Page 106 of A Court of Bones & Sorrow

Then a growl rumbled throughout the room.

“Restrain him!” Velika ordered.

I raised my head despite the blinding pain shooting down the left side of my face to see the guards clamping thick, iron chains onto Draven’s wrists and attaching them to the nearby pillars. The chains forced him to stand, and the way his arms were pulling against them, I suspected they were all that was keeping him upright. One of his beautiful eyes was completely swollen shut, his face a mishmash of bruises and cuts, and the dark tunic he wore was nothing but blood-soaked rags at this point.

Nobody in the room moved to help him. They just looked at him with amusement or disgust. Sometimes both.

“What did they do to you?” I whispered in horror before turning my wrathful gaze to Velika. “He’s your fucking son!”

She shrugged one dainty shoulder. “Technically, this is your fault.”

“Bullshit.” I seethed. “You’re just a sick, twisted fuck with too much power.”

A fist slammed into my jaw, and I heard something crack. The guard who had punched me yanked me back when I leaned over and spat out a mouthful of blood. “Do not speak that way to our queen,” he warned.

“No.” Lucian grinned at me. “By all means, keep going. This is fun.”

“Just don’t damage her too much,” Demetri said mildly as a servant handed him a wet cloth so he could wipe the dryingblood off his face. To my annoyance, the gouges I’d inflicted on him had already healed. “She is to be my wife again after all.”

“You’re fucking delusional.” I stared at him in disbelief.

“The two of you can fight about that later.” Velika rose from her throne and stepped down the dais to stand in front of me, Lucian moving to stand behind her like the obedient consort he was. “This”—she gestured at Draven, who looked like he was on the verge of passing out—“is your fault because you allowed him to drink from you. He has too much Harker blood in him right now for me to compel him to answer me.”

I deliberately kept my gaze on her face, refusing to look at the crown on her head.

“You can stop pretending.” She laughed. “I know you’re aware of what this crown is, and more importantly, what it does. Just like I know that you’re searching for the other half.” She reached forward and twirled a loose strand of my hair around her finger. “And I suspect you’ve found it.”

My face hurt from where I’d been hit, twice, but that didn’t stop me from raising my chin and spitting in her face. Her hand froze where it had been playing with my hair before moving it to slowly wipe away the blood-tinged saliva.

She pondered it, looking more curious than angry before glancing at Draven and then back at me. “Figures my son would fall in love with the only other Moroi in existence foolish enough to spit in my face.” Then her lips curved into a cruel smile. “Demetri was with the guards who captured him leaving the Velesian realm. He confirmed that my worthless son smelled of you. That he never broke while we ripped his body apart is only a testament to how much he loves you.”

Tears streamed down my face before I could stop them as I looked at Draven. His wounds weren’t healing—blood still leaked from all of his cuts, and the bruising looked even puffier than it had when he’d been dragged in here. I didn’t know if itwas because his magic was taxed out or if something else was at work.

Where the fuck was Vail? There was no way he hadn’t heard the commotion in here. Had they done something to him? No. There was no way they could have hurt him quietly, and I hadn’t heard a fight. Maybe he was just biding his time?

I didn’t know what one person could do against all this, but I was desperate for anything at this point.

“Here’s what’s going to happen, my pet.” Velika wiped her hand on my clothing, drawing my attention back to her. “I’m going to bring some of your friends here, starting with that pretty blond courtier, or maybe the advisor with the pretty eyes. By the time they get here, your blood will be out of my son’s system.” She clapped her hands together excitedly. “And then I’m going to command him to inflict every bit of pain on them that we’ve done to him over the last two days. Now, for all his shortcomings, the prince is quite hardy, so they probably won’t make it the full two days.”

“Doubtful they’ll make it more than a day,” Demetri said, and Lucian laughed with him.

A bloody and broken version of Kieran flashed before my eyes, followed a second later by Alaric. I’d have liked to pretend that I would remain strong, that I wouldn’t give over the knowledge of where the crown was, and that I wouldn’t put Rynn and the rest of Lunaria in danger, but I would break. Even knowing that we were all damned regardless, I would break eventually.

“Ah.” Velika gripped my chin, and I stared hatefully into her beautiful face. “Now you get it. There is no one who can save you from this, so you best cooperate with me, and I’ll spare you some pain.” Her nails shifted to claws, and I felt them bite into my skin. “But trust me, there will be pain.”

Devastation and hopelessness threatened to break the strong front I was trying to present. I had no chance of fightingmy way out of this. I was good at plotting, but Velika was better. She’d outmaneuvered me, and there was fuck all I could do about it now. The chains rattled again as Draven stirred enough to pull against them.

“I’m sorry.” I looked at him through tear-filled eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

Lucian opened his mouth, likely to taunt me again, when the doors to the room slammed open and Carmilla stormed in with Vail following her.

Hope rallied inside me, followed immediately by confusion. I’d assumed Carmilla was being held prisoner and Vail restrained . . . but the rangers who had been guarding the door made no move to stop them. Instead, they followed after Carmilla and Vail at a respectable distance. What the fuck was going on?

“Carmilla.” Velika released my chin and shot my aunt an annoyed look when she stopped a short distance away from us, Vail standing just behind her, his eyes on the queen. “I thought we agreed I would handle this? You’re too sentimental.”

What?

Velika glanced back at me, and I realized I must have said that out loud. She frowned and returned her attention to Carmilla, her eyes drifting to Vail behind her and then to Demetri, who had casually strolled over to stand beside them. “What is the meaning of this?”

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