Page 96 of Glass and Bone
“What is it?” I ask as he sets the vial down on the nightstand.
“You know what it is.” He reaches into the nightstand and pulls out my glass dagger.
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“You’ve been lying to me.” He says softly as he holds the blade between his fingers. I glance between the shiny glass and his eyes. “I knew the second I saw this dagger, who made it. This leather,” He pulls at one of the leather cords tied around it. “This is Theo’s leather. He uses a special kind on the hilts of his weapons, dyed with dragonink to make it stand out.” He spins the blade in his hand, so the tip is pointed at me. I freeze, my eyes on his. “How long have you been fucking my brother?”
“I’m not!”
“You’re lying.” He says through clenched teeth. He climbs onto the bed and pushes me onto my back. I try to pull away, but the tether holding me to the bed is too short.
“Tobias, I’m not. It’s only been you. I promise.” My voice is shaking. He has to believe me. He pushes my thighs apart and leans over me. I keep my gaze fixed on his as he slides the tip of the dagger down my arm. A scream escapes my lips as I arch my back, trying to get away from the pain. He drags it down the entire length of my arm, shoulder to wrist. I can feel it slicing through my skin to the bone. I can feel it cutting through muscle and tendon. I scream so loud my ears are ringing.
“You’re a liar and a whore.” His free hand slaps me as the hand holding the dagger moves to my abdomen. He lifts my shirt up, revealing my bare stomach. I’m shaking from pain and fear. I’m crying so loud I can barely hear him. I can’t see what he’s doing but I feel as soon as the dagger slices into the skin. He does one horizontal and one vertical line, unbothered by the blood curdling screams coming out of my mouth over and over again.
“Tobias, please.” I whimper, my throat hoarse. He throws my dagger to the side, and I can hear it slip off the bed and land on the floor, glass shattering. Breaking just like my soul. He grabs my face with his hands, forcing me to look at him.
“You’re going to watch while I fuck you and when you wake up tomorrow, you aren’t going to remember. But don’t worry, I’m leaving a reminder.” He pulls me up into a sitting position, with his hand in my hair, forcing me to look at my stomach. Tobias carved a capital T into my bare stomach with the dagger.Oh gods.The blood is pouring out of the wounds as he flips me onto my stomach. I cry out in pain as my sensitive skin touches the fur blankets, my wrist twisting around the chain.
“Tobias, please.” I cry into the furs, begging. “Please don’t do this.”
He has been lying this entire time. He has been pretending to be sweet and caring, but he’s been torturing me and drugging me to forget. Theo was right. Myfatherwas right. I wanted to believe the best in him. I wanted to believe that he loved me, no matter what the others said. I wanted to believe that once we got past everything, we would be happy, but it was all a lie. We were never going to be happy.
One of his hands hoists my hips up as he slams into me over and over again. I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from screaming. He’s rough, rougher than I could have ever imagined. Worse than Aleksander. Worse than any of the whippings my father doled out. This is about more than power and control; this is about enjoying the act of causing pain. All the times I woke up sore and raw, thinking it was normal. All the times I woke up in the bed, forgetting when I bathed. Or the times I woke up naked when I went to bed with clothes on. He was cleaning me, changing me, so I wouldn’t see the evidence in the morning.
His free hand snakes around my waist, digging into the sliced-up flesh on my stomach. I scream again as I feel his finger ripping through the skin, making the cuts deeper. He’s groaning,enjoyingmy screams and the metallic scent of my blood in the air.
“Keep screaming, my love. It only makes this better.” I clench my fists, biting my lip to keep from screaming so hard it tears through the flesh and I can taste the blood in my mouth.
He stops and slows as he empties himself inside me with a moan. He stills, leaving himself inside me as he controls his breathing. I open my eyes to see the two guards still standing, staring. Watching me get sliced open and raped. I’m shaking, the pain is too much but also fading. As if it’s going numb. Numb. I wish I was still numb.
Tobias flips me over, his hand finding my neck again. My stomach protests at the movement and I whimper. The chain is twisted, wrenching my wrist in the wrong direction, but I barely feel it. He has blood around his mouth as if he licks his fingers.
“Did you like that,Ela?” He whispers, his lips close to mine. His teeth are tinted red as he smiles. A small sob comes out of my mouth as he squeezes the sides of my throat. “Who do you prefer inside you, whore? Me or my brother?” I don’t fight the quiver of my lips or the tears escaping my eyes.
“Please, just kill me.” My voice comes out broken, weak. My head is spinning, and I have the weird sensation of falling.
“I’m not going to kill you Ela; I’m just getting started.” He releases my neck and I take a deep breath. I try to sit up and push him away, but my limbs fail to respond.No, the drugs. They are already taking effect.
I lift my neck as best I can to look at my stomach and see that the wound has almost closed. Blood is spread across my abdomen, but the slices aren’t as wide. I can’t believe it. It actually heals that quickly. I glance at my arm and see the same thing. I drop my head back against the bed, weakness over taking me.
“Please.” I whisper. Tobias curls up next to me, pulling my head to his chest and kissing my temple.
“Sleep well, my love.” He whispers. I fight to keep my eyes open, but they have a mind of their own.
Chapter Forty
I open my eyes in my bed, back in Noterra. I have the weird sensation that time has passed, but I just remember seeing Tobias in Chatis. And Scarlett.
Scarlett.
I gasp as I sit up, but something is holding me back. I look at my wrist and see a metal cuff tightened around it. The skin underneath is raw and swollen. I follow the chain with my eyes to where it connects to the bedpost. I grab it with both of my hands and pull as hard as I can, but it doesn’t come off, a frustrated groan coming out of my mouth. I stop and look around, breathless, to see two guards standing by the door, their hands on their swords as they stare at me.
“What day is it?” My throat feels raw as if I had been crying. I have been. I was screaming over Scarlett’s body. They don’t respond, their eyes just staring at me, unseeing. I look over to Tobias’s side of the bed, but it has been vacated. The pale linens are covered in a black, fur blanket I haven’t seen before, and I pull it towards me. A pool of blood lay underneath the blanket, dried to a dull brown. I drop the blanket and reach over to it. It’s slightly damp, but mostly dried. I glance down and see dried blood smeared all over my thighs and my stomach.
“What the fuck?” I whisper. I get up onto my knees and lift the hem of my black shirt. A startled cry escapes my throat as I see two fresh scars on my stomach forming a perfect T in the center of my flesh. “What is this?” I scream at the guards, but they still ignore me.
When did this happen? When did I get here, to this room? What the hell is happening?
