Page 79 of Black Wing and Shadows
Fear spiked hard, choking, but I swallowed it down. “You’ll regret not killing me now.”
That earned me a sharper smile. “We’ll see. In the meantime, you’ll stay here. And when the time is right, we’ll send him your screams.”
He leaned in close. Too close. My pulse roared. Muscles coiled tight. In one lunge, I drove my shoulder into his stomach, twisting my bound wrists toward his throat. The chains bit deep, cutting my skin, but I didn’t care—I hooked my knee and shoved.
He grunted, knocked back a half step. It was enough. I snapped my head up and slammed it into his jaw. Pain burst through my skull, hot and white—but when I tasted blood, satisfaction burned through me.
For a breath, I thought I’d won.
Then his hand clamped my collar. He yanked me up until my toes scraped the floor. “You stupid little—”
I spat in his face.
His control shattered. Fury sharpened his features, dangerous and raw. He slammed me against the stone. My lungs emptied in one violent rush.
“Lesson one,” he growled, his voice venom and steel, “you don’t touch me.”
His fist drove into my stomach, folding me over with a sharp gasp. His hand caught my head, smashing it back into the wall. Light exploded across my vision. The cell tilted, smearing sideways
The last thing I heard—before blackness swallowed me—was the scrape of the iron door opening again, more boots entering. And his voice, calmer now, almost pleased.
“Now, we begin.”
***
I came to with water stinging my face. My body jerked, lungs dragging in air too fast. My skull pounded where it had slammed the wall, and the taste of iron coated my tongue.
The bindings hadn’t changed—wrists raw in leather straps, ankles locked. Only now I was upright, forced into a heavy wooden chair bolted to the floor. My shoulders ached from the unnatural angle. My spine pressed hard against the backrest. Three of them stood before me. The tall one, still calm, still watching with that thin smile. Another leaned against the wall, arms crossed, his hood still drawn. The third—a woman this time—paced slowly in front of me, her boots clicking against the stone.
“Wakeful enough?” she asked, tilting her head. Her voice carried the easy cadence of someone used to questioning, not shouting.
I spat blood onto the floor between us. “Why don’t you come closer and find out?”
Her lips curved. “Good. Defiance makes the breaking so much sweeter.” She circled behind me, fingers trailing along the back of the chair.
The tall man spoke again, voice as steady as before. “Tell us about your father.”
My stomach clenched. “You want his strategies? His secrets?” I let out a short laugh that scraped my throat raw. “Then you dragged the wrong person. He never trusted me with anything.”
“Lies.” His eyes narrowed, sharp and storm-colored. “He shields you for a reason.”
“He shields everyone,” I snapped. “Because he doesn’t trust anyone.”
The woman leaned in close, breath warm against my ear. “And yet, he would burn the world for you. Wouldn’t he?”
For a moment, I faltered. Images flickered—my father’s warnings, his cold lectures, his hand resting heavy on Kim’s scaled neck as if the dragon were the only one he trusted. Then I remembered he damn near set Ashwynd on fire when I was attacked. They couldn’t know that.
I forced my face blank. “He’d never bend. Not for me. Not for anyone.”
The tall man studied me in silence. Then, without a word, he drew a thin blade from his belt. Light caught on its edge as he lowered it to my arm. The steel pressed cold against my skin.
“If you’re going to kill me, then fucking do it already.”
The impact that hit my face happened so fast, so hard. Pain shot through my eyes causing black and white flashes throughout my vision.
Darkness swallowed me, then spat me back in pieces.
I was chained to the wall again—leather cutting into my wrists, iron shackles at my ankles. My head sagged forward, too heavy for my neck. Every heartbeat pounded through my skull, shaking my vision loose.
