Page 31 of Blood Lord

Of course. That's where she went back to.

I push up off the trees, flying toward the clearing where I first saw the circus and hoping with all my heart that it is still there. And then I hear it.

A sharp, piercing scream that makes my entire body stutter and forget how to work. I nearly fall out of the sky from just the sound, and I know that it is Selene.

I catch myself on one of the trees I tumble into, pushing back up into the air and streaming through the trees until I come up to the edge of the clearing.

If her screams weren't bad enough, the sight before me is way worse than anything I could have ever fathomed.

Strung up between two poles is my Selene, her limbs pulled so tight it would be painful. But I doubt that the rope burn or strain on her joints bothers her right now. Not with what the dark elf is doing to her.

The circus crew is gathered around him, jeering and laughing, taking pleasure in her pain as he moves his hands wildly, his fingers twitching. With every twist of his wrists, another bone of hers snaps, and his fingers manipulate it, pulling it into the place he wants. His magic pulls her skin across the joints so that the flesh is stretched across the broken bones.

With her two arms bent in place, her hands disappearing into her torso and the rope slung in the gruesome crook that's too high to be her elbow, I realize he's making her into a literal star. It's disgusting as her foot whips back, breaking and bending with ease, and I see pure red as she screams.

He thinks she's going to be his star again, his singing human star.

But he's got another thing coming.

Without thinking, I shove off the tree, slamming into the ground between Selene and her dark elf master. My power is flowing so intensely through me with rage that I don't remember to pull back and the ground gives way beneath me, creating a crater that sends deep cracks through the ground around me.

The dark elf's hands freeze, though Selene's screams don't, and I rise, my eyes locking on his violet ones. His sneer drops as he takes me in, taller and stronger than him, and when his eyes dart to my wings, I know that I've broken the one rule I was given: not to expose us.

But I don't care as I dash forward, my magic encasing him so that he can't run backwards. His eyes widen, and to my surprise, a smile cracks across his face. His cockiness enrages me, and I drop the spell, catching him around the throat before he can move.

My wings flare behind me as I slam him into the ground, my nails digging into his disgustingly dark flesh. "How dare you touch her," I hiss. "You've made a grave mistake, and for that, you will pay with your life."

With my other hand, I bend his arm back so that I can grip his wrist. I grab it and twist, and he howls as his hand limply at the end of his arm. It almost sounds like laughter as the bone juts straight out of the skin, and that only makes me angrier.

I slam my foot into his other arm, breaking the elbow as I bend it back and rip the fingers off individually. He coughs against the pressure I have on his throat, but still, he doesn't concede. Not until I lean down and let my fangs drop free.

"Think it's funny? Let me show you pain you've never known."

I sink my teeth into the artery thrumming along his throat, not letting go with my hands as they start to tear through the flesh. His blood is disgustingly bitter, and I drink only enough to send my venom pounding through his veins.

He screams, finally, and I laugh, spitting his blood across his face. "That's what I thought."

I rip his throat out, my other hand pressing into his sternum, and I laugh as I hear his breast bone break. He gurgles as he tries to scream, but there is no way for him to without the trachea, which is now on the ground next to his head. I slam my knee into his ribcage, the bones piercing the organs of his slowly dying body.

"You deserve to feel her pain ten-fold!" I roar, grabbing his head and ripping it from his body. I want to be the one that takes his life. "But you also don't deserve the air she breathes," I gasp out as I drop his severed head, letting it tumble across the ground. "Just like that other asshole."

As I stand, I realize that all the humans have fled, leaving this crumbled, twitching, bloody mess of their former boss alone on the grass. Serves him right to die like that and for his body to be abandoned to the woods. Even the animals out here probably won't want him.

Turning, I see Selene, and I am surprised she is still awake, her teeth digging into her lower lip. Her arms are both bent, one foot broken, and yet, she has survived the pain. A part of me wonders if it's part of the spell that was cast on her.

Taking a few pounding steps, I slice the ropes and hold her body gently as I lay her out on the grass. His magic is weak, and as I run my fingers over her skin, it is easy to undo his work. I wince as she whimpers from the first snap of her foot moving back into place, and thinking better of it, I lean in to bite her.

"I'm so sorry," I murmur against her neck. "This should help."

I send the numbing agent through her veins, and her soft cries turn to moans. "Raziel," she cries out, and I stroke her arms, urging them back into place. The pain seems to lash against the euphoric feeling, and her back arches up off the ground.

"I'm almost done," I assure her, locking her last arm back into its natural position. With my superior magic, I've put her back into her perfect form without an outward sign of what happened.

"You're perfect," I tell her, but my heart drops as she recoils from me when I try to kiss her temple. It's clear that even with the numbing agent soothing her body, the psychological damage is too deep for me to be able to heal.

Instead, her physical exhaustion drags her under with the help of my venom to soothe her pain, and I scoop her up gently, pulling her against my chest. I throw one glance back at the unrecognizable body, walking toward it and kicking the head as hard as I can.

I feel a bit more satisfied as I watch his decapitated face sail through the air, frozen in a scream, as I hold Selene, and I shove off the ground. My wings beat as we rise in the air, and I don't have enough strength to glamour us as we fly back toward the portal.

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