Page 125 of Depravity

He shoves it into the flames and then straightens up, walking back over to me.

“Will you be good or bad today, Brynn?”

I don’t want to be good. Not the good he wants.

But bad isn’t okay either.

I frown, unsure what to say. Conrad doesn’t like me bad, but this here, this would make him so angry.

Xavier grabs my chin and forces me to look at him.

“God, you’re so messed up you can barely string a sentence together,” He sneers.

Messed up. I am messed up. He messed me up and Conrad won’t be happy about it.

“I want to go home,” I whisper. Maybe if I say it enough times, then they’ll listen to me.

He tuts, slapping my face enough to make me jump. “This is your home now. This is where you live. And I, I am your husband.”

No. That’s a lie.

A big lie.

Liar liar, pants on fire.

“Conrad…” I begin,

“Speak his name again, and I’ll make sure it’s the last word you ever say.” He growls, squeezing my throat hard enough that I can’t get any oxygen in.

My hands claw against the bindings. My eyes seem to bulge, and it hurts so much with all the bruising. Dark spots prickle my sight and tears stream down my cheeks.

And then he lets go, he stands back and he watches as I struggle to get my breath back.

He walks over to the fire, grabs the little spade out of it, and he leans right over me.

I can feel the heat of the thing, I can see how red it is from being in the flames.

His eyes drop to my chest, to where my brand is, and he pushes the flat bit right down onto it.

I scream.

I scream so loud.

It hurts even more than my back breaking, even more than my brains being removed. I can smell the stench of my flesh burning, I can feel it, the way it’s melting. My body locks up, my hands curl into fists but I can’t make it stop. I can’t do anything.

After what feels like hours, he pulls it away. I see a string of my flesh trail with it, and the cool air that replaces the metal makes it sting just as much.

“There,” he says, tossing the instrument into the fire. “That’s better. Now I don’t have to look at his damned crest anymore.”

He burned it. He burned it all off.

I drop my head, staring at where my skin is more burnt and blistered than ever. At least Conrad had the decency to sedate me. Xavier clearly wanted me to feel every second of that pain.

His lips curl as he meets my gaze, and then he’s undoing his belt, clambering onto the bed and hoisting my body up till he gets me at the right angle for him.

“Let’s put this body to some good use,” He says as he thrusts himself into me.

Every lead, every clue leads to nothing.

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