Chapter 29
TALIA
W hat felt like months went by and no one came for me.
No one except for my torturer.
Every day, he came for me.
Every day, he repeated the torture.
Every day, he had me healed just enough to toss me back into the darkness of my cell and repeat the routine the next day.
I hadn't been bathed since I was brought here, wherever here was.
I figured we were in the shifter realm because, the terrain I could see out of my window was not of normal colors.
The trees were blues and greens, their leaves larger than any I had ever seen.
I sat on a cliff's edge, listening to the waves crash against the stone of my prison day in and day out.
If only I could fit through that window… I would throw myself down to the deathly sharp rocks below.
I was covered in scars.
A tear slipped from my eye as I thought of how disfigured I must look.
My scars would remain.
My body no longer beautiful.
A choked cry left me as I thought of my mate.
How could he ever want me after this. I had been sullied, mind, body, and soul. I was broken in every sense of the word. But I would do it again. If only to keep them safe. I would suffer a thousand deaths.
My stomach growled, the loud noise echoing off the stone walls around me.
I glanced to the dirty ground beneath me, at the stale bread that had been tossed in here for me to eat.
I reached down, the aches in my bones going so deep it hurt to move a muscle.
I grimaced as I grabbed the stale bread, bringing it to my mouth and biting a small chunk off.
My jaw ached from the growing bruise from my most recent visit from my torturer.
That bastard still not telling me his name.
He had not touched me other than torture since that first night, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t again soon.
“Don’t give up hope, you are strong Natalia.”
A voice whispered in my mind, making me jump.
“ Don’t let this break you.”
Who is there? Hello? I whispered out loud.
I looked around but found no one… my mind must be playing tricks on me.
I needed to try and get some rest before he returned.
I had been counting the days by the rise and fall of the two moons outside my window.
They seemed to appear twice a day, before sunrise, and after sunset.
Unlike in the human realm, a moon was always visible in the sky, and my torturer liked to appear when the moon and sun were both high in the sky, which would be happening soon.
Pulling the scrap of material that was left for me over my body, I laid down and closed my eyes, hoping not to visit the torture chamber in my dreams.
I bolted out of sleep as a loud bang echoed off the stone walls.
Wiping the hair out of my face, I looked towards the door only to find him standing there waiting for me with a new set of knives and a smile on his face.
“Are you ready pet? It’s time for another art session.”
I put myself back in the metal box in my mind and didn’t react as he carried me down the hall to that room.
I didn’t react as he strapped me down to the table.
I held in my cries as he cut me repeatedly.
I bit my tongue as he pushed himself inside of me again.
I closed my eyes and blocked out him telling me how good I felt, how he wished he could keep me forever.
“No words for me today pet? Such a shame, I love to hear you cry and scream while we play.”
A laugh escaped him as he adjusted himself.
As he stepped away from me to grab the vial of magic he had stolen from a witch, the very vial he used to heal me just enough every time, the door was thrown open.
“What the fuck is going on here Welch?!”
A deep throat voice shouted.
So that was this fuckers name.
“Just breaking her in a bit, Val,”
he laughed.
“You weren’t supposed to take her out of her cell! You were supposed to be feeding her and making sure she didn’t escape.”
“That is much too boring, I needed a new canvas to be creative with and we have a past.
Plus, she felt amazing, want a turn?”
he said with a feral grin on his face.
“You are one fucked up individual,”
Val grumbled as he stepped into the space around me.
“Let’s get you cleaned up here princess.”
Val said, while moving next to me.
I whimpered as he released the restraints from by body.
My limbs fell to my sides, feeling so heavy.
I felt numb inside and out.
I needed my mate.
I turned my head to the side as Val began to release the collar around my throat, surprised to see that he wore an expression of terror.
His green eyes glowed, and his blonde hair was falling in front of his face as he leaned forward to support my head when the collar was removed.
“Jesus, how much blood has she lost? If she doesn’t shift soon or get healed by one of the witches, she isn’t going to survive these wounds,”
he growled.
“How many times have you done this to her?”
A whimper escaped from my mouth and he looked my way again.
He grimaced as he told Welch, “Go upstairs and call for Delaina, the princess is going too need to be healed before she shifts.
Let’s hope she can be healed fully at all.”
Welch smiled in my direction, his gaze traveling the length of my body as he admired his handy work, his voice a breathy moan as he said, “How about I stay with her, and you call for the witch?”
“You are never going to be left alone with her again once he finds out what you have done to her, and heaven help you when her mate finds out.”
Welch growled.
“Her mate will never look at her the same after knowing I was inside of her.”
“Do you know who her mate is? Who he used to work for?”
Val asked.
“It doesn’t fucking matter who he is!”
Welch shouted, anger pouring off him in waves.
Val walked over and got into Welch’s face, “Her mate the Blade of Death.”
All the blood drained from Welch’s face as he looked over at me.
His gaze traveled up the length of my body as though cataloging all the wounds he had inflicted on me before he swallowed slowly and muttered the word, “Fuck.”