Page 63 of #Resort Love
Arianna knelt in front of me, cooing at the terror that painted my face. Her hand drifted along my cheek, and I edged away from her touch, pushing my back into the wall behind me, my heart beating frantically. Arianna huffed a laugh. “It would be a lot easier if you’d just cooperate,” she said sweetly. Her voice was so soft and lovely.
“Don’t touch me,” I whispered viciously, slapping her hand away.
Arianna sneered at me, her hand snapping out, grabbing the hair along my scalp. My head burned and I shrieked, my hands wrapping around her wrists to lessen the pain. She hauled me to the chair, forcing me into it while Ezra’s shouts filled my cell, settling around me. I jerked forward, hoping to shove Arianna away when ice formed around my wrists, the frozen bite of it making me gasp. The ice froze my hands and ankles to the chair, keeping me tied down. Ambrose stepped closer, eyeing the dagger carefully, running his fingers up and down the edge of the blade. I whimpered, struggling to break free, but the frozen crystal wouldn’t break.
The blood drained from my face, a cold sweat beaded along my brow and down my back at his nearness. Stepping between my legs, Ambrose let the dagger rest on my arm. My muscles tensed at the feel of its sharp edge. I eyed the dagger, keeping my arm as still as I could, my breathing coming in harsh pants. Slowly, so slowly, Ambrose moved the knife up along my arm, the razor-sharp edge slicing through my skin in a shallow cut. Burning pain followed in its wake and I screamed, writhing and sobbing at its touch. My magic prickled underneath my skin, rising to protect me.
“We will have none of that,” Ambrose tsked, somehow knowing what my power was doing. “I command you not to use your magic.”
Agony pierced through me, like a chain tightening around my heart. I doubled over, my chest heaving as it spread through my whole body. My magic winked out in response and Ambrose hummed, moving the dagger to my other arm, following the same motion as before. I cried out, hot tears blurring my vision. I begged him, pleading for him to stop.
“You haven’t been punished enough, darling,” he sighed. He took the blade, gliding it down my left cheek. Hiseyes had a wild look, and his smile grew from the sounds of my cries. “I need to know that you understand the consequences of not following my commands. This is the only way I can assure myself that you will listen to me, my darling Sybil.” Ambrose put the blade under my chin, lifting my face so that my eyes met his. Leaning close, he licked the blood that trickled down my face. My eyes squeezed shut and I whimpered at the hot feel of his tongue sweeping along the cut, swallowing down the bile that rose. “Trust me, Sybil, it hurts me deeply to do this.”
Putting his mouth against my neck, Ambrose breathed in my scent as he moved the razor edge down the other side of my neck. His groan rumbled in my ear, like he took pleasure in hearing my screams, as if he delighted in them.
My head fell forward,my breathing labored. A mix of blood, sweat, and tears dripped from my face to the stone floor below. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed—minutes, hours—it all felt the same. My body was drained, my throat hoarse from all the cries and screams. I stared down at the pool of blood around my feet, unseeing and dazed. Ambrose cleaned his tools near the table, setting down the ruined dagger, his bloodlust finally quenched.
“Ambrose,” Arianna whined, her honeyed voice now nauseating and foul.
Ambrose's deep chuckle rumbled, echoing in the dark cell, as he walked over to the empty barrel. My body tensed from his movement. I eyed him from under the hair that had fallen during his torment, watching while he place his hand inside. The temperature of the cell dropped, and the sound of waterfilled my ears. My pulse spiked, my body quivered, and I knew that this torture was far from over.
Once the water reached the top of the barrel, the ice around my wrists and ankles melted away, but I kept still, refusing to move. Ambrose faced me, drumming his fingers against the edge of the barrel. His head was tilted to the side, eyeing me intently. Finally, Ambrose came to me, reaching out his hand for me to take. I hesitated, but when his lips twitched, I placed my shaking hand in his, letting him guide me away from the chair.
Moving my hair away from my face, Ambrose grimaced at the blood and sweat that coated my skin. “Your queen demanded her own punishment for the time in the training yard and in Lowbrook. She also thinks that you need to be cleaned up a bit.”
My blood froze, my gaze drifting to Arianna. She stood, tall and proud, her eyes blazing with a blue fire that made my body quail. My hands curled into fists at my sides, and I whispered a softpleaseto her, begging for her to change her mind, to end this.
Tutting, Ambrose circled me, stopping behind me. He ran his hands across my shoulders and down my arms. I swallowed down the vomit that rose at his soft touch. “Shh,” Ambrose cooed softly. “It will be over before you know it and then we can move on from this horrible, horrible incident, darling.”
Ambrose’s hands stopped at my wrists, pulling them together. I whimpered at the painful stretch of the cuts along my arms and chest, and the cold bite that now circled around my hands. He pushed me forward, my body slightly resisting against his touch. My mind—my entire being—it seemed to shut down. I wasn’t sure how much more of this I could take.
Ambrose released a quick breath of frustration at my protestto move forward. Grabbing my hair, he jerked my head back, pain spidering across my scalp. “Move to the barrel, Sybil,” Ambrose hissed. “That’s an order.”
He roughly pushed my head forward and I took one reluctant, trembling step after another until my knees bumped against the small barrel. I looked down, eyeing the water that rippled from the ice circling along the edge. Ambrose shoved me down to my knees and walked in front of me, giving Arianna a small nod.
Arianna giggled, rushing to my side, crouching. Her delicate fingers roughly clenched my hair, wrenching my head to the side so she could lean close to my ear. “I’m going to enjoy this,” she whispered. “You don’t know howmuchI’m going to enjoy this.”
“Arianna,” Ambrose sighed in warning. He slid his gaze to mine, and my throat bobbed. “Now, my darling, to make sure you have learned your lesson, I’m going to ask you a couple of questions. First, when I tell you to do something, you’ll?”
“Do as you say,” I croaked, my heart thumping hard against my too-tight chest.
“Good girl. And you’ll do it even if I tell you to kill?”
I hesitated, my eyes widening at his question. I didn’t want to hurt anyone else. Already the deaths of Arbus and the villager weighed heavily on me. To add a third or more would break me. I didn’t know if I could handle more blood on my hands, if my tarnished soul could take more.
Ambrose’s lips thinned, the only warning I had before Arianna shoved my head into the icy water. The frozen chill took my breath away and I fought against her hold. Water filled my mouth and lungs, and I screamed until dark spots danced along my vision. My body became heavy and only then didArianna pull my head from the water. Coughing, water spewed from my mouth.
“That was the wrong answer, Sybil,” Ambrose said flatly. “Now, let me ask you again. Will you do as I say even if I tell you to kill?”
“P-please. Please don’t make me do this, Ambrose,” I stuttered, my eyes felt like they were on fire from the heat of tears stinging my eyes, pouring down my face.
Arianna scoffed, shoving my head back under the water. Fighting against her, I held my breath as long as I could, but the small amount of air didn’t last long. My lungs screamed. My chest heaved, my body refusing to listen any longer, letting the water into my mouth and nose. Arianna pulled my head up and I hurled up the water that burned my lungs.
As I gulped down air, Arianna threw my head back in, pushing me further down. My vision darkened; my body turned slack. I was tired, so very tired. Pulling my head up, I coughed up the water again, my head lolling to the side. Ambrose asked the question again, his tone more severe.
“I’ll do it,” I gasped, unable to take any more of this torture. “I’ll do it. Please, please stop. I promise. I’ll follow every order, even if it’s to kill.”
Ambrose smiled, kneeling in front of the barrel, tapping his hand against my face. “Good girl.”
