Chapter 4
Itwitched, slowly gaining enough consciousness to lift my head from its slumped position against my chest. I felt the restraints around my wrists, binding me to the chair I was seated in.
I had no idea where I was. But even from behind my eyelids, I could see the bright light. I had to force my eyes open despite the burning pain.
White walls and ceilings stretched out around me, only disturbed by crimson splotches. Blood.
I struggled feebly against the restraints around my wrists. Pain shot through every muscle in my body as I moved, reawakening a raging headache. I inhaled sharply, feeling my thin clothes rub against raw skin.
Bracing myself, I peeked down at my thighs to assess the damage. My shabby pants had done nothing to block the blows. Instead, the fabric had melted into my open flesh.
A memory flashed through my mind of Archie patching me up mere days before, and my throat tightened. Those days were over.
I tried to remember the past twenty-four hours, but my memory was lacking. Squeezing my eyes shut, I racked my brain for any shred of recollection. Kenric and the other Defender had dragged me from the bridge, away from Lili and Archie. Kenric had taken me to this room.
I remembered ten whips across my body, wincing as I felt them all out. Four or five across my back, three on my thighs. The rest on my arms.
An especially deep cut ran from my left elbow to my wrist. Remembering my only hope was inked into my skin on that arm, my eyes darted to the painful wound. But the symbol was unharmed. I let out a small breath of relief.
Behind my eyelids, I could vividly imagine Kenric’s sadistic grin as he used his powers to whip me over and over. I still heard his voice, echoing in the back of my mind.
“That’s for getting away from me the first time. You’re going to be my most striking trophy, darksome.”
How could the sun, supposedly the source of life, cause so much damage? Fuel that much hatred?
“Finally, she’s awake,” a gravelly voice spoke behind me. My head whipped around, searching out the source. Stars danced in the corners of my vision, half-blinding me.
The bright light dimmed slightly, and I was able to fully see. A man stood leaning against the wall, with his big arms crossed over a broad chest. Even with the lights lowered, the man had no shadow.
He had his hair tied back into a bun. The base of his scalp was shaved neatly, revealing that his hair had once been more brown than silver.
“Where’s my sister?” I asked, my voice raspy and weak like I hadn’t used it in days. Or like I’d screamed in agonizing pain for hours.
“How would I know, girl,” he answered, pushing off the wall with his shoulder to come closer.
Crouching down, he stared into my eyes with a look that told me this wasn’t the time to ask questions. At least not my time.
This man was too bright. His golden-brown eyes burned; it was like staring directly into the sun. I had to look away.
Then it dawned on me who was in front of me.
He was Elio Boaz. Notorious for running the biggest prison in the Kingdom with an iron fist. Ruthless and unpredictable, he carried out the King’s orders and punished people like me for having been born.
My eyes flickered back to the man, terror rising inside me.
“Worked it out, did you?” he taunted, but not a trace of a smile appeared on his lips. My nose wrinkled at the faint smell of liquor on his breath.
“You work for the King,” I answered. Even in this stifling room, I felt my hands go numb and cold.
This had to be about the Rebellion, or a man of his status wouldn’t bother with someone like me.
His face twitched before he straightened back up, almost irritated. His gleaming eyes glowed brighter, brown turning to gold. I could feel his burning gaze tracing my stature as he circled me.
“Clever girl,” he purred. I froze as he stopped behind me, clasping two big hands on my wounded shoulders.
Searing pain shot through me, and I gasped, feeling the cuts tear open.
Warm blood trickled down my back, adding to the already sizable pool underneath the chair.
Trapped in his grasp, I wanted to scream, but the sound got caught in my throat.
He chuckled behind me, relishing in my pain. “It’s lucky that I’m in Erobred for business, or this chat would’ve had to wait until you reached Orken.”
“How lucky,” I spat through gritted teeth. Orken. That meant the prison in the middle of nowhere wasn’t just a myth.
His hands turned hot, burning as he gave me a last squeeze before releasing my agonizing shoulders. I couldn’t stop the tears from falling as I felt his fingers leave blistering marks at the base of my neck.
My skin smoldered with angry red marks from his scorching grasp. My nostrils filled with the sickening smell of scorched, sweet flesh. It made me gag.
