Chapter Twenty-Seven Biting Tongues #2
"Well, well," he murmured, his voice smooth like oil, his fingertips dragged up her bare leg, brushing aside the silk of her dress. "Finally awake."
Adan pushed down any thoughts of what he might have done to her while she was asleep.
She had already started tunnelling in her mind when she woke up.
There was nothing else to do. That well of power inside herself was her only option.
She might not be able to access her fire, but her mind was intact--her walls were still there. They couldn't take that from her.
She looked up at the swirling ball of light, focusing only on that tiny creature. Adan didn't flinch. Her jaw tightened, and she forced herself to breathe steadily.
Stay calm. He wants to see you break. Don't give him the satisfaction.
"You're still wearing that mask," Darius continued, his voice dripping with mockery.
"Still pretending you're something more than just a broken little slave. Did you really think you could escape, Adan? I thought you'd learn by now."
His fingers brushed lightly over the iron chains that bound her, his touch lingering far too long as he felt the weight of her restraints.
The gesture was casual, as if he were inspecting a prize he'd already won.
"You were always meant to be mine." he said, almost conversationally, "and then you went and sullied yourself."
Darius leaned down, his face coming dangerously close to hers, his breath hot against her ear.
"The collar proves that you're mine." His fingers trailed slowly over the cold iron at her throat, a sickening reminder of her captivity.
"You're just a tool. A tool I will break."
Adan's heart raced in her chest, but her lips remained pressed together in a grim line. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of hearing her scream, of seeing her flinch. She had no choice but to hold her ground.
"I wonder..." he murmured, his voice low, almost intimate.
"What would make you scream first?" He revealed his digger, the tip close enough that the flutter of Adan's lashes brushed steel.
Darius moved it to press pointedly on her cheek.
"The pain." He pressed down, drawing blood over her tattoo.
Her teeth clenched as he pressed the knife down far enough to touch her orbital bone.
Blood poured down her cheek and her eyes rolled back at the pain.
He pulled his blade free in a flourish, and blood splattered her face before her skin started to stitched back together.
Darius straightened, a laugh slipping from his lips, dark and amused.
"I bet you scream when I wheel your lover in here."
Adan's heart raced. Adan's blood froze at the sound of Nox's name, but she didn't let it show.
Not on her face, not in her body. She could feel her power raging inside her, fighting against the chains that held her back, but she knew better than to try it again.
Adan's chest constricted, but she kept her gaze on the undine, on the light, her lips set in a tight line.
Darius laughed darkly, standing up straight again, taking a few steps back as he looked at her, almost savouring her silence. "You really thought you could fight us, didn't you? You and your little rebellion. Do you think Nox can save you? No one can save you now, Adan. I will make sure of it."
The sound of his voice lingered in the air like a poison, taunting her with the image of Nox, helpless, trapped, suffering. But Adan's jaw tightened, her breath coming out in a slow, controlled exhale.
Darius's expression, cold and knowing. He leaned in once more, this time with a final whisper, his voice cruel and slow. "When you beg me to stop, Adan... When you scream for mercy, think of him."
In one quick slash, he cut through Adan's silk dress like butter, cutting her skin in the process.
Blood bubbled up from her sternum to her stomach, but healed quickly.
Adan squeezed her eyes shut, and her chest heaved at the cold air on her nipples.
She felt the blade of his knife graze across them until they turned into turgid peaks.
"All that work to escape me, and you end up right back underneath me."
He murmured. Observing her silence, his voice thick with twisted satisfaction.
"Think of how your lover will beg," Darius taunted, his lips curling as he dragged the blade down her side, just under her ribs.
Her body jerking against the restraints.
Her vision blurred for a second, the pain blinding, but she didn't scream.
"I'm going to enjoy this."
Another wave of pain crashed through her, sharper now, more agonizing, as he continued his work—cutting, pressing, bruising.
But it wasn't the physical pain that broke through her control.
It was the thought of Nox. Of what he was enduring as she suffered.
She could hear his voice in the back of her mind, could almost feel his warmth.
Her throat burned as she swallowed the bile rising, but still, she held her silence.
His bloody fingers trailing over the skin of her face, mocking tenderness in his touch. She kept her eyes trained on the undine, that only stared back wide-eyed.
