises up in my throat at her admission. She knew exactly what King was doing to me. Killing me over and over. And all to test me.

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