Page 57 of The Stygian Crown

“My name is Victus. You might have heard of me.”

Kara stilled. The leader of the Sanguines.Fuck.

Victus reached for his belt and lifted a flask to her lips. “Drink. It’s water.”

The metal rim was cold against her over-warm skin. Kara was hesitant to imbibe anything he offered, but she wouldn’t last long without water. She fastened her lips around the flask, and he tilted it up, flooding her mouth. She guzzled it down as fast as she could, desperately lapping at the trails that fell down her chin when he pulled the flask away.

He watched her desperation with a keen, analyzing gaze. “You’re out of sorts still from the pause powder. Nasty stuff. Ridiculous a team of ten required it. I regret not coming for you myself. Then again, they didn’t expect to find you in bed with Vakarian. I thought you were through with him.”

Panic tattooed her heart. “Where is he? Is he alive?”

Victus smiled, revealing unnaturally white teeth. “He’s here. For now. How long he survives remains to be seen. Your cooperation could go a long way towards that.”

“Prove it.” He could be lying about Logan, using the threat as leverage.He could also be lying about him being alive, an insidious voice in her head whispered. There’d been so much blood.

“You’ll hear evidence soon enough. My mages have never had an adult male Namirahn to toy with before. I doubt they will take it easy on him.”

Kara surged forward against her bonds, pain shooting through her where raw flesh cut into metal. Her struggle was pointless.

Victus started laughing. “Don’t suffer at your own hands, my dear. We’ll accommodate you plenty in that regard.”

“What do you want?”

“I’ve been looking for you for a very long time. You are the crown on my pyramid of jewels. It’s a pity he’s already tainted you.” He traced the curve beneath her breast, where the thin shift molded to her body. “When was your last keening?”

“None of your fucking business.”

Victus smiled, then he snatched a handful of hair and yanked her head forward, his voice darkening. “I want answers and cooperation, or you will suffer, girl.”

“I’ll kill you for this.”

“Hah. Logan, maybe. But you? How many keenings have you seen? Five? Namirah’s progeny or not, you’re an untested brat compared to me. Your lover’s in chains. You betrayed your clan. I own your brother. No one is coming for you, and they couldn’t find you if they tried. You have no one, Kara. I am your god. Prepare to bow down and pray.”

How did he know about the link between her and Namirah? Had Salizar suspected and told him?

“Now, let me explain how this is going to work. You tell me what I want to know, and I won’t hurt you. Much.”

“What’s your question?” she spat.

“To begin with, who is guarding Raven’s Rest, with the Stygians in the east embroiled with the royals? How many?”

Kara looked into his clear eyes and smiled. Then she reared back and smashed her head into his face. It hurt him more than it hurt her. Victus cursed and stepped back, hand flying to his broken and bleeding nose. It’d been so straight before, too.

His eyes flashed. “There it is. That fire. I was beginning to wonder what Vakarian saw in you.” He raised a hand to his face and popped his nose back into place with a grunt and a sickening crunch.

He smiled through the blood staining his teeth and left the cell. The fey lantern bobbed behind him, leaving her in darkness once more.

When the light disappeared, Kara called out into the darkness. “Logan? Are you there? Is anyone there?”

Silence answered. Kara rested her head against the damp wall, shifting in a fruitless attempt to rest as much of her weight as possible. Her arms were on fire from being stretched overhead for hours. She’d lost feeling in the tips of her fingers. She stretched and rotated her wrists, trying to wake up the blood flow.

She probably shouldn’t have antagonized Victus—should’ve tried to stay on his good side for as long as possible. But he’d been after her since Mudbottom—always trying to capture, not kill. The other marked women he took were also held prisoner if they didn’t come willingly. Whatever he wanted with her, he needed her alive to accomplish.

* * *

Kara expectedVictus to return the next day, but he left her alone in darkness. One day bled into the next, her internal clock losing precision without the sun to guide her. The rats were her only companions, and they were growing bolder by the day, pausing to sniff at her toes instead of scurrying away when they brushed against her. She began to regret attacking Victus when no food or water came. She soiled herself when her bladder filled to bursting, warm urine trickling down her leg into her raw ankles. Luckily, her bowels hadn’t moved—she hadn’t eaten in days, and her body was shutting down those functions.

She was exhausted from standing. The skin of her wrists was so angry and raw that she feared it would just slide from her bones, shucked off from holding up the weight of her body. She fantasized about summoning a cloud she could float into the sky and lay on for eternity, never having to stand again.

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