Chapter 53
Roran
My head pounds so hard as I roll over the rough surface, eyes snapping open the moment a familiar smell hits me—choking mold.
I shoot my body upward to sit, but I’m slammed straight back down against the floor, only now noticing the chains locking down my arms, legs, and chest.
I thrash against them, fighting with everything I’ve got, but the chains are too heavy, too solid. All I’ll earn by struggling is more scars. My heart slams wildly as I force my memory to catch up.
I was with Bay. And Onyx.
I shake my head, flashes coming back in jagged bursts—the hellish red eyes, the burn in my throat when she choked me, and then—
That dragon.
Maybe it was a dream. Maybe I hit my head too hard, but the chill racing down my spine says otherwise. The hairs on my arms stand on edge as its growl echoes in my mind like a new trauma already carved into the rest.
Oh shit.
I ran.
I raise my arm as far as the chains allow, connected to an old cement wall behind me, and glance again at the iron restraints.
These aren’t chains meant for humans...
They’re meant to hold down a beast.
Only now I start glancing all around frantically, trying to absorb every detail. Someone must’ve knocked me out after I ran—and somehow, I ended up here.
But where the fuck is here?
I can’t see clearly—the only lightbulb in the center of this dark room keeps flickering, dying slowly.
The stench of mold thickens the air, sour and rotting, confirming what I already suspect: I’m underground.
I know this smell too well. This is how my father keeps his storage rooms. I’d never miss it.
Shit.
Is this one of his places? No. No, no—
NO.
“Help!” I scream into the void, knowing better than to expect a response—but a girl has to try.
My breath turns heavier with every second. Each new realization slaps me harder.
I’m back under my father’s hold.
Fuck.
I didn’t get Diana.
“No…” The word is a cracked whimper, caught in my throat like I’m choking on it. Tears start welling in my eyes before I can stop them.
“Who’s there?”
A woman’s voice jolts through the silence, and I snap my head back toward it, eyes locking on a dirty cement wall. My gaze trails up toward a small, rusted window, crisscrossed with iron bars.
“Are you chained too?” I ask quickly, pulse spiking. I’m not alone here—there’s another hidden cell.
“Ye—” she coughs. “Yes.”
“Are you hurt?” I ask again. I don’t even know why—it’s instinct. Desperation.
“Yes. You’re the first female voice I’ve heard here in a very long time.” Her voice is so faint, like she’s barely holding on. I know that kind of pain. Too well.
I’ve lost count of how many times I wished death on my father. But now? I don’t want him dead—I want him rotting. Rotting in his own body, unable to move even a finger, still breathing so he’ll never escape this nightmare he created.
No. Not father—Fedor. I’m not using that word anymore. I don’t have a father.
“I just got here,” I say, trying to keep the conversation going, anything to keep her awake, alert. Anything to stop her from slipping away before we can find a way out.
There has to be a way out. Diana is waiting for me.
“I’m Roran,” I offer.
“I’m Orbit,” she says quickly, her voice growing weaker by the second. I can’t tell if her accent is distorted or if she’s just that far gone. “Princess of Sur-El Royal House.”
I nearly choke.
She must be really hurt if she’s starting to hallucinate. Shit.
“Orbit, can you tell where you’re injured? Are you bleeding?” I ask, trying to keep her talking.
But I can’t even hear her chains moving when she speaks. That’s never a good sign.
“I don’t know,” she drags the words out painfully. “I can’t move. They keep stabbing my throat every time. And my body... it’s burning.”
God. It is him.
I heard he’s been experimenting with new drugs over the years—ones that paralyze without killing. He’s gone off the rails, completely obsessed with his labs. One of these days, someone needs to swap him out for the people he tortures.
I wince suddenly as a burn lashes across my neck and fades.
What the hell?
Did they inject me, too?
No... I can still move.
“Don’t sleep, okay? Don’t close your eyes. We’ll figure something out,” I say. I don’t know if I can keep that promise, but I can’t let her slip into unconsciousness. Not like this.
“I’ll try,” she replies.
“Good. So, how old are you? Where are you from?” I ask, stretching my hand toward my neck where I felt that burn. I need to keep her focused. I need to know what the fuck they did to me.
Something’s there.
My skin... it’s burned. Fuck.
Was that Onyx’s doing or my father’s men?
“I’m eighteen. I told you—I’m from Sur-El Royal House. I need to go back to the sea. Can you really help me?” she pleads, her voice trembling.
She’s too drugged. I just hope I can keep her awake long enough.
“You filthy creature, shut your mouth!” a man’s voice barks from her room.
“It’s your turn again.”
She starts screaming, shrill and panicked, and my name cuts through her voice like a prayer. “Roran! Please help me!”
“No!” I scream toward the barred window, yanking violently against the chains. “Leave her alone!”
I try to rise again, but the chains slam me back to the ground. My chest heaves as her screams fade, swallowed by the dark.
Tears blur my vision.
“Bring her back!” I scream, voice raw. It echoes through the space like a death bell—but it’s too late.
Then I hear it.
A door slams open with a brutal kick. This side. My side.
Someone’s here.
“You fucking whores need to learn when to keep your mouths shut!” an unfamiliar voice bellows. Footsteps stomp closer until the flickering light bulb catches his face.
He looks familiar. Blond hair pulled into a short ponytail. Half his head is shaved—no. Scarred.
“You’re lucky Ivan wants you alive. For now. Two Morozovas in one place... what luck.” He smirks.
I barely register the name Ivan. The second he says “two Morozovas”—I stop breathing.
Diana.
She’s here too.
“Let’s get you ready,” he says, eyes dragging over me like a predator sizing up prey.
I swallow hard, bracing for whatever is coming.
“Do your worst. Let’s see what Ivan says about it,” I hiss, venom sharp in my Russian.
His smirk widens.
“Don’t worry, Printsessa. He’s on his way to finally finish his vows.”