Page 19 of Magic Claimed
I’d hoarded some old horse blankets and a canteen of water there. The golden lights of stray magic that streamlined the edges of my tiny box comforted me. I squeezed through the door, quietly shut it and fell into the pile of blankets, easing one over myself. Sleep evaded me, despite my exhaustion.
What on earth was Esoti trying to get out of me? Years and years of torture for something that was not there? That’s what he was trying to do. And the other members of The Six apparently knew about it. Hell, all Esoti would have to do is ask and I’d gladly hand whatever it was over to them if they stopped torturing me. Maybe I might even die for real and find the peace I dreamed about.
And what about my new ability to shift? Shifters first Changed at adolescence and I’d never so much as grown a whisker. Not a hint of a longer than normal fingernail. It was all so confusing and exhausting and I didn’t have it in me to wonder about it anymore. There were bigger things to worry about in the form of three massive alpha wolf shifters who thought I was their mate.
I couldn’t tell them what I knew. If Esoti found out I’d told the shifters something of that magnitude, he wouldn’t just torture me. He’d take out the Alpha and his seconds, and then he would rain vengeance on all wolf shifters to safeguard that secret.
Sometimes, living was worse than death.
Chapter Eleven
I surfaced through thick fog to scent the heady aroma of cooked meat.
“Serafine, are you awake?”
I opened an eye to see Gilda in the doorway.
My mouth watered, and my stomach twisted. I sat up, helping Gilda into my hidey hole and then closing the small door behind her.
“You shouldn’t be here, Gilda.” If she was caught, there was no doubt in my mind Esoti would kill her, but Gilda would stay dead.
“Here.” She shoved a wrapped parcel into my hands. My stomach growled when I unwrapped the meat roll filled with thick slices of beef.
“Gods, Gilda. If Cook knew you gave this to me, she’d tan your hide,” I said, grateful that Gilda had taken the risk. Then the horrible thought struck me. “This isn’t yours, is it?”
Gilda reached to me, her hand unerringly finding my arm as she gently squeezed. “The thing about being blind is that nobody says anything when you take two rolls instead of one. Please eat. You’re nothing but skin and bones. I don’t know how skinny a person can get before they waste away.”
“Guess they’ll never know with me!” I tried for a smile, but it never came. Instead, my vision blurred with tears. “Thank you, Gilda.” If there was one thing I wished I could do, it was to give Gilda the gift of sight. Despite her disability, she was the only person who watched out for me.
The Six could cure her sightless eyes with a passing thought. They could cure diseases, restore severed limbs, and heal infections. Yet, they did none of that. If I could do anything, it would be to free people from the rule of The Six, but that was only a dream. One slave was a drop in the ocean of unanswered prayers whispered through millennia.
My stomach ached. I devoured the meat and the roll, and rested back onto my blankets feeling wonderfully full. My eyelids drooped, still exhausted.
“It was a bad one this time,” Gilda said.
I waved a hand in the air before letting it drop to my belly. I knew what she meant. Esoti tortured me on levels. Worse and bad. “Esoti had a new wand to try out.” This was another sticking point with those shifters. Don’t give the bad guy a powerful wand. Duh.
Gilda frowned. I knew she was totally blind and yet she faced me as though she could see me through those milky eyes. “Is that where he sent you last night?”
“Yeah, he got me to pick it up from Samuel, only…” I bit my lip, wondering if I should tell her, but I needed to talk to someone about what had happened. My head was not a good place to be. She might help me work out a way I could sever the bond and rid myself of the wolves. “I cut through wolf territory.”
Gilda gasped, her hand coming to her throat. “What possessed you to do that!”
I scoffed, “Legis, Yavo and Alwan came after me. I had no choice.”
“Those arrogant assholes. I heard Legis is walking with a limp. Do you know anything about that?” Gilda asked, a smirk playing on her lips.
“Brutes like them don’t think slaves like us can best them. That’s mistake number one,” I snickered, remembering the pain-filled furious look on Legis’ face when he went down.
“And what of the wolves? Did you see any? Are they as sexy as people say they are?” Gilda said.
The food sat like a stone in my stomach. “Sexier.” Being up front, personal and naked with three of the most powerful wolf alphas in the territory was indelibly seared in my mind.
“You saw one? Gods, Serafine. You’re lucky you came back, then again…you don’t have a choice, do you.” Gilda sighed. “They didn’t hurt you too badly before they…you know…”
“It was the worst, Gilda. I met the Alpha and his seconds,” I said through a tight throat.
Gilda’s hand splayed on her chest. “Gods.”
