Chapter 39
Jaxom shifted as best he could to get more comfortable in the damp, cold dungeon.
The guards had taken him out and strung him up.
Hands locked above his head. A spreader bar attached to his ankle cuffs kept his legs spread.
Then, they’d doused him with ice cold water and used bristle brushed to scrap the dried blood off.
Half the partially healed claw marks had opened up to bleed again.
There was no avoiding the cold. His hair had frost forming in it.
Shivers rippled through his body as the newest dose of wolf’s bane burned through his veins.
And for what? The mate-bond was still intact.
What was the purpose of breaking him down even more?
He had nothing to offer Renz, no way to fix his disfigured features.
He did have his Luna to find. She was apparently right under Renz’ nose. He had no idea how that was going to happen. He couldn’t even walk because of how weak the wolf’s bane was making him. The Moon Goddess was going to need to plunk the lady in his lap.
Renz came to the dungeon hours after they’d strung Jaxom up.
He sat in a chair and ate an apple as he stared at Jaxom.
The blood red eyes examined every inch of him, except what was hidden by the bracers.
The magic of the bracers kept them from people’s attention.
Jaxom could only hope that would last. The bracers were dead easy to take off.
Renz chucked the apple core at Jaxom’s face. It bounced off his cheek and fell to the floor with a small thud.
“I’ve been told you have a mark of death on you. Turn around. Show me.”
Jaxom groaned in pain as he forced his body to move. The bar spreading his legs made everything awkward. Renz came to stand behind him. He ran his hands over Jaxom’s skin, touching him everywhere.
Jaxom gritted his teeth as Renz prodded claw marks and reopened partially healed wounds. That, on top of the wolf’s bane had him sweating and faint in the freezing cold.
“Where is the fucking mark?” Renz growled at him as he sank his claws into Jaxom’s buttocks. Jaxom wheezed in agony as the claws stabbed him.
“What mark?” he gasped. If he could speak as little as possible, it would be easier to keep this secret. Fuck Renz and his obsession to stay in power.
“Your Majesty,” a guard said behind them, “she’s here.”
“Let her in.” Renz backed off and turned to face the door.
A witch came in, dressed in red leather, graying red hair swept up in braids to stay out of her face.
She was old. It was hard to say how old.
Witches never gave their age away willingly.
Some said there were witches thousands of years old.
That took a form of dark magic so dangerous it was outlawed.
This witch definitely dabbled in black magic.
Jaxom blinked his eyes as he looked at the woman.
Tendrils of blacks, grays, and yellows swirled around her.
He couldn’t tell if what he was seeing was real or hallucination.
Renz had the same phenomena surrounding him, too, now.
Had to be hallucination. The tendrils were ugly.
One in particular was a deep throbbing purple linking the two together.
The tendril dripped like grotesque slimy sludge onto the floor.
Jaxom had never seen anything like it in his life.
The longer he stared the more solid the connections seemed to be. He tried to blink and looked down, only to find a sickly black, almost rotten looking tendril stretched between him and Renz. It ran from heart to heart, like it was stabbing Jaxom, trying to kill him.
“The boy is beginning to see,” the witch said in a creaky tone. It sounded like spiders crawling across his skin. Jaxom shuddered and tried to back away from her, being bound momentarily forgotten. The fucking bitch.
“You took him too late, Renz. I told you not to wait for the triad to form. Power is oozing out of his pours.” The witch ran her hand down Jaxom’s abs and cupped his cock and balls.
It wasn’t because she needed to, simply because she could.
Jaxom looked away, wanted to get away but had nowhere to go.
“I’m still stronger than them,” Renz insisted. The witch shrieked in laughter as she squeezed Jaxom, making him grit his teeth in agony.
“You’ll never touch the depth of his power now.”
“Then you break the fucking mate-bond. Killing him won’t stop the other two finding the Luna and allowing the Lycans to return. Crush it,” Renz yelled at her.
The witch turned and slapped Renz hard. “The only way to stop the Lycans now is to find the Luna. The only way to do that is to have her finish the mark, which is what we don’t want. So we need to see the mark to know what we may be working with. But, you can’t find the mark on him, can you?”
“No,” Renz yelled and drove his fist into Jaxom’s stomach. “Show me the mark!”
Jaxom wheezed and coughed as Renz railed at him. He hit him again and again, large purple bruises formed on his stomach.
“Oh, little king, the magic covering the mark is strong. There are many ways to try and break it. Are you ready for the first attempt?”
Renz stepped back in a huff. The witch pulled out a vial, pried Jaxom’s mouth open and dumped it down his throat. The potion felt like it was wrapping around the mate-bond, making it brittle on the outside. He could still feel its source of warmth in the middle connecting him to Drake and Hayden.
“A forced mate-bond. It may not work this time but eventually the bond will weaken. Break him down till he begs to tell you, maybe even rejects the mate-bond himself to stop the pain. It’s a good thing you like taking unwilling partners. Makes the potion stronger the greater you desire it.”
“How long will it last?” Renz said with lust rising in his voice. Jaxom could feel the panic rising. He strained against the silver as it burned into his wrists and ankles. He’d stupidly assumed that part was over.
“Three hours. Give him no rest. He’s too strong. A break will instantly start repairing any damage you do.”
“Guards, get a mattress. Secure his hands to the bolt down there.” Renz squeezed Jaxom’s jaw leaving fingerprint bruises. “Welcome home, lover.”
Jaxom wasn’t worried about losing the mate-bond.
The Moon Goddess had been clear it was safe.
He didn’t want to spend any more time being rutted by Renz.
It wasn’t just the violation, it was the pain.
Renz had damaged him in the limo. His body had finally succumbed to the wolf’s bane and wasn’t healing.
He wasn’t going to physically be able to take more rape from Renz.
Especially not three hours of the guy getting his rocks off in him.
The witch smiled like she knew what Jaxom was thinking. A tendril now stretched from her to him, hitting the same spot by his heart. Her fingers played along the line. She held up one more vial, uncapped it, and forced it down his throat.
“This one will very nicely keep you safe down there. I saw the blood. It will still hurt but won’t kill you. We need you alive. Renz’ special little lover. Show the mark and you save yourself so much rape. Stay quite and we still keep you from your Luna. You’ll never leave this dungeon alive.”
The Moon Goddess said he could find his Luna and get out of this place.
Damn Renz needed to break the bond but couldn’t kill him to do it.
At least that made sense now. Going after Drake and Hayden would be pointless.
They were being guarded. Taking Jaxom had been Renz’ only chance to stop the prophecy.
Renz was still risking Hayden or Drake finding their Luna.
He didn’t know the only place she could come to their realm was near Capital City.
His choice had been narrowed to breaking Jaxom’s mate-bond and seeing the death mark.
Hazel hadn't lied about people not questioning the bracers.
Being made of magic, and knowing Renz was working with a witch, it was only a matter of time before she sensed them.
Jaxom was going to prove the Moon Goddess was right. He forced back fears that he’d made the wrong decision. If Drake could survive two years of sexual abuse, so could Jaxom. If Hayden could survive a lifetime of beatings, so could Jaxom. The Moon Goddess had said he was strong enough.
The guards forced Jaxom onto the mattress and locked him in place. Jaxom screamed into the mattress as Renz forced himself inside.
Jaxom’s Luna couldn’t get there soon enough.