“Tell me where they are,” he demanded, his voice low. Serious. The look in his eyes was dangerous as he stared me down, a flicker of desperation crossing his calm face.
A man was most dangerous when he was desperate.
“Where is the Rebellion base?”
Pain erupted from my neck as I shook my head, the blisters from his touch raw and bleeding. I feared the burns would be an everlasting reminder of this day.
“I don’t know, I swear,” I choked through gritted teeth, trying to inhale deeply without gagging from the smell of my own burning skin.
Being tortured for information about the very thing I’d spent most of my life trying to figure out wasn’t just excruciating — it was painfully ironic.
Where are they? Where are the rebels? Where’s Lili’s last shot at a bright future?
Newfound hatred flared up at the sight of the lightdweller in front of me as I realized he had stolen that future away from her. Away from me.
He roared, grabbing my throat and squeezing the remaining air from my lungs. “Look at me.”
I gasped, opening my eyes though I hadn’t realized I’d closed them.
His eyes bore into mine, willing me to show any sign that I was lying.
At this point, I wasn’t sure it mattered if he believed me or not.
He wanted to make sure this day would haunt me for the rest of my life, which would undoubtedly end sooner rather than later if he kept up this torture.
The gold in his eyes should’ve made it impossible for them to be so icy, yet I felt a shiver running down my spine as he leaned in closer.
He released his grasp on my neck. “If I were you, I’d start talking.
” The calmness was back in his voice. “I have all day; the only limit is how much your body can take if I continue with Kenric’s… approach.”
The threat hung thickly in the air along with the metallic smell of my blood. I wanted to scream at him that I didn’t know anything, and that if I did, I wouldn’t tell him.
Pulling a silver flask from his pocket, he took a long sip while maintaining eye contact with me. His head tilted to one side, a lethal glint shimmering in his eyes. My breath hitched in my throat.
Would I tell him anything if I could?
I didn’t get the chance to speculate much as he slipped the flask back into his pocket and carefully began to roll up his shirtsleeves.
He was going to torture me, probably for hours, for information I had no way of giving to him. Information I’d searched for myself, whenever I had the guts and the time to do it.
But the Rebellion wasn’t an easy group to find, clearly, if the King and his menacing Right Hand hadn’t managed it yet.
A part of me was happy with the news. They had to be hard to find, or the King would’ve surely had them all slaughtered or imprisoned.
But that also meant that Lili and Archie would have almost no chance of finding them after I was gone, even if they did manage to slip away from Kenric and leave Erobred.
My thoughts were interrupted by an explosion of light coming from Boaz’s hand as he conjured a whip of light, prowling slowly towards me.
All I could do was close my eyes and wait for the blow.
The faint sound of voices woke me from an uneasy slumber. Pain flared up on every part of my body, more and more agonizing as I regained total consciousness.
I moved my fingers, mainly to ensure that I was still able to move, before opening my eyes slightly. I tried lifting my head, but my neck protested at the movement.
Kenric’s lashing was a fading memory in comparison to Boaz’s torture.
The power pulsing through him as he had wielded from the sun was terrifying and by far the most painful thing I’d ever experienced.
The sickly-sweet smell of my burning flesh still hung in the air.
I had to fight to keep the images of the wounds from my mind.
My mouth was filled with the taste of iron, and a trickle of thick liquid was running down my spine.
“She doesn’t know anything, trust me,” a muffled voice said from the other side of the door, and I realized Boaz and I were no longer alone. I didn’t know whether to be relieved or not. “After what I did, after what I showed her, she would’ve given it up.”
I let out an inaudible gasp as the memory forced its way back into my foggy mind.
Lili laid on her back, lips slightly parted as though she was merely surprised. But her eyes remained unblinking, staring into the distance. The rise and fall of her chest had ceased. Tears welled in my eyes as I called out her name again and again.
When I returned to the present, a tear rolled down my swollen cheek. I wanted nothing more than to break loose of the chains binding my wrists and hurt every single one of the people who’d caused this.
It had taken me a while to figure out what was happening.
He could manipulate light like nothing I’d ever seen.
The images weren’t real. He had created them with a single snap of his fingers, effortlessly bringing my worst nightmare to life.
I doubted the images would’ve looked so convincing in a dimmer room.