Page 95 of Dark Night Golden Dawn
“All we need is them.”
That was definitely Mark. Harlow fought against the restraints as she struggled to open her eyes. They were heavy, too heavy.
“But now someone knows we took them. That wasn’t the plan. Aurelia Krane can make trouble for us.”
“You’re worried about the wrong people,” said a groggy voice. Finn.
Harlow forced her eyes open and her vision swam. She watched as Mark Easton backhanded Finn hard enough to make his body strain against the chains that held him. His face was bloody and beginning to bruise. How was Mark strong enough to harm him? No human could hit one of the Illuminated hard enough to bruise them.
They were in a dark room. Everything in it was dirty… No, sooty. Were they in the burned-out House of Remiel? She looked around as much as she could in the dim light. Her vision was still unfocused, as though she’d been drugged. In the distance, she saw shallow windows. They were in a basement. Probably the House of Remiel’s basement, given the red velvet of the chairs that surrounded a scorched table at the center of the room. She’d only been to the House of Remiel a few times, but the red velvet was ubiquitous and memorable. Her throat hurt as she swallowed.
As Mark turned towards her, her entire body went cold and rigid.How could she have been so stupid? Why hadn’t she put this together sooner?
Mark had turned into a thing of nightmares. His once-brown eyes had turned a muddy shade of red, his skin gone pale with an unnatural grey undertone. He was the thing under the bed that little witches feared: an incubus who could steal her heart. No, that wasn’t right. That was just a children’s story.
She wracked her brain trying to remember exactly what kind of danger she was in, but her mind was still cloudy… Then she remembered. He could turn her into a succubus, a creature whose only purpose in life was to seduce and drain the lifeforce from their victims. All her magic would disappear, everything she was would disappear.
A wave of fear washed over her, intensifying until she was so terrified she vomited, the bile burning her sore throat.Had she already vomited?She looked down to find her dress was already stained.
“Dollface, you ruined your pretty dress,” Mark said with a fiendish smile.
There was nothing left of the boy who’d held her hair when she puked in uni. She’d thought he’d been a monster when they ended things, when he wouldn’t let her have Axel back out of spite, but she hadn’t known how bad he could be until now. Now, it didn’t take an explanation to see that he was perfectly willing to harm her. She glanced at Finn’s bloody face. Her and Finn both.
She vomited again and Finn struggled towards her, the chains binding his hands above his head clanging, causing her ears to ache. “Get her some water,” he growled.
“No,” Mark said, hitting him again. “The little bitch can soak in her own stench.”
“What have you done to me?” Harlow asked, her voice coming out in a croak. She had to distract him from hitting Finn again.
Mark turned to her, his ugly red eyes narrowing as he focused on her. In a flash he was in front of her, stroking her cheek with his icy grey fingers. He was nearly as fast as one of the Illuminated, she’d hardly seen him move.
“I haven’t done anything to you… yet, Dollface. You need to be awake for the ritual. But now that you’re up, we can get started.”
Olivia Sanvier stepped out from the shadows, her arms curling around Mark’s waist. The look on her face was one of pure malice. “Now that Heifer Harlow is awake, what games should we play with our fattened prize?”
Mark smiled, but didn’t answer. Harlow saw something in his expression that belied whatever he truly felt.Was he annoyed with Olivia?
Olivia stepped forward. “She’s already so pathetic, with her stupid little cat, and her frumpy clothes… Gods, even Enzo Weraka couldn’t do something to make her look glamorous.” Olivia’s moonstone eyes locked onto Harlow’s. “Whyareyou so pitiful, Harlow?”
Hot tears slipped down Harlow’s cheeks. She was furious, and when she was angry, she often cried. It was a weakness she’d hated, but now it seemed to fill a purpose. As tears splashed onto her dress, she saw the revulsion it evoked in Olivia. Anything to stall them. She had to think of a way out of this before they began whatever infernal ritual they’d unearthed to turn her. She had the terrible feeling that her first feed as a succubus was meant to be Finn. She couldn’t let things get that far.
“Ugh. She’s crying.” Olivia slapped her face, her nails dragging across Harlow’s cheek, drawing blood as she went. “What doyouhave to weep about, you spoiled little cunt?”
A roar erupted from Finn’s throat. He seemed to be fighting some unseen force. Mark was manipulating his emotions, pushing him somehow. Harlow didn’t know the technicalities of how an incubus’ power worked, just that they could control what anyone felt, and the Illuminated were not immune. He was torturing Finn. If only she’d dug deeper, paid more attention toLore of the Liluwhen she had it right in front of her. Or any of the dozens of books in the Monas that explored the taboo lore of the Order of Night’s most dangerous creatures.
A sob choked her as Olivia hit her again, this time in the stomach. She doubled over, letting her head fall forward. Shehadto think, buy them some time. Outwardly, she cried harder, since it provoked Olivia. Inside, her shadows roused. The sounds of Finn’s cries of rage and pain lit something within her that seemed to block some of the effects of Mark’s power.
If she could distract them, she might be able to get free. And then what? She hadn’t trained to use her shadows in combat. She wouldn’t even know where to start. Fear gripped her. She was tempted to shove it down, but her shadows didn’t like that. Instead, she leaned into her fear, embraced the idea that she was scared.She was scared because the man who’d hurt her, the people who’d hurt Axel, were hurting Finn.
And shelovedFinn. She wasinlove with him. Her future was with him, doing the work he’d started with the Knights of Serpens, and these two would not take that away from them. Her magic swelled within her as her fear transformed into something else. Something she coulduse.
Olivia punched her in the jaw. Either she wasn’t trying very hard, or something about Harlow’s magic protected her from the full impact of these blows. Finn wasn’t faring as well. Whatever Mark was doing to him was wearing him down. His skin had begun to dull, losing its usual faint luminescence that hinted at his power. She wondered how long they’d tortured him before she woke up. It was obvious Mark and Olivia meant to kill him, and turn her into a mindless beast, but why? This was all too much just for the sadistic pleasure of being cruel.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked, injecting as much fear as she could into her voice without sounding as though she was putting something on. She still wasn’t sure what to do. She needed to keep them distracted, see if she could get Mark to pay attention to her, rather than Finn.
Olivia laughed. “Are you really so stupid?”
Harlow sobbed quietly, lowering her eyes as though she was frightened. “Why?”
