Chapter 33
Chapter
Thirty-Three
MAX
Cold water jolts me awake, yelping at the bite to my senses.
Pulling my hand to wipe my face, I snag my wrist against a heavy chain, brows furrowing. I blink the droplets away to glance upward, hair slicking down my cheeks.
I’m suspended in the air, arms stretched overhead, locked in place against the ceiling, my feet trapped below. I recognize the walls—still in the palace, but I don’t understand what happened.
Last thing I remember, I was running with Reid, trying to escape when we were stopped—
“Ah, you’re awake,” Zelos comments, stepping into my vision.
My body freezes.
That’s the voice that’s haunted me for days now.
I pull my shoulders back as if to tug free. He tsks lightly, amber eyes unsettling. It’s not that they remind me of Kaden—they’re the same shade, same shape, thick lashes—but the emotions behind them are wrong.
Kaden’s are filled with warmth. Even when angry, I was never frightened of him.
Zelos’ eyes are twin pools of cold ice. He’s unpredictable and unstable. I start to shake as fear twines around my gut.
“What did you do?” My voice cracks as I shift, pulling at the restraints. “Where are we?”
“Still in the palace.” He crosses his arms behind his back as if inspecting a new colt. “After your little display, my guards were forced to render you unconscious. Can’t have our future queen running off.”
I ignore his implied insult. “Where’s Fee? Reid?” My heart constricts with worry over their fate—they better be alive. Kaden wouldn’t survive if one his siblings were killed.
Zelos rolls his eyes. “My ungrateful children are in a timeout. Now.” He gestures to a guard who stalks close, coming up behind me.
My body trembles harder, the chains shaking with me. I remember the test he gave Fee. Would he let the guards touch me—defile me for my insolence?
Regardless, I lift my chin and don’t break my gaze with the king. I won’t show him fear.
“Open it,” he commands. The guard grabs my nightgown, ripping the fabric with a hard yank as he exposes my back.
Growling, I whip around, as the king goes to a far table. On it are various instruments: knives, pliers, chains. His fingers skim them all lovingly, until he reaches the whip, the very tips studded with iron.
My throat dries.
The guard grabs me and he shakes his head. “Wait.”
Grabbing the necklace from my throat, he tosses it to the side. “That doesn’t belong to you.”
My jaw feathers with terror as I spit, “It belongs to me because your son gave it to me. The true rightful ruler of these lands.”
He smiles, eyes glinting with madness.
“We’ll see about that, my dear.” He steps close, swinging the flogger mindlessly. “We need to have a chat.”
“About what?” I ask. The trembling has gotten worse and I puff, air no longer calming me down.
He’s going to torture me. Hurt me. And there’s no one to stop him.
“About you. Me. This world,” he explains. “You see, when you came to this palace, I put you in the dungeon, to assess your skills. I wanted to see what this magnificent blood summoner could do.”
A flare of lust lights his eyes and my stomach gurgles in disgust.
“But then, Kaden intervened.” He sighs deeply, as if explaining a disrespecting child to a peer. “He claimed you, which was unfortunate for me. And my plans. I had wanted to break you early, molding you into the weapon we needed. A weapon that would save our world.
“Because of my son and his inability to follow orders, I didn’t get the tool I spent years looking for.”
Swallowing, I eye the whip as he walks behind me. Everything tenses and I hold my breath.
“Do you know how the bond works?” At my silence, he laughs. “No, how could you? Witches don’t have such things. You all believe in Heartbonds. No matter. The bond between Dark Fae is fickle, at best.
“When you’re apart, the bond lessens. For instance, if you’re whipped,” the flogger runs over my spine and I shudder, “Kaden is far enough away for it not to affect him. I hear even the emotions will die down. Nasty things, that need to be close to your soul-bound.”
“And if you kill me?”
“Oh, you’ll both still die, of course. It’s not foolproof.” The whip drops from my back. “But I can certainly use my techniques on you without losing that beast. I’ve grown quite fond of his power.”
“He’s your son.”
He chuckles. “He’s a means to an end.”
My stomach drops. His son sacrificed everything he was to bow to his father’s demands—for his people. For his throne. After everything he gave, his father doesn’t appreciate any of it.
He’s just a weapon—one that gives the king power.
“Kaden will kill you,” I promise, words dark. “When he returns, when he sees what you’ve done, he’ll kill you.”
Zelos laughs, cold fingers tracing a scar along my shoulder. I hiss as if burned, pulling from his touch.
“And risk his coup?” He shakes his head.
I still, eyes wide and the king laughs. “Oh, you thought I didn’t know?
That’s adorable.” Grabbing my hair, he yanks my head, exposing my neck as my body bows.
I curse him, whimpering in pain. “You’ll learn, my dear, that I know everything in this palace.
My son planning a coup has been a dirty secret for years.
Why do you think I spent so much time sending him away, battling in my name? Can’t steal a castle he’s never at.”
He shoves me forward, my chin crashing into my chest, gnashing my teeth together.
“What I didn’t expect was my brother to be in on it.”
The tone of hurt radiates around us and I take comfort that Zelos didn’t know everything.
Snorting, I mock, “Because Oslo would rather your son lead your people than you.”
The backhanded slap surprises me, whipping my head to the side.
I taste blood on my tongue and my power struggles to rise.
Glaring at the king, he smiles cruelly at me. He’s enjoying this.
“Wondering why your magic isn’t reacting?” My tongue darts out, tasting the drying water on my skin. The herbal tang of the binding drug sours my gut and my face falls. “You thought I would come into this unprepared?”
