Page 29 of Seized to Sacrifice
‘Where is she?’ Rye thundered, barging into the room half-dressed.
When he saw her, he strode towards her, Thorne on his heels. He raised his arm as if to strike her. She cowered, hiding behind Nyx’s hulking form as if he would save her from his own brethren.
Rye noticed this and snorted. ‘So, you think he's your protector now, your champion, Elle?’ He spat her name as if it was a curse.
Thorne shut the door. She was alone with all three of them, and her heart began to pound harder. It was obvious that Eruk’s corpse had been found in the storeroom. What would they do?
‘She killed Eruk last night,’ Ryder said, pointing at her accusingly.
Nyx looked surprised and then confused. ‘Is this true?’
Her lip trembled.
‘It wasn't simply the fact that she killed him under our roof. It was the manner she did it in,’ Rye ground out.
‘Half his body’s been burnt away. It smells like a roasted boar down there,’ Thorne said.
Her stomach revolted and she felt sick as Nyx turned and stood shoulder to shoulder with the others, choosing their side.
‘There’s no other that I know of who can kill that way,’ Rye murmured. ‘She may seem human, but I think we can guarantee that she truly is Elle. Why the pretense?’ he asked her, seeming genuinely curious. ‘Were you so bored that you’ve come here to torment us?’
She shook her head, stepping backwards. What was he talking about?
Finding the wall behind her, she trembled before the three of them.
‘I didn't mean to kill him,’ she whispered.
She grimaced. The excuse sounded so feeble.I didn't mean to burn a man alive. I didn't mean to make his blood boil in his veins.
A tear ran down her cheek and she wiped it away quickly. She watched as Ryder became taller and broader, his features even more pleasing. His wavy, sable hair was replaced by white, and his eyes turned violet. He was almost as big as Nyx like this, every muscle on him rippling and toned. She gaped, unable to stop her eyes from rolling over his shirtless torso.
‘You’re fae,’ she whispered.
He looked even angrier like this, she thought, pressing herself into the stone at her back.
‘Are you going to kill me?’ she asked.
All three of them regarded her with surprise.
‘You know we can’t. Stop your games!’ Thorne snapped, and she recoiled at his tone.
‘Why did you murder him?’ Rye asked, clearly beginning his interrogation of her while she was intimidated.
‘The lives of humans might be worth little to you,’ he stated, ‘but our time here has made us realize how valuable they truly are.’
She blinked. He wasn’t making any sense.
‘Did you tell him to do what he did?’ she asked instead, her voice small. ‘Please tell me the truth. I know that you hate Elle, and you want revenge for something she – I did to you. Was Eruk part of it? Did you tell him to—’she looked down at the three pairs of boots in front of her and swallowed hard, ‘hurt me?’
None of them spoke. She found the courage to look up at them. Their expressions were shuttered.
‘Tell us what happened,’ Nyx growled.
She closed her eyes, shaking her head. ‘Why? He told me it wouldn’t matter if I said anything because no one would care … or no one would believe a slave over a freeman.’
‘Tell us what happened,’ Nyx ground out again although he didn't seem angry in the same way as the others anymore.
‘He threatened me,’ she said, hanging her head and blurting everything out. ‘He put his hands on me. He knew where I slept at night, and he told me he wasn’t going to leave me alone until he was finished with me. Luck was on my side, and he kept getting interrupted and I came up here to hide from him, but last night … there was no one to save me.’ She clenched her eyes shut. ‘I didn’t mean to kill him. I don’t even know how I did.’
