Page 153 of Their Blood Rite

‘There’s a celestial event in two days. The end of a star cycle, which will give the final spark the spell needs,’ Shaw says over my struggling. ‘After that, we’ll see how you are and make a choice.’

‘A choice to keep me locked up or not? A choice on if you let me live or kill me because you made me a monster?’

‘If you keep your soul, we’ll let you out.’

‘And if I don’t?’ I stare at him, hating every fucking inch of his infuriatingly beautiful face. ‘You make me do a spell that will drive me to darkness, and as punishment, you will lock me up?’

‘You’re strong. You’ve used blood magic, and you’re still you. You have a phenomenal connection to earth magic. You may come out of this with a soul.’

I spit in his face. Slowly, he wipes it away and flashes me a furious stare.

‘If I lose my soul in your pursuit of power, I will become your worst fucking nightmare,’ I warn.

‘You’ll die if we keep taking from you, Ashe. One of us, maybe you would live. But all three of us craving you? You won’t last until winter. Our cravings are getting stronger. We can’t be responsible for killing you, and even if by some miracle you did survive us, we’re ageless. You aren’t. When you die, we’ll lose your blood.’

‘Then spare everyone and go cut out whatever counts as your fucking hearts.’

‘So, you refuse to help us?’

I sit back in silence, staring into his dark eyes.

He stands.

‘We have no other choice,' he says. 'I’m sorry.’

‘I was always going to be your pixie, wasn’t I?’ I ask him. ‘Tied up. Torn apart for your own desires. And left begging for death.’

He remains silent as he watches me. He opens his mouth as if to speak, but nothing comes out.

All three leave, locking the door behind them.

Time loses all meaning. There’s no light. No windows.

No freedom.

I’m given a bucket to relieve myself, a mattress and blankets, warm clothes and candles. They feed me, refusing to leave me unattended with the gag out and insisting that I don’t allow myself to starve.

They refuse to let me out even when I tell them Iwilldo the spell. They don’t trust me. They’re right, too. I’d break out as soon as I could. They won’t risk it.

My mind often wonders to what they’re doing out there as they wait for this celestial event. Are they just carrying on like they were before? With their parties by the fire? With their human pets to play with?

I close my eyes. Silent tears slide down my cheeks. With each deep breath, I force my thoughts and doubts into submission.

Images of them making me food spring to life in my mind. Memories of the space they made under the bed for me.

I’ve not known much kindness in my life.

I never expected to find it here, no matter how short-lived it was.

It wasn’t real. None of it.

I’m a blood whore. Their pixie. Trapped and slowly taken apart for pleasure, just as the pixie I freed from them was.

When the door opens, Shaw is sliding on his coat. He’s fully armed and looks determined.

‘It’s time,’ he says before leaning down and blowing sleep dust into my face.

I slump, sinking into the scent of lavender and the sound of waves.

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