Page 85 of Depravity

“You came for dinner, brother.” He says, pointing a polished silver knife right at him. “So you will eat the food so kindly prepared for you.”

Conrad sits back, the ghost of a grin at the corner of his mouth and he picks up the fork, stabs a chunk of salmon and makes a deliberate show of eating it.

God, are they always like this? What if they escalate? What if this turns into an actual fight?

As Magnus’s eyes turn to me, I literally cower in my seat. I can see why they want him as Chapter Lord. He’s a monster, more of a monster than the man I’m now chained to.

“Tell me, Brynn,” He says, with that icy tone, “How long have you two been married?”

I blanche, stammering a reply, “I, I, don, don’t know exactly.” I say with a voice that sounds so weak, so small, so utterly pathetic. “It must be a month now, may, maybe mooore.”

His eyebrows raise, and he looks pointedly at his brother before turning his attention right back on me.

“You don’t know.” He repeats. “Does this marriage mean so little that you haven’t even kept track of it?”

My stomach drops, bile twists somewhere deep inside me and I think I might just vomit. “It’s not, it’s…” I try to explain it, try to rationalise it but Conrad takes my hand, placing it in his on the table, and that silences me.

“Time has not been linear for my wife.” He says.

“What does that mean?” Magnus replies.

My heart slams into my chest. I swear you can see it, my pulse thumping away at my throat. What will Magnus do when he finds out I’ve not been an obedient wife, that I’ve not behaved the way the Brethren expect, the way I was groomed and brought up to be?

“She’s had some lessons to learn, haven’t you, Doll?” Conrad says as his hand squeezes mine harder and harder.

I don’t want to do it. I don’t want to give in, but I drop my gaze and nod, feigning the obedience that they expect of me because I’m petrified of what will happen if I don’t.

Magnus stares back, scrutinising me like he’s trying to find every fault with my person. But Liliana, Liliana stiffens. I see it, the way her shoulders freeze, the way her face shows for one brief second what she’s thinking, what she’s feeling. Then it’s like a mask comes down, like she folds up that part of herself and she becomes that picture perfect wife again.

“Lessons?” Magnus echoes, his voice sounding more and more cruel with every syllable. “And what lessons are these exactly?”

I shiver, shrinking even further into myself. How can I possibly admit to him of all people what I’ve done. How bad I’ve been? I’m a Brethren Lady, technically. I know my place, I know my duty.

If I admit to it, will he decide to override Conrad and send me to Oblivion anyway?

Or is this their plan? Him and Conrad, playing this little game together, deliberately manipulating the situation. Twisting the knife until I’m an absolute wreck, right here at the dinner table.

I can’t confess what I’ve done. I can’t.

When I look back at Magnus, his eyes hold such a fierce intensity that I feel even more exposed. He’s dissecting me, assessing the fractured pieces, and trying to work out if I’m worth the effort of continuing.

I’m nothing but a pawn in this little game they're playing.

My breath turns shallow, and the air seems to suffocate me. It takes all I have not to start clawing at my throat, and how I keep those tears in, I don’t know.

“Do you not trust her, then?” Magnus shoots back at Conrad.

“It’s not a question of trust.” Conrad says stiffly. “It’s a matter of conditioning. The girl is young, malleable. I’m just ensuring that she bends to fit my precise needs.”

God, the way he says that. I want to grab the knife, I want to impale it in his throat. I stare down, realising that I’m gripping it so tightly my knuckles are now white.

Conrad tilts his head and it’s clear he’s seen it too. His lips curl, he stares me dead in the eyes, practically challenging me to do it.

I don’t know if Magnus sees it, if Liliana sees it either. But Magnus sits back in his chair, his fingers lightly drumming against the tablecloth.

“I gave you specific instructions.” Magnus begins, “I told you what I needed, what this family needed…”

“And I did it.” Conrad says back almost nonchalantly despite his brother’s tone. “I got married, just as you requested.”

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