Page 32 of Cages and Crowns
“Don’t.” I warn. His hand fists in my hair and yanks, exposing my neck and keeping me still. His lips are warm as they press onto my skin, his tongue flicking out to gather one of the tears dripping down my jaw.
“You always smell so good after he’s done with you.” I try to pull my head out of his hands, but he holds tight. His lips leave my neck, and I can hear his belt being undone. I can’t go through this again. His hand slips from my hair and he’s silent for a second. My pulse skips, my breath coming in short pants. I can hear my blood dripping off the table and onto the stone floor. My head is spinning, from pain and from blood loss. Iwon’tsurvive this.
“Please, don’t do this.” I beg.It’s pointless. There is nothing I can do to stop him. Nothing I can do to save myself.
“You almost got me killed, whore. I have been in these dungeons for weeks because you couldn’t keep your mouth shut. Youoweme.” My ears strain, trying to ascertain where he is. His fingers brush my leg and then I can feel him climb onto the stone slab, on top of me.
My arms pull at the chains holding me down. I can feel my muscles straining, not wanting to cooperate. His fingers slide down my bare abdomen before thrusting into me. I scream out, bucking off the table as much as possible.He rips his fingers out before settling over me.
“Stop!” I scream as his hand finds my neck, squeezing until no oxygen can make its way through. I gasp against the feel, searching for any tiny stream of air to inhale. His other hand finds my hip and lifts me up before thrusting himself inside of me. I scream out at the burning, blinding intensity. I keep screaming as he pounds into me over and over again.
“Don’t stop screaming, whore. Ilike itwhen you fight.” His voice is rough, breathy as he picks up his pace. My screams grow hoarse before turning into sobs. I can feel his legs shaking, his sweat dripping onto my naked skin. I can feel as he empties inside of me, pouring himself into me while simultaneously draining me of every ounce of sanity I have left.
Iwon’t survive this.
The days and nights are long. I don’t know how many days I have been in here, strapped to this table. There seems to be a rotation of who uses my body any way they wish. Davel, random guards whose names I can’t remember, even silent men who make no noise that I can use to identify them. I used to scream, used to cry, but after the third guard emptied himself inside of me, I stopped.
I hear his voice sometimes. Theo’s. I hear him telling me to hold on, hear him telling me he loves me. I know it’s not real, but it’s the only thing keeping me sane. Keeping me from descending into madness.
Tobias visits often. He slices into me, rapes me, and then knocks me out. I always wake up without wounds, without pain. All for it to start again. It happens too fast. Too fast to be poppy root. I can’t figure out how it is he controls the speed in which I heal, only that it’s consistent. I fall asleep, I wake up healed.
It’s the same every time.
What if he can’t heal me one day? What if whatever magical medicine he is using stops working?
I’m going to die down here.
IhopeI die down here.
Something slams into my stomach, knocking the wind out of me. Hands come around my neck, cutting off my oxygen. I try to claw at arms and the person’s face, but the chains don’t allow it.I still can’t see, the blindfold a permanent fixture.
“Whore.” He sneers as he suffocates me. Blood pools in my mouth and I fight to inhale as much as I can, but nothing breaks through. My body is on fire, as if lightning is shooting through my limbs, burning through every vessel and artery.
Burning through every remaining piece of my sanity.
Suddenly I can see it, amethyst and emerald. An odd combination. The lightest purple and the brightest green, calling me home.
Chapter Nineteen
The Bound
My eyes flash open, the bright sunshine streaming through the open windows. My breathing is ragged, sweat beading on my hairline. I take a second before I move, letting my racing pulse calm down.
I had the weirdest dream. I saw a star-filled sky and endless trees. It started raining, but it wasn’t water dripping down from the cloudless sky.
It was blood.
I take a deep breath and sit up. My pulse skips as I look around and find that I am not inmyroom, but Elaenor’s. Or what will be Elaenor’s once she arrives. I don’t remember coming in here last night. The last thing I remember is drinking in the library with Enzo and Erik, another evening filledwith planning and preparing for the day we bring home the queen.
Nausea burns my stomach and I have the weird sense something is wrong. Something is pushing on my head, on my mind.Something telling me to run.
I slide off the bed quickly and step out into the hallway. Enzo is yawning, walking out of his room, his short hair disheveled and his clothing wrinkled. A slight glance behind him and I see Scarlett still asleep in his bed, blankets wrapped around her like a tourniquet.
“Something is wrong.” My voice comes out hoarse, rushed.
“What?” He says between another yawn. He looks over at me sleepily, his eyes bloodshot.
“Something feels wrong.” I repeat. He rubs his eyes and glances around as if he’s expecting to see something.
