Page 40 of Claimed By the Fae Lord

I sucked in a breath, the air thick from the heat of the midday sun. I wished I hadn't fallen asleep, pissed off that I was so weak I hadn't been able to keep my eyes open.

Repositioning on the narrow cot, I rolled to my back, ignoring the ache in my limbs as I cautiously weighed my scant options. Though the pain wasn’t as sharp as it had been, each movement took energy. So I held still, thinking.

My mind whirred. If I could somehow manipulate one of these chains to break, I could unravel them and be mobile.

"Focus, Raina," I murmured to myself, testing the strength of the bindings, seeking out weaknesses in the metal.

Strands of hair fell into my face as I twisted and turned, trying different angles and pressures. Memories of training sessions danced across my mind—how to leverage, where to strike, when to do both.

My head jerked up at a scoffing sound from the doorway. Vance was there, in front of the other two, shaking his head with faux concern.

"Still holding on to that spark, aren't you?" he asked. "Personally, I find it admirable. It'll serve you well when the buyer—"

"Save it," I barked, my voice laced with the frost of my lineage.

The chains clinked in protest as I shifted, refusing to cower before them. "Whatever it is, I'm not interested in hearing it."

Llew loomed over me, his wide torso blocking the light from the window. "I can take your mind off of things. Maybe you'll be nicer once I show you what's waiting for you after the auction."

A laugh, brittle and biting as winter's chill, escaped my lips. "Come near me with your tiny cock and I'll empty my well-store to make sure it freezes and cracks right off your body."

I held his gaze, letting silence stretch until it became another entity in the room. He'd been threatening me for days. Obviously, he was all talk.

"Go on, sell me," I dared, the words slicing through the quiet like shards of glass. "Compared to my parents, your torments are nothing. Pain and misery have been my only constant companions throughout my entire life. You'd better hope the buyer kills me, because if he doesn't, I'm coming for you. And if I find you, I will inflict upon you every single harm that was done to me. Tenfold. Only then will I end your miserable fucking lives."

They exchanged a look, one that carried the undercurrents of doubt. Perhaps they had underestimated the willpower of a female scorned.

Good. Let them worry, let them wonder. For each moment they spent in uncertainty was a moment I could use to weave my escape.

"I suggest we come back to clean her up," Vance said. "I'll need to meditate and power up so I can control her for an extended period."

Unlike the first day, I didn't feel an ounce of fear at being controlled. Eventually, he'd have to let go. I'd spend the rest of my days hunting them down, even if it took me eternity to break free.

They left, locking the door behind them. Adrenaline pumped into my veins.

The chains around my wrists suddenly felt less like restraints and more like a challenge. A challenge I intended to meet head-on.

I resumed testing my bindings, seeking the weakest link. My fingers, nimble and cold, worked at the metal, seeking imperfections. And there—was that a give? Or was I imagining the tiny movement?

I twisted my wrist, the metal grinding against skin already raw and tender. I'd been manacled in these thin cuffs for so long I was sure to scar. If I could get free, I wouldn't care about the scars.If.

Because if I didn't ...

In that moment, the air around me seemed to pulse with my heartbeat, thudding in my ears like a drumbeat. A thought slithered into my mind, cold and seductive as the frost covering the grounds of Snowfall.

Would it not be easier to embrace the chill of death than to endure whatever torments awaited after the auction?

No!

That's when I heard them. The muted voices of my captors seeped through the thin walls, inside whoever's room was next to mine.

"We'll need to be careful with the chains," Tabor's oily voice drifted to me, wrapped in caution. "The blacksmith warned they were not as strong as he'd have liked. He had to use that inferior iron alloy from the eastern mines."

"Doesn't matter," grumbled Llew, his words laced with impatience. "She's just a slip of a thing. What can she do? Vance will take care of any issues, anyway."

A weakness in the chains? It was all I needed, I just needed to keep going.

"Come on," I hissed under my breath.

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