Chapter 3 #3
Araya choked, gagging as Jaxon forced another leather strap between her teeth. Another band pressed against her forehead, forcing her head back against the bench. Her eyes rolled, finding Jaxon’s face above her. He wanted her to love him—he couldn’t possibly—
“Hush, Starling.” His fingers trailed across her skin, brushing the tears from her cheeks. “You brought this on yourself.”
“Are you all sure this is a good idea?” Kai’s voice came from somewhere beyond her line of sight, hesitant and strained. “She looks very weak. How long has she been in iron?”
“Several weeks.”
Jaxon’s hands brushed Araya’s skin, the manacles falling away from her wrists with a dull clang. The collar around her throat followed, and for a heartbeat hope flared. If she could just reach her magic—
But the dregs of aether she was left with after so long just prickled sluggishly under her skin like a limb waking from sleep. Useless.
“It won’t be pleasant,” Rian said, parchment rustling. “But she’ll survive. Here, Kai. I’ve prepared a list of the runes you’ll be using tonight.”
“But Father,” Kai protested. “I don’t even have my tools with me—”
“I brought them. You’ll find everything prepared—infused inks, aether-binding needles. I even brought you a spare amplifier, since you forget yours so often.”
For a long moment, Kai didn’t answer. Araya couldn’t see his face—couldn’t look anywhere but up, the ceiling a blur of shadowed stone pressing down above her.
Jaxon’s hand lingered near her temple, tracing slow, possessive circles against her skin—something that might have comforted her, before she’d learned what kind of man he truly was.
Now the touch only made her stomach twist.
“Are you sure?” Kai’s voice wobbled, paper rustling. “Do we know what kind of effect this could have on her? I always thought mate bonds were as tied to their well-being as their magic—”
“She’ll be fine.” Jaxon brushed a tear from her cheek. “She has me. I’m all she needs.”
“These aren’t common runes anymore, Kai,” Rian said when Kai didn’t answer. “It might be your only chance to get this experience. It’s an opportunity you can’t afford to waste if you intend to advance.”
“Right,” Kai said. “You’re right, Father. I’m sorry. I was…caught off guard.” He cleared his throat. “If you could all step back?”
“I stay,” Jaxon said, his gentle, stroking touches never faltering. “She’s my bond.”
“Fine.” Kai sighed. “But don’t get in the way.”
Tools clinked softly somewhere by her side. Araya flinched as something touched her hip—but it was only Kai, his fingers carefully mapping the fertility suppressant rune the Arcanum had carved into her skin at just nine years old.
“Sorry,” he murmured, so quietly she might not have heard it at all without her fae hearing. Louder, he said, “I’m going to start by removing the ta’nara rune.”
He turned away, saying something else to Jaxon—but Araya couldn’t hear over the rush of her own pounding heartbeat in her ears.
She couldn’t get enough air, every breath sucked in around the leather strap that held her mouth open.
The vanilla perfume of Jaxon’s soap clung to the air, mixing with the sharp tang of ink and blood.
It filled her lungs, consuming her, the soft rasp of his fingertips across her skin promising that she would never, ever escape him. Not again.
Araya squeezed her eyes closed. Counting each breath.
One. Two. Three—
The first stroke of the needle was a line of fire across her skin, the scent of scorched ink and burned flesh filling her nose.
White-hot pain kindled in her veins, spreading through her body like wildfire.
She missed a breath, teeth sinking into leather as she bit back the low, strangled moan that threatened to escape.
She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. They didn’t get to make her scream—
Jaxon’s hands settled on her bare shoulders, his thumbs digging into the back of her neck. “Don’t stop.”
One. Two—
“That’s it for that one,” Kai said. Metal clinked softly. “The next one goes over her heart. This is where we need your blood.”
Don’t give up.
Tears poured from her squeezed-shut eyes, running into her hair.
Behind her, Jaxon shifted, the iron tang of blood mixing with sweet vanilla.
Hot drops landed on her skin, sliding over her chest. But she couldn’t struggle.
Couldn’t even flinch with the leather straps biting cruelly into her flesh.
They held her fast, helpless to resist as Kai set the point of his iron needle between her breasts.
One—
The iron-tipped needle broke skin. Her back arched, her limbs straining against the straps, but they held fast. She couldn’t breathe. The world around her was gone. All that existed now was the pain, every heaving breath sending a fresh pulse of agony through her tortured body.
“It’s alright, Starling.” Jaxon’s lips grazed the jagged edge of her ear, his breath warm on her skin. “I know it hurts. You can let go now. I have you.”
Araya clamped her teeth down on the leather strap. He didn’t have her. She wasn’t his—not anymore. And she wouldn’t break for him. She clung to that thought, desperate to hold on.
But the next stroke of the needle scraped bone, shattering the pressure building in her chest.
Araya screamed.