Page 30 of Claimed By Shadow and Blood
I was bleeding.
The room spun, and my lungs screamed. I inhaled choppily, desperate for oxygen, and blinked. Fresh tears streamed down my dirty face, no doubt mixing with the blood and dirt.
Even being kidnapped on Earth seemed like a luxury stay compared to this.
Elias hadn’t exaggerated about keeping track of time. It was impossible here, and I hadn’t even been subjected to the horrible torture chamber he’d described.
I could have been here for mere hours, days, or even weeks. I had no way to gauge it, but I had to hold on and wait for Ember and my pack to find me.
A grinding noise made me freeze. My gaze shot up as the heavy metal door above me scraped open. Desperately, I wiped my tears from my face and jumped to my throbbing feet, refusing to let the guards know I’d been crying.
Light flooded in, and my wolf surged forward. The sudden hit of light after being in the dark for who knew how long caught me off guard, and I stumbled back down to my knees.
Heavy footsteps approached the edge of the hole, and two guards without masks under their helmets appeared. The closest was a square-jawed man with a scar over his left eyebrow. He barked, “Stand back.”
I straightened, trying like hell to ignore the sharp ripping sensation of skin and bone peeling apart in my feet and stand as confidently as possible.
The one who’d spoken held a thick rope coiled in one hand and tossed one end down to the floor, where it landed in the center of a puddle with a wetslap.
He smirked and looked at me in a way that made me uncertain if his dick or the rope held his attention. "Grab hold," he commanded, and chuckled low in his throat as he glanced at his friend.
Of course, they’d be like this. The small-dick energy in the cave was damn near suffocating. “I’mma pass. I’ll just stay right here.” And I meant every word. I’d rather stay in this pit thantouch or do anything they wanted me to. I wouldn’t give up and begin obeying.
Fuckthat.
Andfuckthis place.
“I’m fine if you want to be difficult.” Scar Eye winked. The torchlight caught on the jagged blue-purple scar over his eyebrow. It dipped down to his eyelid. “You being obedient or as unpredictable as a phoenix will bring me joy in different ways.”
His innuendos were purposeful, and I realized that, even here, men were sexist.
Maybe some would find that familiarity comforting, but not me.
My wolf snarled in my head, and her hackles rose. “Haven’t you heard? If you push me too far, I bite.” I’d done that to Kaylen during the first trial after she’d stabbed Arielle, the first friend I’d made here and someone I’d wanted to protect, in the back. I’d been in wolf form, and I hadn’t hesitated to bite the bitch. I wasn’t above doing it here and now.
I might be their prisoner, but I’d make sure they suffered along with me.
“These ropes contain magical bindings. Are you certain you want to do this the hard way?” The second guard leaned back and sighed. He was heavier set, with craggy wrinkle lines around his dull blue eyes and over his brow. Leaning forward, he rested his gloved hands on his belt. Both Crag Face and Scar Eye had a red mark on the cuff of their right glove. It looked like a chalice. “All you’re doing is encouraging him.”
That settled hard into my bones. I didn’t want toencouragehim, but he’d made it clear that being obedient would have the same effect. Maybe I could give him a taste of medicine he’d never had before.
I forced my bottom lip to quiver, despite my wolf snarling at the weakness I was showing. At the end of the day, night,or whatever the hell the time was, I was at their mercy. If they wanted to play games with me, I’d return the favor.
“This is your last chance to take the rope of your own volition.” Scar Eye jerked the rope, making itslapagain.
Water hit my face, and I clenched my hands, causing the blood to ooze even faster. I might not be able to kill him, but I would get some revenge.
“You’re just taking me somewhere to torture me more. Why should I willingly hand myself over to you?” I could guess that they’d be taking me to the Whispering Veins.
"We’re going to have someone tend to your wounds." Crag Face sounded gruffer than before. "There’s too much for us to look forward to, so we can’t have you getting sick and dying too fast.”
There was no stench of a lie, and my stomach soured even more. They wanted to heal me to hurt me all over again.
The fae were savage.
Ever since I’d been kidnapped, I’d witnessed the fae hurting each other and killing anyone they deemed a threat or competition.
Earth didn’t seem quite as cruel anymore. Sure, we had some people like that, but the majority were decent. Here, most of the fae seemed to be vicious…at least, many of the ones I’d been around were.