“I thought you’d be dead by now.” I scoff, shrugging. “This doesn’t scare me.” I pull on my chains, tossing my wet hair back, feeling more confident than I am. “I’ve faced worst monsters than you. And survived.”
“That you are, my dear. A survivor.” He comes close, breaths fanning my face. “But you can’t endure everything.”
He stands back, walking once more to my back at the sharp tips of the flogger skirt my skin.
“My apologies the tips are iron. I know it doesn’t bother your kind. But it will still do effective damage when beaten against raw flesh.”
The hit is sudden, metal bits tearing into my skin as the leather straps slice into my back. Biting my lip hard enough to draw blood, I hold back a scream that sits on my tongue.
“No sounds?” Zelos frowns. “That won’t do.”
He hits me over and over and I bow forward, letting the chains take my weight as I try to move out of his way. It’s useless. I’m held immobile as the king swings the deadly weapon into my back, cutting into my flesh, skin shredding.
Finally, after a half dozen or so times, a small whimper leaves my lips and my knees buckle.
The chains holding me up wrench my arms and I cry out. My body ignites with harsh pain and wicked agony as I swing.
“There, see?” he asks, a smile in his words. I can’t open my eyes, tears streaming down my face. “Make the noises and it stops.”
He’s a sick bastard. He wants to break me.
“Now,” he begins, leaning down to stare into my face. My vision wavers as unconsciousness tries to pull me under, but I fight it back. There’s no telling what he’ll do to me if I’m not awake.
“What do you know of the coup?”
Coughing, I press my nose against my arm, inhaling to steady myself against the pain. Everything hurts. Everything stings. I can’t stand, back protesting any movement.
“Nothing,” I rasp. Like I’d tell him anything.
He can continue whipping me, break my body, but eventually Kaden will come back. And Zelos will have to stop or risk harming his heir. I just have to hold out until then.
“You’re lying.” He seethes, the first break in his arrogance. I wish I was more lucid to enjoy it. “Kaden told you what he’s planning. Tell me.”
He slaps me again and my mouth fills with blood, my teeth cutting my tongue. Spitting the glob out, I look up into his grotesque face.
“Do you think when Kaden takes your throne, he’ll let you live?” I smile, teeth painted red. “I don’t. I think he’ll snap your neck and walk over your corpse to get your crown.”
This hit I expect. Insult Zelos’ power and he’ll retaliate. My head snaps back and I rock backwards, the rattling chains drowned out by the ringing in my ears. It stings, but I smile, taunting the king.
His face morphs, handsome features darkening as twin spots of red highlight his cheeks. The rage that ignites his eyes soothes the deepest cuts on my back and I laugh.
I don’t know if it’s from his expression or blood loss, but I can’t stop laughing.
Grabbing my throat, he lifts me into the air, body protesting. I don’t bother to hide the wince as pain and revulsion war in my gut.
“Laughing at a king is a way to end up dead.”
“Good thing if you kill me, you’ll kill Kaden. And as much as you hate him, you need him.”
He drops me. My shoulders jerk from the abrupt release and I shout. Gods. One arm dislocates from its socket and my fingers go numb.
“You have a mouth on you. More so than Sose ever did.”
Blinking away tears, I look at the king and scoff. “Maybe that’s why I was claimed and she wasn’t.”
“Don’t presume to know, Max.” He grabs my cheeks, pulling me close, uncaring of how battered my body is. He seems to take glee in it. “Sose didn’t last more than two hours under my ministrations before she succumbed to her injuries.”
My heart slams in my chest as I try to process his words. Did he kill her?
“You’re the reason why Kaden harbors guilt for her death.”
Zelos rolls his eyes, annoyed. “He was going to let her go to that Woodland Fae idiot. Sose was meant to warm my son’s bed and tie two powerful families together. Power that I wanted.”
Swallowing over the bile, I shake my head. Power. It always comes back to power. “You killed her for power?”
“No,” he chuckles. “I merely wanted to break her. Remind her where she belonged. It’s not my fault she didn’t have the stamina for this… type of punishment.”
“And now you’re going to break me.”
He circles me, stopping to admire his work on my back. “I will. Though, I must say, I’m impressed. I expected either immediate death or for you to talk to end the pain. Not many can withstand my tactics.”
It’s then I resolve to never submit to him. He can try to break me, but he won’t win.
Jaw clenching, I rise up on my knees, pain shooting down my legs. Agony so fierce steals my breath and I have to pause as my vision tilts.
When I stand, I stare ahead and remain quiet.
Zelos grins, practically drooling at the prospect of ending my stubbornness. I don’t have the energy to tell him his son tried—and failed.
“I was hoping you’d want to play a little longer. We have days yet before Kaden returns.” He drags the whip over the marks on my back and I stifle a grunt of pain into my arm.
“Now, tell me. Who is involved with the coup?”
“I don’t know.”
Crack.
I hold firm, gripping the chain for support.
“When was it to happen?”
“I don’t know.”
Crack. Another hit. My body trembles and I hold back the urge to sob.
Everything hurts.
Zelos chuckles darkly. “Oh, you certainly are fun. I can see why my heir loves you so much. That’s fine. I broke his first love, I can surely break his last.”
Another crack and my vision dims, body slumping against the restraints. Faintly, I hear the king order for a new weapon, but I can’t fight the urge to close my eyes. To give into the pull to sleep. My body needs it—I need the break.
I don’t know what will happen if I do, but my body makes the choice for me, as I drop into quiet unconsciousness.