Page 14 of Darkest Heart

My blood ran cold. Her brown gaze pleaded into mine, her eyes watering as the life she’d created for herself flashed in her eyes. They were no longer looking at me but lost in a memory of a life that no longer existed. Her eyelids creased as they closed, tears slipping through the corners. My bottom lip trembled, and he wrapped his hands around her breasts, slicing the side until blood trickled down her torso. Sobs cried from her core, her shoulders wrenching forward as he sliced again, this time carving out her nipple. A scream rippled from her mouth, piercing my ears.

This wasn’t just feeding. This was sadism.

“The gods won’t help you,” I blurted, trying to act unbothered by the woman, hoping my indifference would help postpone her life. She would die anyway, and sooner rather than later was probably more merciful in this scenario, but I couldn’t stand seeing her in pain. If he knew I cared, he’d continue to use them until I told him everything, and then I would put everyone in danger. I didn’t understand the value of the information I held, but if they wanted it so badly, then it was important. “They only care for the sangaree.”

He cast the woman aside, and I watched her crawl into a corner in my peripheral vision. “I am aware,” he said, rage roiling on his distinguished features. “What did they tell you?”

“What happens to the souls you eat?” I asked.

“Do not attempt to distract me, girl.”

I exhaled heavily. “I’m not. You tell me something, I’ll tell you something.”

His nose scrunched. “You think you have power here? You have none! I have no love for the queen of thevampires,” he enunciated. “You will tell me, or I will kill every mortal,” he said, his tone going up an octave with each beat. “Now!”

“Like I said, I don’t care about them.”

“Lies,” he hissed. “I’ve seen the way you watch them, the tears.”

“I don’t enjoy watching because it’s disgusting. I cry because I am exhausted and hungry. Not because I care about them. Killing her won’t make me talk,” I bluffed. “But,” I added before he lost his temper, “take me back upstairs, let me have some food and water, and I will talk.”

“You dare bargain with me?”

I laughed, dissociating from all genuine emotion. “Yes, because you can kill every mortal. You can torture me. But I will never be forced into telling you a damned thing unless I want to. So, if you want me to talk, then you will show me a bit of fucking courtesy.”

We stayed in a staring match for a minute, neither blinking until the corner of his lip lifted. I’d heard they respected bravery, darkness, even selfishness. If I acted any other way, I was sure all the people down here would be dead by tomorrow. However, if the aniccipere got everything they needed from me, then I would be next.

Because Astor was wrong. Or lying. They weren’t keeping me hostage to lure my dad here. They were doing it to squeeze every drip of information out of me. I would make it as excruciating as possible.

“They told me you were weak,” he said, referring to who I could only assume was Astor.

I scoffed a laugh. “That’s because Astor is afraid of me, and you should be too if you had any sense.”

He shrugged, looking me up and down. “You don’t look scary to me. Covered in your own filth, powerless, and underfed.”

“Appearances can be deceiving.”

Surprise glinted in his beady eyes, and he stood. Something resonated with him. I didn’t care what it was, but he took the restraints from my aching wrists. “Water only, no food, and back to your room,” he agreed.

“The poison is enough to starve me of my magic and keep me weak. Him not giving me food or water is just his personal revenge,” I lied, not wanting to admit the bond between Sebastian and me.

“You have a soulmate,” he stated. “That is why we keep you this way.”

I laughed; the tinkering sound was unfamiliar to my ears. I rubbed the marks on my wrists and slumped back. “Is that what he told you? Soulmate? I don’t believe in such things. Besides, I’m only married out of convenience. Astor’s jealous as we were once betrothed.”

His mouth fell into a frown. He didn’t know that. I almost smiled but repressed the urge. “Water and some food,” he said slowly, “and if you don’t tell me everything you know, I will tear the skin from your bones,” he promised, and I believed him.

He moved toward the stairs, and I knew I had to follow, to show strength. But my body was exhausted, and lifting an arm felt like I was lifting heavy weights. Slowly, I stood, my knees wobbling as I fought against the tiredness and aching. Yet somehow, I kept myself standing, no matter how much I wanted to drop to the ground.

As I trudged toward the stairs, the creature turned. “As for you.” He grabbed her by the neck, to put her back in her cage.

I’d saved her, a small victory, but it was something I could hold on to. If I could get myself into a better position, to access my magic, then I could help them escape.

A loud crack reverberated around the room, echoing in my mind as I whipped my head around, realizing he’d killed her. He tossed her aside, and I hid my horror behind a mask of indifference, but my heart dropped and holding my breath was the only way to keep it all down. To stop myself from screaming out, because it would do no good. Not here, in the depths of depravity.

FIVE

Niall

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