Page 48 of Devour
A dark urge rises in my belly. I will not ignore the threat.
I cannot remain this close to her. I have to find a new way to cope with her nearness.
“What’s wrong?” Her voice shocks me from my spinning thoughts, soft and sweet.
Delicate.
Just that one moment soothes an ache deep within, but I cannot sink into it. I have to get out of this room. Immediately. But first, there is something more important.
“I need you to understand,” I ground out through clenched teeth. I step closer, observing the way she cowers from me. That face slipping into fear is both satisfying and appalling. “You do not have the right to romp around this fortress. It is not yours. You do not belong here. You are only accepted here by my invitation, which can be revoked at any time.”
Her eyes flare in shock.
“If you are caught outside of this room without my explicit permission, you will suffer.”
Her nostrils flare. “You can’t?—”
She flinches when I step even closer. Our chests inches apart. “Yes, I can. You are mine to do with as I please. That is the way, and if you don’t like it, your second choice is death.”
She gasps.
“But make your choice quick, Dove. The longer you wait, the harder this gets.”
22
Lina
Iwake to soft fur against my skin, and for a long moment, I assume I am still dreaming. Lying on a cloud, or in my mother’s warm bed in my childhood home that is still standing.
I blink my dry eyes open and find myself in that small circular cave.
My heart begins racing immediately as reality spins its way back into place.
They took me. Tore me from freedom and Astella. Now, I am in their den.
I somehow survived their rituals and am not in line to be sacrificed to their gods or eaten by their reptiles—yet—but instead, I was claimed by the worst of them.
Last night, he made it very clear that I am not a guest. I am a captive, and if I don’t obey, he’ll kill me. There is every chance that this all ends with me burned alive or bled dry or fed to the draken.
I am inside their mountain, deep underground, where no one has ever returned. What nightmares will I face in this city filled with death worshipers?
My heart speeds up. The room is empty, except the seemingly random trinkets and the bed. The weapons that lined the walls are noticeably absent. I pat my thigh. My small blade is still there.
In this room, I am relatively safe. As long as my Dread remains absent.
I flop back against the furs. I haven’t laid in a real feather bed in years and I’ve never felt such decadent blankets as this thick fur.
If I could choose my fate, I’d choose anything but this—warm blankets be damned. I don’t know how long it’s been—there is no sunlight here to tell when the sun has risen—but I would guess I slept for a few hours.
Outside the bed, the air is freezing, so I have little intention on exiting.
I lie there, staring up at the domed ceiling. The room is maybe ten feet tall and ten feet wide. Its depth only slightly longer than it’s width. There isn’t even room to pace to release nervous energy.
As much as I hadn’t gone looking for food, the crackers the boy gave me were very welcome on my empty stomach. Astella and I have been eating crumbs, half-rotten crops and jars of dried meat. We only got sick a handful of times on that food, which is enough to prove luck hasn’t abandoned us entirely. When we did get sick, it made for a rough few days.
Even worse when it wasn’t me sick but Astella. The fear that I’d be left all alone if she died clung to me more than any disease could.
And now, here I am, alone.
