Page 123 of Queen of the Crimson Throne

I took deep steadying breaths to try and dull the pain coursing through my body.

Everything hurt.

I must have passed out during their last round of torture. I looked at my chest. The wounds were already healing, but the scars were jagged and angry from the rusty blade or whatever it was they ripped across my chest.

I assumed once they realized I was awake they would begin another round. I don’t know how long they would torture me. Until I died? It wasn’t me they wanted—they wanted Lennox. They would play with me until she arrived—I was the bait in the trap laid for her.

I had dreamed of her—except it hadn’t felt like a dream. I tried to shake the haze from my mind.

I swore I could still feel the ghost of her hand on myface and her lips on my cheek.

I’m coming for you. She had said. Had she been able to communicate to me through a dream or was it a hallucination? It had felt real.

Either way, she couldn’t come for me. I knew she could hold her own, but I was not worth risking her life for. I hoped she remembered that.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs.

Great, they were back.

“Perfect. The Prince is awake.” The female, Remy, they called her, smiled gleefully.

The hulking male behind her, Tarick—the one who had snuck into my room in the first place—echoed her excitement.

Tarick handed Remy something, I strained to see what it was as she headed toward the corner of the room, her back to me.

Tarick ran his hand over the scars they had created the last time; I winced as he dug his finger into one that wasn’t fully healed yet, pressing my lips together to stifle a stream. “These are healing up nicely. Looks like you’re ready for more.” His smile was wicked, causing my entire body to tense. “Wait until you see what she has planned this time,Prince.” He laughed, the sound grating against my nerves.

“You ready?” Tarick bellowed.

“Ready,” Remy confirmed. I turned my head as far as I could trying to see what she had. My stomach hollowed at the sight of the glowing metal in her hand.

“Tarick, you better hold him so he can’t move away. We don’t want him to ruin his brand.” Remy turned her attention back to me, a vicious gleam in her eyes. “If you can’t hold still and mess it up I’ll have to do it again.”

I gritted my teeth, breathing heavily through my nose.

“This is going to hurt,” she crooned.

All there was was pain as she pressed the scalding metal to my chest. I couldn’t hold in my screams—they ripped from my throat as I thrashed against my restraints.

Tarick held firm behind me—ensuring I couldn’t move, no matter how hard I tried. Sweat dripped down my forehead as I continued to scream. Remy only laughed as she beheld me in front of her.

LUKA!

Lennox’s voice filtered through the pain—through my screams like a beacon of hope. Maybe it was a hallucination, but like the dream it sounded real. It sounded like Lennox. I tried to respond but all I could manage was another scream of pain.

Luka.Her voice was thick with concern—and panic—there was panic in her voice.Hold on. A little bit longer, I’m coming.

Lennox was coming. I thought through the pain. She couldn’t come.

After what felt like hours, Remy released the brand. My skin still burned, the pain lessening only slightly. With the pain no longer ripping through my body, I again tried to speak to Lennox.Don’t come. It’s a trap.

Was it her or was this all in my head? Either way, I had to warn her if we were somehow able to communicate, perhaps there was still a thread that remained between us after the spell we used to connect us in the catacombs.

Remy laughed again, drawing my thoughts back to the present. “Looks pretty good doesn’t it.” She stood back so the two could admire their work. “I thought about spraying it with salt water to ensure it doesn’t heal, but I decided rebranding him every hour would be much more fun.”

I gritted my teeth, biting my tongue so hard I tasted the metallic tang of blood fill my mouth. They wouldn’t get a reaction from me. Not now.

It doesn’t matter. I’m coming for you.

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