Page 158 of Their Blood Rite

Cut.

My skin breaks, and my blood flows. It trickles down my legs and drips onto the floor.

Cut. Cut. Cut.

Shaw’s face splatters with blood as he slices me over and over, counting with each one. He takes regular rests, stopping to drink wine and watch me bleed.

Cut. Cut. Cut.

The sun sets.

Cut. Cut. Cut.

The sun rises.

My face burns as the knife drags down my cheek. Blinking tears from my eyes, he cuts my legs.

‘Two hundred,’ he says. ‘Two hundred and one.’

The sun sets.

‘Two hundred and fifty three.’

The sun rises.

Shaw steps forward as I blink him into focus. The blade rests at my throat.

‘Three hundred.’

Cut.

My eyes close, and the last thing I see is him smiling.

Back in the forest, I crumple to the ground in a motionless heap. I have every cut still on my skin, seeping copious amounts of blood through my clothes.

Blinking blood and tears from my eyes, I look up at the stars still shooting overhead.

Let me die.

Please… let me die.

I explode in power. My entire being is torn apart from the inside. All I can do is throw my head back and let it happen. Let myself be shredded.

Let myself die.

Let this end…Please…

Chapter 26

Red mist, like sparkling dust, settles into my body as the stars overhead finish their passing. Silence falls all around me. An eerie stillness.

I blink, unable to move or speak or even cry. The cuts on my body slowly stitch back together, but I’ve lost a lot of blood. It soaks my clothes and pools around my body. I manage to twitch my fingers and let out a groan.

Archie scoops me up in his arms and carries me out of the circle.

I’m so broken. So spent. All I can do is let silent tears fall as he holds me. I just died three times in the most horrendous ways. I feel like I was away almost a week, but to them, it’s been moments.

Dorian and Shaw step forward on either side of us. Neither look at me but stare straight ahead. They’re focused. Hands on the hilt of their swords and every muscle rigid.

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