Page 39 of Seized to Sacrifice
Both of them gasped and whirled around to face him.
‘Milord!’ the brunette said, clearly terrified.
He hardly spared them a glance, staring down at Elle.
‘Get the fuck out of the keep. Don’t come back.’
‘But we’ll starve without work,’ the brunette wailed.
‘Rye will hear of this,’ the blonde said haughtily, throwing her long plait over her shoulder. ‘He won’t let you do this.’
‘Go!’ Nyx roared loudly and they both shrieked, running from the room.
Luckily, they’d filled the tub enough for a decent bath. The water steamed, too hot for Elle to get into just yet which was just as well as the draught would keep her asleep for a little while longer if he'd got the measurements right … which he always had.
He covered her with the blanket once more, tucking her in and caressing her face. In her slumber, he kissed her on the forehead gently.
‘I won't let anyone hurt you again,’ he said, putting his forehead to hers and closing his eyes.
He meant it. He would destroy any human, break the truce he and the others had between them before she was hurt any more than she already had been.
* * *
Thorne
He tookthe chains out of their hiding place under the floorboards. They were covered in dust. It had been a long time since he’d had to do this.
How was the Beast getting out of his cage? How was he strong enough? There was only one thing that it could be, and she was just across the hall, licking her wounds in Nyx’s bed.
He gritted his teeth as he closed the manacles around his wrists, putting the key in a place he knew the Beast wouldn't find it so that he could get out on the morrow with no one being the wiser.
He lay back, staring at the ceiling, willing sleep to come.
What had Rye been thinking, playing with fire like that? They were like moths to a flame where she was concerned. Always had been. They wouldn't findhimanywhere near her, he scoffed to himself. He’d learned that lesson long ago and he’d learned it well.
He turned to his side, the thick chains weighing him down and not allowing for much more movement than that. He tried to ignore his discomfort. He couldn't let the Beast get free. Not again.
Thorne had no idea what his dark half would do after being a prisoner for so long, but it wouldn’t be anything good. He couldn't let the Beast win. He couldn't letherwin. He closed his eyes on that thought, trying not to remember her writhing body under Rye, tried to pretend he wasn't jealous that his Brother had had the chance to fuck her again.
Letting out a groan, he felt his cock hardening under the blankets, and knew he could do nothing to alleviate the ache as he could barely move his arms.
‘Fuck them all,’ he muttered, gazing out of the open casement at the low moon.
He wished things had been different. He wished they'd been able to stay together, content as they’d been.
But she had chosenhimover them and, as if breaking their hearts hadn’t been enough, she’d then left them here to rot, unable to even go through a portal to their home realms, not that Thorne would go back there. His family was long dead. He could barely even remember their names.
He tried not to feel the emptiness inside of him, tried not to think about those early days before the Light Realm when he and the Beast had lived like two sides of a coin. They'd shared everything. Sometimes even their consciousness. They'd known everything about each other. Sharing this body as they did, they’d shared their minds as well.
The madness that had taken the Beast after they’d come here was too much for Thorne to bear even now. He was afraid it would take him as well.
The Beast had run rampant for so long before he was finally captured in Kitore and made to fight. Thorne had no idea how many years he’d been absent, imprisoned inside the Beast. He had vague recollections of that time, but they were like snippets from dreams.
Mostly of being covered in blood that wasn’t his.
When Rye and Nyx had found him and brought him here, they’d locked him in the dungeon. When he finally regained control, he made sure the Beast could never, ever come out again. Or at least he thought he had.
His thoughts exhausting him, he finally felt tired enough to sleep and hoped that the Beast would realize that it would be best for no one to find out about this.