"Do you remember the way you looked at me that day?"
he whispered. Adan felt the tip of his knife slipping under the thin strap of undergarments.
the only article of clothing she had left on her body.
"They day you were promised to me. That look of defiance. The same look you have now."
He grinned, and she dug deep, "What will Nox say when he finds out that I ruined his favourite pet?"
She bit her tongue, filling her mouth with blood, to stop the whimper that crawled up her throat.
Darius leaned in, his lips brushed against the soft skin at her neck, just above her collar. His hand closed around her throat again, tightening just enough to remind her of how fragile her life was in his hands. She had to hold on. She had to stay strong.
Her skin was slick with sweat and blood, her limbs aching from the strain of being held taut. The iron collar bit into her neck with every breath, a cruel reminder of who she was now. Her skin was raw and red from every slice he delivered her.
Darius cut the last of her dignity away in one swift flick of his blade.
Her eyes slammed shut, and she curled in on herself in her mind. She felt a faint burning on her face, Darius must have slapped her--trying to bring her back. She couldn't go back--she had to stay here.
She dug into herself, creating a tunnel, walls of fire blanketed her senses.
The pain from that room felt distant, waiting for her on the surface.
Another hard slap had her crashing back down into her reality.
"There you are." His hand was on her chin, his fingers pinching. "Do that again, and I'll bring Nox in here to watch."
A flicker of fear crossed Adan's face—and Darius smiled. He saw it.
"Ah. There it is," he whispered. "Still pretending you don't care about him, but I saw the way the two of you looked at each other. The way you smile for him." His expression darkened.
He leaned up and clapped his hands together.
"So, first, I am going to claim this body."
His palms dragged down her neck, stopping to palm her breast.
Adan clenched her teeth hard enough to break bone.
His hands swept possessively over her stomach, over the scars that she did herself--because of him.
They stilled at her hips, his thumbs brushing back and forth.
The magic of the room allowed Darius to summon a thick iron brand, red-hot, glowing like a demon's eye. The heat from it washed over her, the scent of scorched metal already tainting the air.
Adan stiffened, breath catching.
"But this..." Darius murmured, lifting the brand slowly, savouring the anticipation. "This is about ownership,"
He lowered it so that Adan could make out the initials D.D. until it hovered just inches above her bare collarbone. The pain of the heat alone made her flinch, made her body fight her restraints.
"And when it's done," Darius continued softly, "when you wear my mark, and not the empire's, not the rebellion's—not his—you'll know exactly who you belong to."
He wanted to break her. Wanted to own her. Every slow word he spoke dripped with venom, but Adan barely heard him anymore.
Then he pressed it to her skin.
Her mouth opened, readying to scream. Darius palmed his cock in anticipation. She knew he needed to hear it--he needed her pain to be visceral, audible. He needed her to scream so that he could get hard. Adan made the split decision to close her mouth on a snap.
She bit down.
Hard.
Her teeth sawed into her tongue, she moaned while Darius watched in shock, while he held the brand to her chest.
White and all-consuming pain, exploded through her as the brand sizzled against her flesh.
Blood spilled from her mouth, thick and hot, spilling over her lips and down her chin in a flood.
Adan had mutilated herself because of him--again.
At least, this time, her tongue would grow back--eventually.
By that time, she would hopefully be thrown into the Pits--far away from Darius.
The smell of burning skin filled the room.
It was agony. Her back arched violently against the restraints, and her magic howled, useless and trapped, trying to protect her, trying to kill him. She felt her teeth sever the last of the muscle tissue holding her tongue in her mouth and spat it at Darius.
When Darius finally pulled the brand away, Adan sagged against the metal bindings, her throat raw from the sound she had tried so hard not to make. She still howled, but without her tongue--she knew it wouldn't be enough for Darius.
The mark still glowed on her skin, blistered and red. She spat blood on herself as it continued to pool in her mouth. Her whole body shuddered in agony.
Darius looked rattled. She smiled at him, blood dripping from her teeth.
"Get a healer in here," he snapped to someone. "Keep her alive—I want her alive!
Adan collapsed back against the metal bed, her chest rising and falling like a dying fire. The pain was a tide now, threatening to drag her under—she hadn't screamed.
And that meant he hadn't won.